滄海の一粟
(Soukai no ichizoku; “A single grain of millet in the deep blue sea”)

Definition:

Something incredibly small in the middle of something something incredibly big. A needle in a haycontinent. Metaphorically, the trifling, ephemeral existence of humans within the universe.

Breakdown:

This week we have another two-part noun phrase. The associative particle の (no) connects number-noun 一粟 (ichizoku), “one (grain of) millet,” to 滄海 (soukai), “blue sea.” And that’s all you need!

Notes:

This comes from Song Dynasty superstar Su Shi (蘇軾, Japanese So Shoku)’s rhymed prose piece “Former Ode on the Red Cliffs” (前赤壁賦, Japanese Zen sekiheki no fu).

In some versions, 滄 may be replaced by homophone 蒼 without any change in meaning. In others, 滄海 may become the more prosaic 大海 (taikai), “big ocean.” A slightly further variation takes this to 大海の一滴 (taikai no itteki), “a drop in the (big) ocean.”

Example sentence:

「宇宙の写真を見ると、綺麗だけど、人類はただの滄海の一粟なんだと思えてたまらなく鬱陶しくなる」

(“Uchuu no shashin wo miru to, kirei da kedo, jinrui wa tada no soukai no ichizoku nanda to omoete tamaranaku uttoushiku naru.”)

[“When I see pictures of space, they’re beautiful, but it reminds me of how humanity is just a tiny speck in a vast sea, which is unbearably depressing.”]