沧海 (cāng hǎi) — (literary) the vast blue sea; (figurative) something immense or subject to great change (e.g., in idioms 沧海桑田, 沧海一粟)

Definition

Literary term for 'the vast blue sea', used in writing and idioms like 沧海桑田 ('seas turn to mulberry fields' — great change) and 沧海一粟 ('a drop in the ocean' — something tiny).

noun
(literary) the vast blue sea(figurative) something immense or subject to great change (e.g., in idioms 沧海桑田, 沧海一粟)

Examples

  • 著沧海，。
    Kàn zhù cāng hǎi, tā gǎn dào zì jǐ shí fēn miǎo xiǎo.
    Looking at the vast sea, he felt himself to be very small.
  • ，沧海。
    Bú dào bǎi nián, zhè lǐ yǐ yóu cāng hǎi biàn wéi sāng tián.
    In less than a hundred years, this place has gone from a vast ocean to mulberry fields.
  • ，沧海。
    Zài lì shǐ de cháng hé zhōng, gè rén de chéng jiù bú guò cāng hǎi yí sù.
    In the long river of history, an individual's achievements are but a drop in the ocean.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

沧cāngblue-green
海hǎisea

沧 (blue-green) describes 海 (sea), giving the vast blue sea.

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 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →

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