the China Lightroom blog

但愿人长久
Lyrics by poet: Song Dynasty 蘇軾 (Su Shi) aka 蘇东坡(Su DongPo)
Singer: 王菲 (Wang Fei or Faye Wong)
Music score: 梁弘志 (Liang HongZhi)

明月幾時有 把酒問青天
不知天上宮闕 今夕是何年

我欲乘風歸去 唯恐瓊樓玉宇
高處不勝寒 起舞弄清影 何似在人間

轉朱閣低綺戶照無眠
不應有恨何事長向別時圓
人有悲歡離合 月有陰晴圓缺
此事古難全 但願人長久
千里共嬋娟

我欲乘風歸去 唯恐瓊樓玉宇
高處不勝寒 起舞弄清影
何似在人間

轉朱閣低綺戶照無眠
不應有恨何事長向別時圓
人有悲歡離合 月有陰晴圓缺
此事古難全 但願人長久
千里共嬋娟

Translation courtesy of China the Beautiful:

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don’t know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

Another translation courtesy of Xah Lee Web.

When do good times come? i raise my drink to the moon
what year is today? what’s up with the gods?
i would hitch the wind to return
though high places are cold
i play with my shadow, a pleasure it is
the door, the window sill, reflected my sleeplessenss
the resentments, the separation, the bearings
for joy and for gloom, even the moon faces change
this is with us; may people prosper, as ducks in pairs

李白 (Li Bai, 701-762AD) is one of the most beloved Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) poets in Chinese history. This is a rendition of his poem, 静夜思 (“Thoughts on a Still Night”) where he reminisces his home. Below are couple of videos presenting this poem in various ways. Many Chinese children, some, perhaps shortly after they start talking, will be taught this poem (see second video below).

In Beijing Opera Style:

床前明月光，
疑是地上霜。
举头望明月，
低头思故乡。

Below is a translation by the Chinese Poems web site:

http://www.chinese-poems.com/lb4.html

Before my bed, the moon is shining bright,
I think that it is frost upon the ground.
I raise my head and look at the bright moon,
I lower my head and think of home.

Here is another rendition (actually two) by a Chinese scholar and a very cute Chinese girl:

Everyone knows China is going through an industrial revolution right now. In developed countries such as the U.S., this took place in the late 19th century. The ratio between the number of rural and urban residents basically swapped because industrialization freed the bulk of the population from having to work in the fields to produce food for all. This phenomenon is occurring in China right now with her massive GDP growth in the last three decades. Despite the hundreds of millions of people having moved to urban areas, the number of Chinese citizens residing in the rural areas is still staggering – 750 million. If the final ratio is similar to other developed countries (which is likely), the scale of this population movement in the coming decades is mind-numbing. Imagine one billion people on the move in only a few decades!

A lot of Chinese people are going to be missing their prairies, farms, and villages. This song, titled, “父亲的草原母亲的河” (“Father’s Prairie, Mother’s River”), performed by 布仁巴雅尔 (Buren Bayaer), a Mongolian Chinese singer, readily resonates with the hundreds of millions of Chinese who have moved in the last three decades. It will continue to resonate for decades to come.

Equally, many “mother tongues” are going to be lost too, as the song laments. This phenomenon is easy to explain. In the U.S., many Americans who are descendants of immigrants usually loose the ability to speak their ancestors languages within one or two generations in favor of the official language, English. China has hundreds of dialects and thousands of accents. As they all converge in urban areas, they will predominantly speak the official dialect.

Many Chinese citizens visiting their parents at their old homes during the Chinese New Year will have this feeling.

The uploaded video, translation, and further info are courtesy of YallMeanMVP over at Youtube.com. According to YallMeanMVP, “the lyrics are adopted from a beautiful poem “Father’s Prairie, Mother’s River”(父亲的草原母亲的河), written by the renowned contemporary Mongolian Chinese writer/poetess 席慕容(Xi Murong).” (YallMeanMVP’s channel has a nice collection of Chinese videos and I recommend heading over for a look.)

YallMeanMVP: much thanks to yuluns for providing the translation:

Song/Poem Title:
父亲的草原母亲的河
Father’s Prairie, Mother’s River

词:席慕容 曲:乌兰托嘎
Lyrics/Poem: Xi Murong
Composer: ????

父亲曾经形容草原的清香
Father used to describe the fragrance of the prairie

让他在天涯海角也从不能相忘
A scent that followed him to the edges of the world

母亲总爱描摹那大河浩荡
Mother always spoke of the turbulence of the river

奔流在蒙古高原我遥远的家乡
Raging through the Mongolian steppes, my distant home

如今终于见到这辽阔大地
Now that I finally come to see this great land

站在芬芳的草原上我泪落如雨
Tears rain down my face as I stand on these fragrant prairies

河水在传唱着祖先的祝福
The river sings of the prayers of the forefathers

保佑漂泊的孩子,找到回家的路
Blessing the prodigal son to find his way home

啊!父亲的草原
Ah, father’s prairie

啊!母亲的河
Ah, mother’s river

虽然己经不能用母语来诉说
Though I can no longer express them in my mother tongue

请接纳我的悲伤我的欢乐
Please accept my feelings of sorrow and joy

我也是高原的孩子啊
I, too, am a son of the steppes

心里有一首歌
There is a song in my heart

歌中有我父亲的草原母亲的河
It sings of my father’s prairie and my mother’s river