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[Jeff Chang] 张信哲 - 白月光 | White moonlight


renn

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Jeff Chang (张信哲) -
| White moonlight[1]
 
 
Lyrics: æŽç„¯é›„ (Francis Lee)
Composition: æ¾æœ¬ä¿Šæ˜Ž (Matsumoto Toshiaki)
Arrangement: Terence Teo
 

Lyrics translation by @renn at www.onehallyu.com

credits.png

 
 
 
白月光 心里æŸä¸ªåœ°æ–¹ã€€é‚£ä¹ˆäº®ã€€å´é‚£ä¹ˆå†°å‡‰
æ¯ä¸ªäººã€€éƒ½æœ‰ä¸€æ®µæ‚²ä¼¤ã€€æƒ³éšè—ã€€å´æ¬²ç›–弥彰
 
bái yuè guÄng / xÄ«n lÇ mÇ’u gè dì fÄng / nà me liàng / què nà me bÄ«ng liáng
mÄ›i gè rén / dÅu yÇ’u yÄ« duàn bÄ“i shÄng / xiÇŽng yÇn cáng / què yù gài mí zhÄng
 
White moonlight, some place within the heart, oh so bright, and yet oh so cold.
Every person has a sorrowful experience. [He or she] wants to conceal [it], but such an effort only makes it more conspicuous.
 
 
白月光 照天涯的两端 在心上 å´ä¸åœ¨èº«æ—
擦ä¸å¹²ã€€ä½ å½“时的泪光 路太长 追ä¸å›žåŽŸè°…
 
bái yuè guÄng / zhào tiÄn yá de liÇŽng duÄn / zài xÄ«n shàng / què bù zài shÄ“n páng
cÄ bù gÄn / nÇ dÄng shí de lèi guÄng / lù tài cháng / zhuÄ« bù huí yuán liàng
 
White moonlight shines upon both ends of the vast world. [it is] in [my] heart but [it] isn't by [my] side.
cannot wipe dry the glistening tears you had back then. The road is too long. cannot get [your] forgiveness back.
 
 
#
你是我 ä¸èƒ½è¨€è¯´çš„伤 想é—忘 åˆå¿ä¸ä½å›žæƒ³
åƒæµäº¡ã€€ä¸€è·¯è·Œè·Œæ’žæ’žã€€ä½ çš„æ†ç»‘ã€€æ— æ³•é‡Šæ”¾
 
nÇ shì wÇ’ / bù néng yán shuÅ de shÄng / xiÇŽng yí wàng / yòu rÄ›n bù zhù huí xiÇŽng
xiàng liú wáng / yÄ« lù diÄ“ diÄ“ zhuàng zhuàng / nÇ de kÇ”n bÇŽng / wú fÇŽ shì fàng
 
You are a wound of mine that cannot be spoken of, [a wound that I] want to forget and yet can't help but recall.
As if exiled, stagger along the way. There is no means by which to release the binds you've put upon [me].
 
 
白月光 照天涯的两端 越圆满 越觉得孤å•
擦ä¸å¹²ã€€å›žå¿†é‡Œçš„æ³ªå…‰ã€€è·¯å¤ªé•¿ã€€æ€Žä¹ˆè¡¥å¿
 
bái yuè guÄng / zhào tiÄn yá de liÇŽng duÄn / yuè yuán mÇŽn / yuè jué dé gÅ« dÄn
cÄ bù gÄn / huí yì lÇ de lèi guÄng / lù tài cháng / zÄ›n me bÇ” cháng
 
White moonlight illuminates both ends of the world. The fuller [the moon grows], the lonelier feel.
cannot wipe dry the glistening tears within [my] memories. The road is too long. How can make it up to [you]?
 
 
Repeat #
 
 
白月光 心里æŸä¸ªåœ°æ–¹ã€€é‚£ä¹ˆäº®ã€€å´é‚£ä¹ˆå†°å‡‰
æ¯ä¸ªäººã€€éƒ½æœ‰ä¸€æ®µæ‚²ä¼¤ã€€æƒ³éšè— å´åœ¨ç”Ÿé•¿
 
bái yuè guÄng / xÄ«n lÇ mÇ’u gè dì fÄng / nà me liàng / què nà me bÄ«ng liáng
mÄ›i gè rén / dÅu yÇ’u yÄ« duàn bÄ“i shÄng / xiÇŽng yÇn cáng / què zài shÄ“ng zhÇŽng
 
White moonlight, some place within the heart, oh so bright, and yet oh so cold.
Every person has a sorrowful experience. [He or she] wants to conceal [it], but instead [it] grows.
 
 
 
T/N:
 
[1] In modern times, 白月光 (literally "white moonlight") has special implications in Chinese. A person's "white/bright moonlight" is usually another person that he or she can gaze upon and reminisce over but cannot actually have or hold. It originated from author Eileen Chang's 1944 novel "Red Rose and White Rose":
 
Original text:
也许æ¯ä¸€ä¸ªç”·å­å…¨éƒ½æœ‰è¿‡è¿™æ ·çš„两个女人,至少两个。娶了红玫瑰,久而久之,红的å˜äº†å¢™ä¸Šçš„一抹蚊å­è¡€ï¼Œç™½çš„还是"åºŠå‰æ˜Žæœˆå…‰";娶了白玫瑰,白的便是衣æœä¸Šæ²¾çš„一粒饭é»å­ï¼Œçº¢çš„å´æ˜¯å¿ƒå£ä¸Šä¸€é¢—朱砂痣。
 
Roughly:
Perhaps each and every man has had two such women, at least two. Marry the red rose, then as time passes, the red becomes a smear of mosquito blood on the wall while the white remains "the bright moonlight before the bed"*; marry the white rose, then the white is a grain of cooked rice that has stuck on his clothes and yet the red is a cinnabar mole upon his heart.
 
[*an allusion to Li Bai's poem "A Quiet Night Thought".]
 
===
 
A note of interest: there is another official version of this song released half a year before Jeff Chang's version. Sung by Korean operatic pop singer Lim Hyung-joo, the other release is called
("Misty Moon").
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This song was recently brought back into the limelight by the TV drama "Story of Yanxi Palace". Since the requester asked specifically using the following video in which famous MC He Jiong performed the song (and since I feel like it :p) , I will translate the spoken parts and written text as well. I've also indicated the names of the actor and actresses as well as the names of their roles in this drama.

 

 

 

 

Charmaine Sheh (Consort Xian):
 
皇上 皇åŽå·²æ•… 请节哀
 
Emperor, the Empress has already passed away. Please do not grieve too much.
 
T/N: 节哀 ("do not grieve too much") might sound like a weird thing to say to the bereaved in English, but it is a typical and respectful thing to say in Chinese.
 
 
Liu Yijun (the Qianlong Emperor):
 
凤輤é€é¥å³æ®¡å®«
感时忆旧痛何穷
ä¸€å¤©æ—¥è‰²å«æ„白
三月山花作æ¶çº¢
 
The Empress's pall [travels], free and unfettered, till the burial palace.
Sighing with emotion over how things have changed and reminiscing over the past, the pain is infinite.
[During this] day, the sunlight, full of sorrow, is pale.
The mountain flowers of the third month of the year are doing evil by [blooming in such vivid shades of] red.
 
T/N: I may or may not have done a terrible job at translating this, since I'm not personally familiar with the original poem, but this is an excerpt from one of the many poems the Qianlong Emperor wrote in the wake of the death of Empress Xiaoxianchun (Empress Fuca), his first wife. Note I'm saying "third month", because it is not March as we know it. This is the third month of the lunar calendar.
 
 
*Singing*
 
 
Text:
 
雿­£äº”年(1727)
七月åå…«æ—¥
皇四å­å¼˜åŽ†ä¸Žå¯Œå¯Ÿæ°
于é‡åŽå®«æˆå©šã€‚
 
In the fifth year of the Yongzheng Era (1727),
On the eighteenth day of the seventh month,
The Emperor's fourth son Hongli and Lady Fuca
Married in Chonghua Palace.
 
T/N: The Yongzheng Emperor was the Qianlong Emperor's father and predecessor. It was during his reign that Hongli (the Qianlong Emperor's first name) took Lady Fuca (Fuca being her clan name) as his wife.
 
 
*Singing*
 
 
Liu Yijun (the Qianlong Emperor):
 
上æœ
 
[i'll be] holding court.
 
T/N: The phrasing is a bit, errr...it's more like he's telling his servants he's gonna be holding court so they will be going to where court is usually held and that things should be ready for him when he gets there.
 
 
Qin Lan (Empress Fuca):
 
臣妾æ­é€çš‡ä¸Š
 
I send you off respectfully, Emperor.
 
T/N: In the past, it was quite disrespectful/inappropriate to directly say "I" or "you", especially when speaking with someone who was your social superior. So the "I" here (臣妾) is actually a self-appellation that an Empress would have used when speaking to the Emperor, which has its etymological roots in slavery during Ancient China. The "you" part also doesn't exist; she simply refers to him as "Emperor".
 
 
*Singing*
 
 
Text:
 
乾隆三年,
å†¬åæœˆï¼Œ
çš‡æ¬¡å­æ°¸ç薨,
è¾æœäº”日。
 
In the third year of the Qianlong Era,
In the tenth month, during winter,
The Emperor's second son, Yonglian, passes away.
The Emperor suspends court for five days.
 
T/N: Yonglian was the Qianlong Emperor's second son, but he was the first that Empress Fuca bore him. The archaic word for "pass away" used here (è–¨) was reserved for the death of nobles or individuals of high office.
 
 
Liu Yijun (the Qianlong Emperor):
 
奉天承è¿çš‡å¸åˆ¶æ›°
æ°¸ç乃朕之嫡å­
èªæ˜Žè´µé‡æ°”宇ä¸å‡¡
命为皇太å­
乾隆元年七月åˆäºŒ
 
Following the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
Yonglian is my son, born to me by my wife.
He is intelligent and precious, extraordinary in his bearing.
I name him as the Crown Prince.
First year of the Qianlong Era, seventh month, second day.
 
T/N: In the polygamy practiced during Imperial China, a man usually only had one legal wife (妻) at a time. The other women he had official relationships with were his concubine (妾). The children he had with his wife were of higher status than the children he had with his concubines (嫡出 vs 庶出). This status was usually reflected in how such children were viewed and treated by the family, society, and laws, affecting inheritance, marriage prospects etc. In some ways, the inheritance aspect might be more variable in the Emperor's immediate family (heck, the Qianlong Emperor himself wasn't a "wife's son" given that his birth mother was never Empress during his father's lifetime), but still, on its own, being the Empress's son was a condition of prestige.
 
 
Qin Lan (Empress Fuca):
 
åŽŸæ¥ çš‡ä¸Šæ—©å·²ç«‹æ°¸ç为太å­
皇上对永ç寄予期望
坿˜¯æˆ‘å´æ€¨ä»–æ¨ä»–
我错了
这些年我真的是大错特错
 
So actually, the Emperor made Yonglian the Crown Prince a long time ago.
He had great hopes for Yonglian.
And yet I blamed him and and hated him.
I was wrong.
During these years, I've truly been gravely mistaken.
 
 
*Singing*
 
 
Liu Yijun (the Qianlong Emperor):
 
朕七åå²å•¦
朕的曾孙都快è¦ç»“婚啦
富察你看到了å—
 
I am seventy years old.
Even my great grandsons are going to get married soon.
Fuca, are you seeing this?
 
T/N: The "I" here (朕) is a self-appellation only the Emperor was allowed to use.
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