沧桑

滄桑

cāngsāng

noun HSK 7-9 #31,228

Meanings

1 great changes
2 vicissitudes
3 the ups and downs of life

Characters

Examples

老人的脸上写满了沧桑。

Lǎorén de liǎnshàng xiě mǎn le cāngsāng.

The old man's face was etched with the marks of a hard life.

这座城市经历了百年沧桑。

Zhè zuò chéngshì jīnglì le bǎinián cāngsāng.

This city has been through a hundred years of vicissitudes.

历尽沧桑之后，他终于找到了内心的平静。

Lìjìn cāngsāng zhīhòu, tā zhōngyú zhǎodào le nèixīn de píngjìng.

After going through all the ups and downs, he finally found inner peace.

Tips

history

沧桑 is short for 沧海桑田 (cānghǎi sāngtián), literally 'the sea becomes mulberry fields.' It comes from a Daoist legend about a fairy who witnessed the sea turn into farmland three times, symbolizing the vast changes of time.

Stroke Order

沧 cāng

桑 sāng