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沧桑 (cāng sāng) — great changes, vicissitudes (of life, time, or history)

Definition

A literary noun for the vast, weathered changes brought by time — 'vicissitudes.' Unlike 变迁 (a verb for ongoing change) or 起伏 (rise-and-fall movement), 沧桑 evokes a weary, timeworn feeling.

noun
great changesvicissitudes (of life, time, or history)

Examples

  • 沧桑。
    Tā de yì shēng chōng mǎn le cāng sāng.
    His life was full of vicissitudes.
  • 沧桑。
    Zhè zuò gǔ chéng lì jīng le shù bǎi nián de cāng sāng.
    This ancient city has gone through centuries of changes.
  • ，沧桑。
    Cóng tā de yǎn shén lǐ, nǐ néng kàn dào suì yuè de cāng sāng.
    From her eyes, you can see the changes of time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

沧cāngsea
桑sāngmulberry

沧桑 pairs 沧 (sea) and 桑 (mulberry) to evoke sea turning into mulberry fields, hence vicissitudes.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 滄; 沧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng滄cāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 滄 has 氵, a water sign, beside 倉, which gives the sound; the simplified 沧 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the old 倉.

Open 沧 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

桑 is a picture of a mulberry tree, with its upper part drawn as the tree's foliage.

Open 桑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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