桑田滄海

Chinese

		mulberry plantation	vast ocean; large ocean
trad. (桑田滄海)		桑田	滄海
simp. (桑田沧海)		桑田	沧海
anagram		滄海桑田／沧海桑田
Literally: “mulberry fields (turned into) the vast sea”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sāngtiáncānghǎi

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄤㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤㄏㄞˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sāngtiáncānghǎi
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄤㄊㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄤㄏㄞˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sangtiáncanghǎi
  - Wade–Giles: sang¹-tʻien²-tsʻang¹-hai³
  - Yale: sāng-tyán-tsāng-hǎi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sangtyantsanghae
  - Palladius: сантяньцанхай (santjanʹcanxaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑŋ⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵ t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²
  - Yale: sōng tìhn chōng hói
  - Cantonese Pinyin: song¹ tin⁴ tsong¹ hoi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: song¹ tin⁴ cong¹ hoi²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɔːŋ⁵⁵ tʰiːn²¹ t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵/

Idiom

桑田滄海

synonym of 滄海桑田 / 沧海桑田 (cānghǎisāngtián, “time brings drastic changes to the world; the vicissitudes of life”)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
桑	田	滄	海
そう Grade: S	でん Grade: 1	そう Hyōgai	かい Grade: 2
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Etymology

Borrowed from Literary Chinese 桑田滄海 (sāngtiáncānghǎi), literally “the mulberry fields turned into blue sea”.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) そーでんそーかい [sòódéńsóókáí] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
IPA^(key): [so̞ːdẽ̞ɰ̃so̞ːka̠i]

Idiom

桑(そう)田(でん)滄(そう)海(かい) • (sōdensōkai) ^{←さうでんさうかい (saudensaukai)^?}

(figuratively) drastic changes in the world

See also

桑(そう)田(でん)変(へん)じて滄(そう)海(かい)となる (sōden henjite sōkai to naru)
滄(そう)海(かい)桑(そう)田(でん) (sōkaisōden)
滄(そう)海(かい)変(へん)じて桑(そう)田(でん)となる (sōkai henjite sōden to naru)
桑(そう)田(でん)碧(へき)海(かい) (sōdenhekikai)

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN