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[Alan] 阿兰 - 赤�~大江东去~ | Red Cliff~The Yangtze River flows into the east~


renn

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Alan (阿兰) - 赤å£ï½žå¤§æ±Ÿä¸œåŽ»ï½ž | Red Cliff~The Yangtze River flows into the east~
 

 

Lyrics: æŽç„¯é›„ (Lee Cheuk-hung)
Composition: 岩代太郎 (Iwashiro Tarou)
 
Lyrics translation by renn at www.onehallyu.com
JpLeu62.png
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yan52Gp2G5I

 

 

看 大江东去
浪花淘尽 åƒå¤è‹±é›„
笑 指点江山
æ˜¯éžæˆè´¥ 俱ç°é£žçƒŸç­
此地一为别
é’山旧 é›¨åˆæ­‡
è±ªæƒ…å´ å‘è°è¯´

kàn / dà jiÄng dÅng qù
làng huÄ táo jÇn / qiÄn gÇ” yÄ«ng xióng
xiào / zhÇ diÇŽn jiÄng shÄn
shì fÄ“i chéng bài / jù huÄ« fÄ“i yÄn miè
cÇ dì yÄ« wéi bié
qÄ«ng shÄn jiù / yÇ” chÅ« xiÄ“
háo qíng què / xiàng shéi shuÅ

Watch [as] the Yangtze River flows into the east.
[its] waves have washed away all of the mighty heroes throughout the ages.[1.1]
Laugh [as one] comments on the affairs of the country.
Rights and wrongs, successes and failures—they are all swift to vanish.[2]
Once [we say our] farewells here,
The green mountains [will] be as they have always been [and] the rain [will have] just stopped,
But to whom [shall I] speak of [my] lofty sentiments?


机é‡éš¾èµŠ 东风且暂借
æµå¹´ä¼¼æ°´è¶³å°éš¾é‡å 
赤å£éš¾è¾¨ 风æµäº‘散处
åªå‰©ä¸‹å½“时明月

jÄ« yù nán shÄ“ / dÅng fÄ“ng qiÄ› zàn jiè
liú nián sì shuÇ zú yìn nán chóng dié
chì bì nán biàn / fēng liú yún sàn chù
zhÇ shèng xià dÄng shí míng yuè

Favorable circumstances are hard to hold on to [so let me] take advantage of [these] driving winds of change.[3]
Time passes like water and does not return; [our] footprints are unlikely to overlap.
The Red Cliffs are hard to make out. In the place where the winds flow and the clouds scatter,
All that remains is the bright moon of that time.


*
枉 海阔天空
æ•…äººä¸æ›¾å…¥æ¢¦
几度夕阳红 晚钟

wÇŽng / hÇŽi kuò tiÄn kÅng
gù rén bù céng rù mèng
jÇ dù xÄ« yáng hóng / wÇŽn zhÅng

What is the worth of the sea being boundless and the sky vast?
[My] old friend has never entered [my] dreams.
How many sunsets [has it been]? [How many times has] the evening bell [tolled]?


**
分久必åˆåˆä¹…必分
暂寄天地之间敌å‹éš¾åˆ†
多情应笑我åŽå‘生
ä½†ä¸ºå›æ•…独沉åŸè‡³ä»Š
一时瑜亮一壶酒万å¤é”€æ²‰
äººé“æ˜¯åˆ†ä¹…å¿…åˆ åˆä¹…必分

fēn jiǔ bì hé hé jiǔ bì fēn
zàn jì tiÄn dì zhÄ« jiÄn dí yÇ’u nán fÄ“n
duŠqíng yīng xiào wǒ huá fà shēng
dàn wèi jūn gù dú chén yín zhì jīn
yÄ« shí yú liàng yÄ« hú jiÇ” wàn gÇ” xiÄo chén
rén dào shì fēn jiǔ bì hé hé jiǔ bì fēn

[A world] long split will without a doubt unify; [a world] long unified will without a doubt split.[4]
Temporarily residing between [this] heaven and earth, it is hard to distinguish between enemies and friends.
[One] ought to laugh at me for being [so] sentimental and prone to heartsickness [that] my hairs have turned gray.[1.2]
But because of you, [i have been] alone in deep thought till now.[5]
Evenly matched[6], [we share] a pot of wine. Throughout the ages, [everything and everyone has always] disappeared.[7]
As they say, [a world] long split will without a doubt unify; [a world] long unified will without a doubt split.


和你终须一别
秋月春风残雪

hé nÇ zhÅng xÅ« yÄ« bié
qiū yuè chūn fēng cán xuě

To you, I must ultimately bid farewell.
The autumn moon, the spring wind, the leftover snow.


Repeat *


Repeat **


和你终须一别

hé nÇ zhÅng xÅ« yÄ« bié

To you, I must ultimately bid farewell.


分久必åˆåˆä¹…必分
暂寄天地之间主客难分
多情应笑我åŽå‘生
ä½†ä¸ºå›æ•…独沉åŸè‡³ä»Š
一时瑜亮一壶酒戎马一生
äººé“æ˜¯åˆ†ä¹…å¿…åˆåˆä¹…必分

fēn jiǔ bì hé hé jiǔ bì fēn
zàn jì tiÄn dì zhÄ« jiÄn zhÇ” kè nán fÄ“n
duŠqíng yīng xiào wǒ huá fà shēng
dàn wèi jūn gù dú chén yín zhìjīn
yī shí yú liàng yī hú jiǔ róng mǎ yī shēng
rén dào shì fēn jiǔ bì hé hé jiǔ bì fēn

[A world] long split will without a doubt unify; [a world] long unified will without a doubt split.
Temporarily residing between [this] heaven and earth, it is hard to distinguish between hosts and guests.
[One] ought to laugh at me for being [so] sentimental and prone to heartsickness [that] my hairs have turned gray.
But because of you, [i have been] alone in deep thought till now.
Evenly matched, [we share] a pot of wine. [We have devoted our] entire lives [to] the army.[8]
As they say, [a world] long split will without a doubt unify; [a world] long unified will without a doubt split.


人生纵使一别
天涯共此明月

rén shÄ“ng zòng shÇ yÄ« bié
tiÄn yá gòng cÇ míng yuè

In life, even if [we have] bidden [each other] farewell,
All corners of the earth share this bright moon.[9]



T/N:

 

[1] It is quite obvious that the lyricist took inspiration from a poem by Song Dynasty poet Su Shi (perhaps more widely known as Su Dongpo) called ã€Šå¿µå¥´å¨‡Â·èµ¤å£æ€€å¤ã€‹, written in memory of the Red Cliffs.

  • [1.1] The opening lines of the song borrows from the opening line of the poem: 大江东去,浪淘尽,åƒå¤é£Žæµäººç‰©. Here, 大江 is literally "great river", but when speaking of the great river within the context of China, it refers to the Yangtze River.
  • [1.2] This borrows from another line of the poem: 故国神游,多情应笑我,早生åŽå‘.

 

[2] ç°é£žçƒŸç­ is literally "the ashes fly away and the smoke dies out".

[3] 东风 is literally "easterly wind" and often refers to some key factor or opportunity that sets into motion a plan or revolution.

[4] I'm not sure how far back this saying goes but I know it is found in the opening chapter of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a novel detailing the Three Kingdoms period; one of the four great classics of Chinese literature): è¯è¯´å¤©ä¸‹å¤§åŠ¿ï¼Œåˆ†ä¹…å¿…åˆï¼Œåˆä¹…必分. This line speaks to the impermanence and ever-shifting nature of the people, the powers, and all things of this world.

[5] This line borrows from 《短歌行》 (one of two) by Cao Cao: ä½†ä¸ºå›æ•…,沉åŸè‡³ä»Š. æ²‰åŸ usually means to ponder certain matters, but Cao Cao uses it with a sense of yearning for certain persons (in his case, yearning for capable virtuous individuals to help him unite the land and build a great kingdom).

[6] 一时瑜亮 refers to two people of outstanding abilities who are evenly matched. The saying traces back to Romance of the Three Kingdoms. 瑜 (yu) refers to Zhou Yu whereas 亮 (liang) refers to Zhuge Liang. The former was a general under the State of Eastern Wu while the latter was the chancellor of the State of Shu Han. Both were great military strategists and their rivalry was renowned. However, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang joined forces for the Battle of Red Cliffs, united against Cao Cao and the State of Wei.

[7] With regards to 万å¤é”€æ²‰, I'd like to point out a line in Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu's poem ã€Šç™»ä¹æ¸¸åŽŸã€‹: 长空澹澹孤鸟没,万å¤é”€æ²‰å‘此中. Using a lone bird as a metaphor for himself/fellow scholars, this line describes how, since ancient times, lone birds have always disappeared thus into the bare, vast sky. This is how I decided upon which meaning of 销沉 to take. As well, the line in the lyrics is subjectless so I substituted "everything and everyone", but I think the the subject present in the poem gives more context for understanding exactly what can't escape the fate of disappearing: people like "us" (the you and I of this song) who serve our kingdoms.

 

[8] 戎马 are warhorses and serve as a metaphor for military life.

 

[9] This line borrows from the opening line of Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Jiuling's poem 《望月怀远》: 海上生明月,天涯共此时. The moon rises over the sea and, upon seeing it, he thinks of his friend in a distant place who is seeing the same moon.
 

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Now I'm more in awe with the song thanks to its lyrics. And the translation notes really help learning about Chinese culture.

Thank you sooooo much for volunteering to do the translation, I really appreciate it :')

 

you're welcome! this type of song is much harder to translate than modern pop, but because of its lyrical density, it is also much richer and more flavorful. this may not always come across fully purely by translating, so I always end up writing a lot of notes. xD; chinese idioms and classical poetry are incredibly fascinating to me--the vivid imagery and abundance of metaphors, the clever structural parallelisms and inversions, the underlying stories... it's really neat stuff. ^^

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