恨海难填 — “Deep-seated resentment or hatred is difficult to appease or satisfy”

恨海难填 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Deep-seated resentment or hatred is difficult to appease or satisfy”. Grievances are hard to settle. Literally, “The sea of hatred is hard to fill”.

Frequency

恨海难填 Pronunciation and Pinyin

恨海难填 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
恨	hèn	9	hate, regret
海	hǎi	10	sea, ocean, or vast
难	nán	10	difficult, troublesome, or bad
填	tián	13	fill in, stuff, or block

Example Sentence with 恨海难填

他因为那件事耿耿于怀，至今仍然觉得恨海难填。

He still holds a grudge about that matter, feeling as if his deep-seated resentment is hard to appease even now.

Origin and Story of 恨海难填

According to mythology, in ancient times, Yan Emperor's youngest and most beloved daughter, Nüwa, drowned in the East Sea while swimming.

Her soul then transformed into a spirit bird called Jingwei. She frequently flew to the West Mountain, picking up small stones and twigs, and dropping them into the East Sea, vowing to fill the East Sea to avenge herself.

She kept flying back and forth like this, but ultimately, she never managed to fill the East Sea.

People say this is where the idiom 'the sea of hatred is hard to fill' comes from, symbolizing endless grievances.