bể dâu

See also: bedau

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

dâu bể

Etymology

Short for bãi bể nương dâu. From a Chinese myth in which a goddess said she'd seen the sea turned into mulberry fields multiple times. The notion of 滄海桑田／沧海桑田 (cānghǎisāngtián, “the blue sea and the mulberry fields”) are consolidated in Vietnamese as a compound of bể (“sea”) +‎ dâu (“mulberry”).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓe˧˩ zəw˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˨ jəw˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˨˩˦ jəw˧˧]

Noun

bể dâu

(rare, poetic) all the vicissitudes of human life
Synonym: thăng trầm
- 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)‎, published 1866, lines 3–4:
  𣦆(Trải)戈(qua)没(một)局(cuộc)𣷭(bể)橷(dâu)
  仍(Những)調(điều)𬖉(trông)𧡊(thấy)㐌(đã)𤴬(đau)疸(đớn)𢚸(lòng)
  A turbulent mulberry-field-covered-by-sea period had passed.
  The things that we saw still deeply pain our hearts.

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