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HSK 6
cāng沧bluehǎi海seasāng桑mulberrytián田field
Where blue seas were, now mulberry fields — vast change over time.

Literal meaning

blue (沧) — sea (海) — mulberry (桑) — field (田)

Origin

Ge Hong's Biographies of Divine Transcendents (《神仙传·麻姑》). The immortal Magu remarked casually to a fellow immortal: "Since we last met, I've seen the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times." The line implies a time-scale so long that geography itself shifts. The phrase has been used since to describe sweeping change — geological, historical, or personal — where the original is so transformed you can hardly recognise it.

Examples

Zhè这ge个chéng城shì市biàn变huà化tài太dà大le了，zhēn真shì是cāng沧hǎi海sāng桑tián田。
This city has changed so much — truly a transformation of seas into mulberry fields.
Jīng经lì历le了cāng沧hǎi海sāng桑tián田，tā他hái还shi是nà那ge个rén人。
Through all the vast changes, he's still the same person.

Usage & nuances

Literary, slightly elevated. Used reflectively about long passages of time. Often carries a tone of nostalgia or wonder rather than alarm — the change is taken as inexorable, not catastrophic.

Related chengyu

chuān川liú流bù不xī息
dé得tiān天dú独hòu厚
fēi飞qín禽zǒu走shòu兽
fēng风tǔ土rén人qíng情
hǎi海kuò阔tiān天kōng空
jǐn锦shàng上tiān添huā花

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