沧海桑田

滄海桑田
cānghǎisāngtián
  1. lit. the blue sea turned into mulberry fields (idiom)
  2. fig. the transformations of the world

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 沧 cāng
  1. (bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green
  2. (literary) cold
2 海 hǎi
  1. ocean
  2. sea
  3. great number of people or things
  4. (dialect) numerous

classifiers: 個, 片
=3 桑 sāng (bound form) mulberry tree
=3 桑 sāng old variant of 桑 sāng
4 田 tián
  1. field
  2. farm

classifier: 片