曾經滄海難為水,除卻巫山不是雲

简 曾经沧海难为水,除却巫山不是云 · 繁 曾經滄海難為水,除卻巫山不是雲
Mandarin · pinyin céng jīng cāng hǎi nán wéi shuǐ , chú què Wū Shān bù shì yún

Meanings

  1. there are no rivers to one who has crossed the ocean, and no clouds to one who has passed Mount Wu (idiom)
  2. one who has seen the world doesn't stop at small things
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Characters in this entry

曾
céng · already; sign of past
經
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滄
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海
hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
難
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為
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水
shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
除
chú · eliminate, remove, except
卻
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巫
wū · wizard, sorcerer, witch, shaman
山
shān · mountain, hill, peak
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
是
shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
雲
yún · clouds; Yunnan province
经
jīng · classic works; pass through
沧
cāng · blue, dark green; cold
难
nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable
为
wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
却
què · still, but; decline; retreat
云
yún · say, speak; clouds
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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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.

曾經滄海難為水,除卻巫山不是雲 · find source passages ↗ · 曾经沧海难为水,除却巫山不是云 · find source passages ↗

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曾經滄海難為水,除卻巫山不是雲 · ceng2 jing1 cang1 hai3 nan2 wei2 shui3 , chu2 que4 Wu1 Shan1 bu4 shi4 yun2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 54,617
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record曾經滄海難為水,除卻巫山不是雲 曾经沧海难为水,除却巫山不是云 [ceng2 jing1 cang1 hai3 nan2 wei2 shui3 , chu2 que4 Wu1 Shan1 bu4 shi4 yun2] /there are no rivers to one who has crossed the ocean, and no clouds to one who has passed Mount Wu (idiom)/one who has seen the world doesn't stop at small things/