Chinese Online Class - Lyrics to song from House of Flying Daggers -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Lyrics to song from House of Flying Daggers
Home New Posts

Login: Pass: Log in or register for standard view and full access.








TefJLives -

Hi all,

I like Chinese cinema a lot, so I thought I'd try to learn some Chinese for fun. I hope someone
here can help me, I want to learn the lyrics to the song near the beginning of House of the Flying
Daggers. Here's a link to it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GxnzABccR40

Here are the lyrics that someone posted on that page in Pinyin:

bei fang you jia ren
jue shi er du li
yi gu qing ren cheng
zai gu qing ren guo
ning bu zhi
qing cheng yu qing guo
jia ren nan zai de

Here are the translated lyrics from another page:

rare beauty in the North...
She's the finest lady on earth
A glance from her, the city falls
A second glance leaves the whole nation in ruins
There is no city or nation that has been
More cherished than a beauty like this

I am trying to work through this, but I'm having some problems. I'm a total beginner, but I'm
happy to look stuff
up on my own if I can be pointed in the right direction. Here is my best guess so far:


bei fang you jia ren

bei(3) = North
fang(1) = Square or quadrilateral, but also a region of China. May be totally off on this one.
yu(2) = in
jia ren(2) = rare beauty?


jue shi er du li

jue = no clue
shi = xi(4) = fine?
er du = no clue
li(4) = beauty?


yi gu qing ren cheng

yi(1) = one
gu = glance?
qing(1) = collapse
ren = her? She?
cheng(2) = city


zai gu qing ren guo

zai(4) = another
gu = glance?
qing(1) = collapse
ren = her? she?
guo(2) = country


ning bu zhi

I have no clue on this line.


qing cheng yu qing guo

Something about a city and a country.


jia ren nan zai de

I don't get this line either, but I think de makes something possesive, or something.

Thank you, any help would be great.



Pleco Software Learn Chinese with our Dictionaries for Palm and Pocket PC.
Learn Chinese in China Learn to speak Chinese 1MonthChinese.com -Mandarin School in China.
Chinese Textbooks Wide range, cheap, varied languages. Also Chinese cartoons, toys, gifts.
Study Chinese in Beijing Affordable Mandarin language courses at BLCU with ChinaUnipath.com.
HNHSoft Dictionary Learn Chinese on Smartphone and PDA with real person's voice.
XueXueXue IQChinese Get beyond the plateau.Take your Mandarin to a new level.
Chinese in Lijiang Short term Chinese study in a beautiful town with a focus on daily life.
MandarinTube Chinese Access to current everyday Chinese language and culture, 24/7.
Learn Chinese Homestay Chinese course, cultural activities & volunteer events in China.
Learn Chinese Online 1-on-1 instant tutoring, diverse courses, native teachers. FREE trial now!
Nihao Chinese Progam Free one-on-one Chinese lesson. Win 5-years of free lessons now!


About Ads (and how to hide them) -- Your message here









againstwind -

So here is its original in Chinese:

北方有佳人，bei fang you jia ren
绝世而独立。jue shi er du li
一顾倾人城，yi gu qing ren cheng
再顾倾人国。zai gu qing ren guo
宁不知倾城与倾国？ning bu zhi qing cheng yu qing guo
佳人难再得！ jia ren nan zai de

The author was Li Yannian, the royal musician in Han dynasty. And the beauty in this song was
Madame Li, who was Li Yannian's sister. He wrote this famous song to Hanwu Emperor in order to
recommend his sister to the emperor.

First of all, you need know that, compared to the original, the translated lyrics given by you
aren't precise word to word, which is impossible and unnecessary.

北方bei3 fang1 is north
有 you3 here corresponds to 'there be'
佳人 jia1 ren2 =beauty

绝世 jue2 shi4 means rare or unique on ther earth
而 er2 is a conjunction = and
独立 du2 li4 in modern Chinese means 'independence', BUT NOT HERE. Here it literally means
'stand there alone', which implies the Madame Li was elegant and superior.
So the translated lyrics ‘rare beauty in the North...She's the finest lady on earth’made sense.

But the rest were a little different with the original meaning.
一顾倾人城，A glance from her, the city falls
再顾倾人国。A second glance leaves the whole nation in ruins

一yi1= one
顾gu4 = to look at; to glance
倾qing1 = to collapse; to ruin; to capture; to fall
人ren2 means person, man or woman
The two sentences couldn’t be translated literally, I think. It means once a soldier glanced at
her, he couldn’t help dropping his arm and the city would fall. And once an emperor glanced at
her, he would be captivated by her charm and left the whole nation in ruins.

宁不知倾城与倾国？
佳人难再得！

宁不知 is a sentence pattern as a selective question in classical Chinese.
难 difficult
再 again
得 gain

It literally means ‘ don't know the city falls or the nation collapses. Anyway, it will
difficult to find such a beauty again!’ It gave us a dilemma. She was really a beauty but risky.
However, even so, never miss her!

So this is my rough explanation.










TefJLives -

Great, thanks! That is a big help.

Greg












All times are GMT +8. The time now is 06:21 PM.














Learn Chinese, Chinese Online Class, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet