苍茫云海间

蒼茫雲海間

cāngmángyúnhǎijiān

phrase

Meanings

1 (the moon rises) amid the vast, boundless sea of clouds
2 (fig.) evokes the grand, lonely majesty of the moon over an endless cloudscape
3 (lit.) vast-boundless cloud-sea between

Characters

boundless (苍茫 = vast and indistinct)

sea (云海 = sea of clouds)

间

jiān

between / amid

Examples

飞机起飞后，他望向窗外，苍茫云海间，圆月初升。

Fēijī qǐfēi hòu, tā wàng xiàng chuāng wài, cāngmáng yúnhǎi jiān, yuán yuè chū shēng.

After takeoff he looked out the window: 'amid the vast sea of clouds, the full moon was just rising.'

李白笔下的明月出天山，苍茫云海间，画面壮阔。

Lǐ Bái bǐxià de míngyuè chū Tiānshān, cāngmáng yúnhǎi jiān, huàmiàn zhuàngkuò.

Li Bai's 'bright moon rising from the Tianshan, amid the vast sea of clouds' paints a magnificent scene.

Tips

history

From 李白《关山月》(Li Bai, 'Moon Over the Frontier Pass,' High Tang, 8th c.): 明月出天山，苍茫云海间。长风几万里，吹度玉门关 (The bright moon rises over the Tianshan mountains, amid the vast sea of clouds. The long wind, for tens of thousands of li, blows across the Jade Gate Pass). One of Li Bai's great border-frontier poems; reflects on garrison soldiers' wives waiting far away.

usage

Always paired with 明月出天山. 苍茫 alone is a set word meaning 'vast and indistinct / boundless.' Quoted in anything about moonlit seas of cloud — flights, mountain summits, cinema.

Stroke Order

苍 cāng

茫 máng

云 yún

海 hǎi

间 jiān