滄

Originally means the great sea or vast body of water.

A phono-semantic compound:

水 (water) — semantic component, indicating rivers, seas, or liquid

倉 (granary; storehouse) — phonetic component, providing the sound chang

The image suggests a body of water as vast and full as a granary, which naturally developed into the idea of a great, boundless sea.

창해 (滄海) — the great sea; the vast ocean

창상 (滄桑) — vicissitudes of life; great worldly changes

창청 (滄靑) — deep blue; azure (literary)

창랑 (滄浪) — blue waves; name associated with rivers and poetic imagery

滄海桑田 (창해상전) — “great changes over time”

Related characters:

海 — sea

洋 — ocean

碧 — deep blue / jade-green

蒼 — blue-green; vast (often interchangeable in poetic contexts)

滄 frequently pairs with 海 (sea) or 桑 (mulberry) in classical idioms.

The color sense of 滄 is cool, deep blue, often implying age, depth, and solemnity.

滄 is primarily literary rather than conversational in all modern languages.

滄 is a character rich in poetic depth, signifying the great sea, deep blue vastness, and the changing nature of the world. Built from water and the sound of 倉, it evolved from a physical description of the ocean into a powerful metaphor for time, impermanence, and immensity, preserved today mainly in classical idioms and literary language.

Classical citations:

《葛洪·神仙傳·麻姑》 (Ge Hong)

「麻姑曰：『接待以來，已見東海三為桑田。』」

“Ma Gu said: ‘Since I have attended here, I have already seen the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times.” — This means, that the world undergoes vast changes.

《莊子》 (Zhuangzi)

「滄海之水，不可以斗量也。」

“The waters of the great sea cannot be measured with a ladle.”

Here, 滄海 symbolizes immeasurable vastness and cosmic scale.