bể dâu

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), Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], Liễu Văn Ðường edition, published 1866, line 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)
  How many harrowing events
  Had occurred while fields of mulberries
  Covered the shores of the conquered seas!

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