Chinese Song Translation 《洪湖水浪打浪》

[思考题]

Over the past 6 months I've taken an avid interest in Chinese language songs as a productive means of studying and supplementing my Mandarin.

With friends' encouragement, I have undertaken the posting of English translations of both widespread classics and some of my personal favorites.

My interest does not lie in literal, word for word translation. Certain words and phrases, though poignant in their native Mandarin context,

sound ambiguous or halting in English. Rather I aim to express the feeling of each song -- as if the lyrics were as natural to sing in translated

English as they were in the original Chinese. I am not avoiding literal interpretation, so much not allowing it to interfere with the tone or

underlying concepts of each song.

While I encourage any questions, 'quires and qualms, my hope is that rather than simple criticism, we instead make constructive suggestions with specific examples.

My initial words are not the end all, but rather the instigation of further creation.

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Chinese Song Translation 《洪湖水浪打浪》 - The waters of Honghu.

For an online recording of the song click &cat=0&gate=1&ct=134217728&tn=baidumt,%BA%E9%BA%FE%CB%AE%C0%CB%B4%F2%C0%CB++&si=%BA%E9%BA%FE%CB%AE%C0%CB%B4%F2%C0%CB;;%CB%CE%D7%E6%D3%A2;;74100;;74100&lm=-1&mtid=2&d=8&size=5557452&attr=0,0&titlekey=1006481896,700887869&mtype=1"]HERE

The waters of Honghu is a Folk song that also promotes 'harmony', all in one.

洪湖水呀浪呀嘛浪打浪啊.................Behold the waters of Honghu

洪湖岸边是呀嘛是家乡啊.................My home is on the banks

清早船儿去呀去撒网....................Early in the morn, fishermen cast off

晚上回来鱼满舱啊 啊..................Late in the eve, the haul is brought in.

四处野鸭和菱藕.......................A paradise of Geese and Lotus,

秋收满帆稻谷香.......................Autumn has brought a bountiful harvest,

人人都说天堂美.......................Paradise is beautiful,

怎比我洪湖鱼米乡啊 啊~...............Honghu is heaven on earth,

洪湖水呀长呀嘛长又长啊................The water glitters ,

太阳一出闪呀嘛闪金光啊................The sun is resplendent,

共产党的恩情........................The Party is benevolent,

比那东海深..........................Deeply magnanimous,

渔民的光景..........................For the common people,

一年更比一年强 啊~..................Each year improves on the next.

This song Romanticises the beauty of Honghu, culminating with the

inclusion of the Chinese Communist Party.

TRANSLATORS NOTE (from nicku):

洪湖 [Hónghú]

1. 1. 洪湖市 Honghu City, lying in Jiingzhou and the south of Hubei Province, linked with Linxiang City of Hunan Province on the southwest by Changjiang River

[Qin3wen4]

共产党的恩情........................The Party is benevolent,

比那东海深..........................Deeply magnanimous,

渔民的光景..........................For the common people,

一年更比一年强 啊~..................Each year improves on the next.

The whole poem is about water (no wonder, 毕竟 it's 洪湖), often in metaphorical ways, a pity that it's difficult to translate - but maybe not difficult enough to justify a complete omission in the end.

[Meng Lelan]

This song brings back such nice memories. This is one of the first songs I ever learned when I started studying Chinese in 1983, but the version we learned, I don't think it had the last four lines you have. I think the music and lyrics were printed in back of one of the textbooks, but don't remember the title of the textbook.

[思考题]

Thank you qing3wen4 and Meng Lelan for your comments,

I have considered your comments and tried to improve the translation.

Meng Lelan, I would be particularly interested in your alternative translation if you

can find it.

共产党的恩情........................The Party is benevolent,

比那东海深..........................DEEP AND magnanimous,

渔民的光景..........................A SPRING OF HOPE FOR THE PEOPLE

一年更比一年强 啊~...................THAT FLOWS STRONGER WITH EACH YEAR

Let me know what you think.

[Meng Lelan]

The textbook printed the song in Chinese, somewhere near the end of the book. There was pinyin over the characters but no English translation. The textbook was from over 20 years ago. I don't know if I can find it. Magnanimous is a pretty heavy word to be in a song lyric.

[思考题]

Hi Megan Lelan,

I altered the translation again, I think it keeps on improving.

共产党的恩情........................The Party's benevolence,

比那东海深..........................IS DEEPER THAN THE SEA,

渔民的光景..........................LIKE A SPRING OF HOPE

一年更比一年强 啊~...................THAT FLOWS STRONGER WITH EACH YEAR

[Meng Lelan]

Quite nice now, what are your plans with the translated lyrics?

[思考题]

Hi Meng Lelan,

For now, my plan is to keep posting my translations, and to keep gathering feedback.

After which, I will publish them in some format, most likely a website or something.

[内森]

洪湖水呀浪呀嘛浪打浪啊.................Behold the waters of Honghu, THE EVER-LAPPING WAVES

洪湖岸边是呀嘛是家乡啊.................My home is on the banks

清早船儿去呀去撒网.......................Early in the morn, THE fishermen cast off

晚上回来鱼满舱啊 啊......................Late in the eve, THEY RETURN WITH NETS FULL

四处野鸭和菱藕............................A paradise of DUCK and lotus,

秋收满帆稻谷香...........................Autumn has brought a bountiful harvest,

人人都说天堂美...........................EVERYONE AGREES IT IS HEAVE ON EARTH

怎比我洪湖鱼米乡啊 啊~..............But HOW COULD HEAVEN COMPARE?

洪湖水呀长呀嘛长又长啊..............BEHOLD THE WATERS OF HONGHU, EVER ROLLING

太阳一出闪呀嘛闪金光啊..............The sun, HOW IT SHIMMERS LIKE GOLD

共产党的恩情..............................The Communist Party’s KINDNESS

比那东海深.................................RUNS DEEP AS OCEAN CURRENTS

渔民的光景.................................THE COMMON PEOPLE’S FORTUNES

一年更比一年强 啊~....................FLOW FASTER EACH YEAR

I wanted to keep the lyrics as plain and straightforward as possible.

Simple people, simple pleasures, simple wants, simple words.

Love the water motif; would have missed it if not for Qin3Wen4.