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曾經滄海

简曾经沧海 · 繁曾經滄海

Mandarin · pinyin céng jīng cāng hǎi

lit. having crossed the vast ocean (idiom)
fig. widely experienced in the vicissitudes of life

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Characters in this entry

曾: céng · already; sign of past
經: Look up this written character
滄: Look up this written character
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
经: jīng · classic works; pass through
沧: cāng · blue, dark green; cold

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–1–3 · ceng2 jing1 cang1 hai3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

曾經滄海 · find source passages ↗ · 曾经沧海 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cang4 ging1 cong1 hoi2

Cantonese word readings for 曾經滄海. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) been there, done that

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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