陳慧琳&謝安琪 - 文字流淚
Chen Huilin & Xie Anqi - Wenzi liulei
Chan Wai Lam & Ze On Kei - Manzi Lauleoi
Kelly Chen - Tears of Writing (feat. Kay Tse)
(Please see cultural notes!)
魯迅在歎氣 老捨亦已死
Lou5 Seon3 zoi6 taan3hei3... Lou5 Se2 jik6 ji5 sei2
Lu Xun [1] heaves a sigh... Lao She [2] has already died too
撕去了雙城記 慨歎書香化蒸氣
Si1 heoi3 liu5 Soeng1 Sing4 Gei3... koi3taan3 syu1hoeng1 faa3 zing1hei3
A Tale of Two Cities [3] is torn up... with a sigh of regret literary families turn to vapour
司馬遷的傷悲
Si1maa5 cin1 dik1 soeng1bei1
Sima [4] has become sorrowful
前朝歷史 給當世繁盛殺死
Cin4 ziu1 lik6si2...kap1 dong1 sai3 faan4sing6 saat3sei2
The history of dynasties has been killed by the flourishing of the modern age
文學巨著太大年紀
Man4hok6 geoi6zyu3 taai3 daai6 nin4gei2
Monumental works of literature are too old...
(寂寞漢字) 看盡春秋的交替
(Zik6mok6 hon3zi6) hon3zeon6 Ceon1 Cau1 dik1 gaau1tai3
(Lonely characters) have seen the Spring and Autumn Annals [5] be replaced...
(字字有淚) 拍賣真跡漢棣
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) Paak3maai6 zan1zik1 hon3 dai6
(Words with tears) An authentic Han Di [6] is being sold off...
(寂寞漢字) 看盡史記的荒廢
(Zik6mo6 hon3zi6) hon3zeon6 Si2gei3 dik1 fong1fai3
(Lonely characters) have watched the Records of the Historian [7] fall into disrepair
(字字有淚) 情書的安慰
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) Cing4syu1 dik1 on1wai3
(Words with tears) the comforts of a love letter
從人海中拋低 人間智慧
Cung4 jan4 hoi2zung1 paau1 dai1...jan4gaan1 zi3wai6
have been thrown aside from the crowd...the wisdom of the world
潮流浪裡 西廂記文字已死
Ciu4liu4 long6 leoi5...Sai1seong1 Gei3 man4zi6 ji5 sei2
In the waves of the tide, the writings of The Story of the Western Wing [8] have died
紅娘白髮 太大年紀
Hung4neong4 baak6 faat3...taai3 daai6 nin4gei2
The maid's white hair is too old
(寂寞漢字) 看盡春秋的交替
(Zik6mok6 hon3zi6) hon3zeon6 Ceon1 Cau1 dik1 gaau1tai3
(Lonely characters) have seen the Spring and Autumn Annals be replaced...
(字字有淚) 拍賣真跡漢棣
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) Paak3maai6 zan1zik1 hon3 dai6
(Words with tears) An authentic Han Di is being sold off...
(寂寞漢字) 看盡史記的荒廢
(Zik6mo6 hon3zi6) hon3zeon6 Si2gei3 dik1 fong1fai3
(Lonely characters) have watched the Records of the Historian fall into disrepair
(字字有淚) 情書的安慰
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) Cing4syu1 dik1 on1wai3
(Words with tears) the comforts of a love letter
從人海中拋低
Cung4 jan4 hoi2zung1 paau1 dai1...
have been thrown aside from the crowd...
柏樹這麼少 化造每張紙
Paak3syu6 ze2mo1 siu2...faa3 zou6 mui5 zoeng1 zi2
A cypress this young becomes every page
盛世枉費樹苗 列印出種種鈔票
sing6 sai3 wong2fai3 syu6miu4...lit6 jan3 ceot1 zung2zung2 caau1piu3
This flourishing age wastes saplings, printing them into all kinds of paper money
蘇軾也流淚了 只許苦笑
Sou1 Sik1 jaa5 lau4leoi6 liu5...zi2 heoi2 fu2siu3
Su Shi [9] too weeps, forcing a wry smile
(寂寞漢字) 記錄水滸傳興替
(Zik6mok6 hon3zi6) gei3luk6 seoi2wu2zyun6 hing1 tai3
(Lonely characters) record the rise and fall of the Water Margin [10]
(字字有淚) 送別詩經已逝
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) sung3bit6 si1ging1 ji5 sai6
(Words with tears) bid farewell to the Classics of Poetry [11] long vanished
(寂寞漢字) 記錄這裡的一切
(Zik6mok6 hon3zi6) gei3luk6 ze2leoi5 dik1 jat1cai3
(Lonely characters) record everything here
(字字有淚) 情書都荒廢
(Zi6zi6 jau5 leoi6) cing4syu1 dou1 fong1fai3
(Words with tears) Love letters have all been neglected
文明可有東西 流芳百世
Man4ming4 ho2 jau5 dung1sai1...lau4fong1 baak3sai3
Civilisation could have things which leave a good name for a hundred generations...
1. Lu Xun was an incredibly important novelist and translator, bringing in Western works after the May Fourth Movement (1918 on) and is thought of as the father of modern Chinese literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_Xun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement
2. Lao She was an important novelist during the Nationalist times, later becoming vilified by the Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution and eventually committing suicide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_She
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
3. A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens set around the time of the French Revolution in both Paris and London, and is possibly the most famous work of fiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities
4. Sima Qian, also known as the Grand Historian, composed the Shiji in 100 BCE, the greatest work of history up to that point in China, setting the standard for millennia..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Qian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiji
5. The Spring and Autumn Annals, or Chun Qiu, is a vast history of the State of Lu from 722 to 481 BCE and one of the Five Classics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_Annals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Lu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Classics
6. I can't seem to figure out who Han Di is, but a cursory search suggests he may have been an important calligrapher.
7. The Records of the Grand Historian, better known as the Shiji, is a history of China from the legendary Yellow Emperor through to the 100s BCE. It is an attempt at objective writing instead of traditional histories which venerated their benefactors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiji
8. The Story of the Western Wing, or the Romance of the West Chamber, was written during the Yuan Dynasty by Wang Shifu. It has been both banned and thoroughly enjoyed for its licentious romantic content.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Western_Wing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Dynasty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Shifu
9. Su Shi (1037-1101) was a Song Dynasty writer, poet, and philosopher among other professions, frequently experiencing banishment for his politics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Shi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty
10. The Water Margin, possibly written by a Shi Nai'an, was written around the rise of the Ming Dynasty, is a novel written in vernacular (as opposed to Classical) Chinese about the rise and destruction of a group of rebels. It has influenced Chinese and Japanese literature through to the modern day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Nai%27an
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_vernacular_Chinese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese
11. The Classic of Poetry, also called The Book of Songs or Shi Jing, is one of the Five Classics, said to have been written by Confucius. They are the oldest collection of Chinese poetry, dating back as far as the 1000s BCE to the Western Zhou period. Their rhyming pattern has been used to help determine what Chinese would have sounded like 3000 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetry
http://ctext.org/book-of-poetry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese_phonology
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