岷江夜曲 | Min River Nocturne

作詞 (Lyricist)：司徒容 (Situ, Rong)

作曲 (Composer)：高劍聲 (Gao, Jiansheng)

椰林模糊月朦朧椰林模糊月朦胧 yē lín mó hú yuè méng lóng, ㄧㄝㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄇㄛˊ ㄏㄨˊ ㄩㄝˋ ㄇㄥˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ (Through the) coconut grove, the hazy moon shines 漁火零落映江中。渔火零落映江中。 yú huǒ líng luò yìng jiāng zhōng. ㄩˊ ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄌㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄥˋ ㄐㄧㄤㄓㄨㄥ as the reflection of lanterns from fishing boats dot the river. 船家女輕唱著船歌船家女轻唱着船歌 chuán jiā nǚ qīng chàng zhe chuán gē, ㄔㄨㄢˊ ㄐㄧㄚㄋㄩˇ ㄑㄧㄥㄔㄤˋ ㄓㄜ˙ ㄔㄨㄢˊ ㄍㄜ Young women from the families aboard sing chanties, 隨著晚風處處送。随着晚风处处送。 suí zhe wǎn fēng chù chù sòng. ㄙㄨㄟˊ ㄓㄜ˙ ㄨㄢˇ ㄈㄥㄔㄨˋ ㄔㄨˋ ㄙㄨㄥˋ as they all drift along with the evening wind. 岷江夜　恍如夢岷江夜　恍如梦 mín jiāng yè huǎng rú mèng, ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄤㄧㄝˋ ㄏㄨㄤˇ ㄖㄨˊ ㄇㄥˋ The Min River at dusk, as if in a dream, 紅男綠女互訴情衷。红男绿女互诉情衷。 hóng nán lǜ nǚ hù sù qíng zhōng. ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄋㄢˊ ㄌㄩˋ ㄋㄩˇ ㄏㄨˋ ㄙㄨˋ ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄓㄨㄥ (resemble a group of) gaily dressed young men and women professing their feelings to one another. 心相印　意相同心相印　意相同 xīn xiāng yìn yì xiāng tóng, ㄒㄧㄣㄒㄧㄤㄧㄣˋ ㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄤㄊㄨㄥˊ Their hearts, like seals (stamps), their intentions, the same, 對對愛侶情話正濃。对对爱侣情话正浓。 duì duì ài lǚ qíng huà zhèng nóng. ㄉㄨㄟˋ ㄉㄨㄟˋ ㄞˋ ㄌㄩˇ ㄑㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄓㄥˋ ㄋㄨㄥˊ their whispers of love fill the air. 。。。
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隨著晚風處處送随着晚风处处送 suí zhe wǎn fēng chù chù sòng ㄙㄨㄟˊ ㄓㄜ˙ ㄨㄢˇ ㄈㄥㄔㄨˋ ㄔㄨˋ ㄙㄨㄥˋ as they all drift along with the evening wind 隨著晚風處處送随着晚风处处送 suí zhe wǎn fēng chù chù sòng ㄙㄨㄟˊ ㄓㄜ˙ ㄨㄢˇ ㄈㄥㄔㄨˋ ㄔㄨˋ ㄙㄨㄥˋ as they all drift along with the evening wind

Translation Notes

The dense, compact form of the lyrics employ contractions where the second or subsequent characters of a word are omitted, and thus are somewhat meaningless in isolation without additional context.

Futhermore, there are idiomatic phrases that cannot be directly translated. For example:

漁火: Uselessly translates to “fish fire”, but it’s a contraction. In this context, it refers to the red, fire-like lanterns of the river fishing boats serving as illumination for fishermen working at dusk.
紅男綠女: Translates to “red men, green women”, a saying which succinctly describes the festive attire of young men and women engaged in courtship. (Modern analogy: dressing up to go clubbing).

The second phrase comes from a 1905 Qing dynasty novel “Sweeping the Superstition-Sweeping Broom” (掃迷帚), which strove to argue the pitfalls of superstition in traditional Chinese culture.

Published under a psedonym (Strong Person) 壯者 during the turbulent turn of the century, which saw modernist reformists overthrowing the Qing dynasty a few years later, the author writes about two brothers critically exploring this topic.

In Chapter 19, the author describes a setting where three men had moored their boats ashore near a town and are looking upon the hustle and bustle of a religious festival in progress.

They witness a gaily-dressed young couple (red men, green women) holding hands and walking about, set against a hectic backdrop of muddy street stalls, colorful flags, umbrellas, cacaphonous music, and religious offerings abound.

This idiom is a reference to this scene, recounting the colorful scene of people dressed up for a festival.

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