桑田 (sāng tián) — mulberry field; mulberry plantation

Definition

Literary term for a 'mulberry field,' used mainly in the set phrase 沧海桑田 ('seas turn into mulberry fields') to mean great changes over time. Not used for everyday 'farmland' — that's 田地.

noun
mulberry fieldmulberry plantation
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 桑田。
    Zhè piàn sāng tián yǐ jīng yǒu shàng bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
    This mulberry field has a history of over a hundred years.
  • 桑田。
    Tā zài sāng tián lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō sāng shù.
    He planted many mulberry trees in the mulberry field.
  • 桑田，。
    Cāng hǎi biàn sāng tián, shì shì biàn huà wú cháng.
    The vast sea turned into mulberry fields; everything in the world is unpredictable.

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.

桑sāngmulberry
田tiánfield

A field planted with mulberry trees: 桑 gives the plant, 田 the land.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

田 looks like a field divided into four sections.

Open 田 →

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