渤澥桑田 bó xiè sāng tián

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. blue seas where once was mulberry fields (idiom, from 史記|史记[Shi3 ji4], Record of the Grand Historian); time brings great changes
  2. life's vicissitudes

CHARACTERS

渤 bó swelling; the Gulf of Hopei (Hebei)
澥 xiè a blocked stream; gulf
桑 sāng
HSK 6
mulberry tree; surname
田 tián
HSK 6
field, arable land, cultivated