Mulberry fields
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In China, at least since the middle of Tang dynasty, the phrase mulberry fields is a metonymy for the land which was or will be covered by oceans.[1][note 1] This term is often used in Chinese literature and poetry, for example in Zuo Zhuan, which is about the death of Duke Jing of Jin and mentions the "Shaman of Mulberry Fields" (Chinese: 桑田巫; pinyin: sāngtián wū).[note 2][2][3] Along with the "blue seas" phrase, since the Han dynasty, these two phrases were combined into an idiom that has meaning about changes and changing.[4][5]
Mulberry fields | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 滄海桑田 桑田滄海 滄桑 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 沧海桑田 桑田沧海 沧桑 | ||||||||||
Literal meaning | the vast sea (turned into) mulberry fields | ||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||
Vietnamese | bãi bể nương dâu bể dâu thương hải tang điền tang thương tang hải | ||||||||||
Hán-Nôm | 𡓁𣷭埌橷 𣷭橷 | ||||||||||
Chữ Hán | 滄海桑田 桑滄 桑海 | ||||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||||
Hangul | 창해상전 상전벽해 | ||||||||||
Hanja | 滄海桑田 桑田碧海 | ||||||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||||||
Kanji | 滄海桑田 桑田滄海 桑田碧海 | ||||||||||
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The mathematics book shushù jìyí 数术记遗 (shushù jìyí) by Xu Yue, from the Han dynasty,[6] mentioned an idea about the turning of blue seas into mulberry fields.[5] Yan Zhenqing, in his literature Magu Shan Xiantan Ji (痲姑山仙墰記), wrote that on the high tops of Mount Magu there could still be found clam and oyster shells, and he also mentioned the gardens and fields which once were under the water.[1][5]