滄海一粟

See also: 沧海一粟

Chinese

		vast ocean; large ocean	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	grain; millet
trad. (滄海一粟)		滄海	一	粟
simp. (沧海一粟)		沧海	一	粟

Etymology

From Su Shi's Former Ode on the Red Cliffs:

寄蜉蝣於天地，渺浮海之一粟。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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寄蜉蝣于天地，渺浮海之一粟。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Jì fúyóu yú tiāndì, miǎo fú hǎi zhī yī sù. [Pinyin]

We are like mayflies wandering in this terrestrial world or a grain of millet drifting on a deep ocean.

In some versions of the original text, 浮海 (fú hǎi, “floating in the ocean”) is written as 滄海 / 沧海 (cānghǎi, “large ocean”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cānghǎiyīsù

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄧ ㄙㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cong¹ hoi² jat¹ suk¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cānghǎiyīsù [Phonetic: cānghǎiyísù]
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄧ ㄙㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: canghǎiyisù
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻang¹-hai³-i¹-su⁴
    • Yale: tsāng-hǎi-yī-sù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsanghaeisuh
    • Palladius: цанхайису (canxajisu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ su⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cong¹ hoi² jat¹ suk¹
    • Yale: chōng hói yāt sūk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsong¹ hoi² jat⁷ suk⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: cong¹ hoi² yed¹ sug¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵ jɐt̚⁵ sʊk̚⁵/

Idiom

滄海一粟

1. drop in the ocean; drop in the bucket