TefJLives Posted April 8, 2007 at 10:41 PM Report Posted April 8, 2007 at 10:41 PM 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: 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. 1 Quote
againstwind Posted April 9, 2007 at 05:52 AM Report Posted April 9, 2007 at 05:52 AM 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. Quote
TefJLives Posted April 9, 2007 at 06:58 PM Author Report Posted April 9, 2007 at 06:58 PM Great, thanks! That is a big help. Greg Quote
Countersign Posted May 6, 2011 at 09:09 PM Report Posted May 6, 2011 at 09:09 PM Here is another rendition: A beauty from the North Stands unique in the world. One look of her sacks the city, One more look of her sacks the country. You'd rather not know that After ransacking the city and ransacking the country, You cannot find another beauty like her. Quote
New Members jobberone Posted November 22, 2015 at 06:14 AM New Members Report Posted November 22, 2015 at 06:14 AM Bei fang you jia ren. There is a beautiful woman who lives in the north jue shi er du li There is no one like her in all of China yi gu qing ren cheng One glance and all in the city are overwhelmed zai gu cheng ren guo Another smile and all the country is overcome ning bu zhi qing cheng yu cheng guo I can't imagine such remarkable beauty that overwhelmed all Jia ren nan zai de will ever be seen again The ancient poem does not have the same words as those in the movie. My wife does not know the ancient characters or han zi. Again it is a poem and requires contextural translation and not a literal one. The mention of collapsing is not a real prostration but one of the heart. They are overwhelmed by her beauty and other attributes. She is greatly loved by all. Perhaps the interpretation of collapsing is fainting. Everyone not just in a city but all of China adores her. Quote
New Members jobberone Posted November 23, 2015 at 01:26 AM New Members Report Posted November 23, 2015 at 01:26 AM I was wrong with my interpretation. I'll get back once I've finished discussing with family and researching further. Sorry for any confusion. Quote
New Members Gregory Hancock Posted September 3, 2018 at 02:19 PM New Members Report Posted September 3, 2018 at 02:19 PM 李夫人 (The Beauty Song) 北方有佳人, (From the north comes a ravishing maiden). 絕世而獨立. (Whose beauty stands alone). 一顧傾人城, (One look at her, cities fall). 再顧傾人國. (On the second glance, empires collapse). 寧不知傾城與傾國. (Care not whether cities fall or empires collapse). 佳人難再得. (Such beauty never comes around twice). Quote
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