#romantamtranslation

[romantamsxiangshi]

Translation of Jenny Tseng's and Roman Tam's 1983 一生有意义 (A Meaningful Life)

一生有意义 is the second of four love duets between protagonists Guo Jing and Huang Rong in The Legend of the Condor Heroes (written by Jin Yong, adapted to television in 1983). For a more extensive summary of the history behind the show, and an analysis of Guo Jing's and Huang Rong's relationship, please see my previous post! 一生有意义 is the theme song of LCH's second season, and I think its lyrics are quite fitting, given how the show now focuses on Guo Jing/Huang Rong as a unit, and less on Guo Jing's own arc.

Song:

Lyrics:

JT: 人海之中找到了你 Somehow I've found you in this sea of faces, JT: 一切變了有情義 and everything has changed (1) RT: 從今心中就找到了美 Somehow I've found beauty in my heart, RT: 找到了痴愛所依 and a love both foolish and true. (2)

JT: 人生匆匆心裡有愛 This life rushes past us, JT: 一世有了意義 but love grants it meaning. RT: (啊啊啊 此生有意思) (Love makes this life wondrous.) JT: 萬水千山此生有人 A life of ten-thousand rivers and one-thousand mountains yields a single person JT: 相攜又相倚 I trust to hold my hand. (3) RT: (啊啊啊 相靠倚) I trust you.

RT: 同聲 One voice, JT: 同心 one heart, RT: 同氣 one soul, (4) JT: 同意 one purpose. Together: 無分彼此 There is nothing that can undo us, Together: 用盡愛與我痴 our love flows towards one another. (5) Together: 與你生死相依 Hand in hand, we will meet life and death.

JT: 情痴心痴 Our love is foolish; our hearts are foolish. JT: 真意愛意 Our purpose is true; our love is true. JT: 此世也永無異 This world will never be the same. RT: (啊啊啊 真心永無貳) There is not another I love so much as you. (6) JT: 共闖刀山不會辭 We'll climb a mountain of swords, (7) JT: 英雄俠義 relentless and chivalrous as two heroes. (8) RT: (啊啊啊 現仁義) We will be kind. (9)

RT: 同聲 One voice, JT: 同心 one heart, RT: 同氣 one soul, JT: 同意 one purpose. Together: 無分彼此 There is nothing that can undo us, Together: 用盡愛與我痴 our love flows towards one another. Together: 與你生死相依 Hand in hand, we will meet life and death.

JT: 情痴心痴 Our love is foolish; our hearts are foolish. JT: 真意愛意 Our purpose is true; our love is true. JT: 此世也永無異 This world will never be the same. RT: (啊啊啊 真心永無貳) My heart is true. JT: 共闖刀山不會辭 We'll climb a mountain of swords, JT: 英雄俠義 relentless and chivalrous as two heroes. RT: (啊啊啊 現仁義) We will be kind.

JT: 射鵰英姿青史永留 History will remember our deeds. (10) JT: 英雄俠義 As chivalrous as two heroes, RT: (啊啊啊 現仁義) We will be kind.

Translation notes:

(1) A more accurate translation is, “everything is now infused with love and meaning.” But “everything has changed” is passable.

(2) Most other translations disregard the character 痴, which means “foolish/silly/frivolous.” But I think that Guo Jing’s and Huang Rong’s purported foolishness is integral to their relationship—that what can be good and loving for them need not be (and often stands in opposition to) what is rational, purposeful, and planned.   

(3) A more accurate translation is, “trust and rely on to support me,” but this phrase can also be read colloquially as “hand in hand” or “holding my hand.” I thought the latter both more visceral and evocative.

(4) 氣, or qi, translates to “breath,” “soul,” “essence,” or “energy.” It’s the primordial force that connects everything.

(5) A more accurate translation is, “I will exhaust all my love to love only you.” But despite all the running gags about Huang Rong’s jealousy, I don’t think this line is very fitting for her or Guo Jing’s characters. Both of them, in time, learn to commit themselves to a greater good and to extend their love towards the people around them. My translation refers back to my translation of Iron Blood, Loyal Heart, and the water that is an analogy for their romance.

(6) 貳 as a character is very interesting: it’s used to mean “two” in banking transactions and legal matters (mainly because the character is so complicated that its writing is an anti-fraud measure). I thought this was a really clever choice in a song about trueness and loyalty.

(7) 刀山 translates to “mountain of swords,” and is a phrase that is translated colloquially to “trials and tribulations.” I thought the literal imagery was pretty cool, though, considering that this show (and song!) is rife with swords and mountains both.

(8) I take “relentless” from the previous line, which would be better translated as “together, we will climb relentlessly over mountains of swords.” “Relentless” sounded better as part of this line.

(9) A more accurate translation is “we will be benevolent.” But Guo Jing’s character seems more suited to the simpler, “kind.”

(10)  英姿, or “the image of a hero,” is a really interesting choice to me: 姿, or “figure,” is a very feminine word. Seeing as this line translates literally to, “the figure of the hero who shoots the condors will be remembered in history,” I can’t help but wonder if there’s some genderfuckery going on. I also translated this line as “our deeds,” and not “your deeds,” considering how the rest of the song is about them as a unit. (Also, because I can’t/am not willing to imagine a world where Huang Rong literally sings Guo Jing’s praises.)

I’m realizing how hard it is to translate old Cantopop songs about chivalry, because the stylized and practical lack of pronouns and verbs in Chinese means that most literal translations sound like elementary school anthems played during spirit assemblies (“Strong! Kind! Benevolent! History remembers leaders!”). It also means that translating from Chinese to English is an additive process, as I choose which pronouns and verbs to include, and what tenses those verbs are. In “Iron Blood, Loyal Heart,” I used a lot of future tenses, because Guo Jing thinks a lot of the future (how he wishes he can run away from his responsibilities, how he might best handle his responsibilities). Now, both Guo Jing and Huang Rong have matured, and I choose to believe that they are both more grounded in the present due to their love for each other.

[romantamsxiangshi]

Translation of Roman Tam's and Jenny Tseng's 1983 鐵血丹心 (Iron Blood, Loyal Heart) from The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Jin Yong is hailed as the finest wuxia (martial arts) novelist of modern China, and is one of the best-selling Chinese authors of all time. His hit 1957 series, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, is set in the warring Jin/Song Dynasties (early-mid 1200's), and follows three generations of the Guo and Yang families. LCH was adapted into a TV series by Hong Kong's Guangdong TV Station in 1983. The show became an international sensation, and featured the breakthrough of stars such as Barbara Yung (who played Huang Rong). My dad, who grew up in the mainland, remembers entire streets emptying when the show was running; whole neighborhoods without TVs would crowd into shops or bars to watch. Since then, LCH has been remade into myriad shows and movies, but the 1983 version is hailed as a classic of Chinese and HK cinema.

I just started watching the 1983 LCH, after a lifetime of listening to the soundtrack, and I've fallen in love with its earnest dissection of legacy, lineage, and loyalty. I'm especially wowed by the embodiment of these tensions in the relationship between Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Huang Rong--who runs away from her heretical father and cross-dresses as a beggar--is a character I relate to on such a visceral level. She rejects her own lineage/parentage, yet is desperately resentful of Guo Jing and Yang Kang for upholding theirs. She is genderqueer, in both the novel and the show (cross-dressing, refusing to be called Brother or Sister, carefully and perfectly imitating various gender roles to get attention/power). She scorns human attachment and idealism of all forms, yet is fascinated by Guo Jing's caring and principled nature.

The slowburn of her romance with Guo Jing is one of the most beautiful portrayals of queer love I've seen in Chinese media; although Guo Jing is smitten with her from the beginning (buying her meals and saying he feels like he's known her his whole life, asking her to be his sworn brother, confessing his love to her, rejecting his shifu for her, offering her both the betrothal sword given to him by Genghis Khan and the sword with Yang Kang's name), it takes her a very long time to be honest and vulnerable enough to reciprocate. Just as Guo Jing helps her believe in and act on a commitment to a greater good, Huang Rong helps him step away from the expectations placed on him since birth and realize what he really wants (which is, and I quote, to live a peaceful life of anonymity). They are the original queer girlboss/malewife power couple, and the theme song of the 1983 LCH is a duet by Roman Tam and Jenny Tseng that captures their love. This duet is the first of four in the official OST, which I will translate in the next few days.

Song:

Translation:

JT: 依稀往夢似曾見 I've dreamt this only vaguely before, JT: 心內波瀾現 The sorrow that now grips my heart in waves. RT: 拋開世事斷愁怨 Let go of worldly worries. Together: 相伴到天邊 Come with me to the ends of this world. (1)

RT: 逐草四方沙漠蒼茫 We'll chase the plains; the deserts are vast. JT: 冷風吹 天蒼蒼 The wind's so cold; the sky's so blue. RT: 那懼雪霜撲面 We fear the snows; we'll face our fears. (2) JT: 藤樹 相連 All these wildernesses are but one. (3) RT: 射雕引弓塞外奔馳 I'll raise my bow to shoot; we'll ride free beyond the Great Wall. (4) JT: 猛風沙 野茫茫 These winds and sands are beastly. RT: 笑傲此生無厭倦 In this life, I wish only to smile without weariness. JT: 藤樹兩纏綿 We are but two wild things clinging to each other. (5)

JT: 應知愛意是流水 You ought to know that love is meant to flow like water. RT: 天蒼蒼 野茫茫 The sky is so blue, so vast and wild. JT: 斬不斷理還亂 Reason cannot stem what's meant to be free. (6) RT: 萬般變化 The world will always change around us. Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture (7) Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness. (8)

RT: 逐草四方沙漠蒼茫 We'll chase the plains; the deserts are vast. JT: 冷風吹 天蒼蒼 The wind's so cold; the sky's so blue. RT: 那懼雪霜撲面 We fear the snows; we'll face our fears. JT: 藤樹 相連 All these wildernesses are but one. RT: 射雕引弓塞外奔馳 I'll raise my bow to shoot; we'll ride free beyond the Great Wall. JT: 猛風沙 野茫茫 These winds and sands are beastly. RT: 笑傲此生無厭倦 In this life, I wish only to smile without weariness. JT: 藤樹兩纏綿 We are but two wild things clinging to each other.

JT: 應知愛意是流水 You ought to know that love is meant to flow like water. RT: 天蒼蒼 野茫茫 The sky is so blue, so vast and wild. JT: 斬不斷理還亂 Reason cannot stem what's meant to be free. RT: 萬般變化 The world has always changed around us. Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness.

Together: 身經百劫也在心間 My body has been taught both violence and scripture Together: 恩義兩難斷 Still my heart has kept its goodness.

Translation notes:

(1) A more literal translation is, "come with me to Heaven's side," or "the edge of the sky."

(2) A more literal translation is, "why should/must we fear the snows?" I thought it sounded better as a two-part statement, when placed in relation to the two-parters above.

(3) This and (5) are one of those cases where I interpret as I translate. A literal translation of this line is, "trees and vines are all intertwined." But I chose to translate it in a way that would best match (5), as I think this metaphor is ultimately about their love, and the tension between their commitment to good and their desire to be free.

(4) A more literal translation is, "I'll bend my bow to shoot a condor." This just sounds a bit clunky--also, the "condor" in the title of LCH is disputed, given how condors aren't native to China. Although "condor" is most commonly used, a more accurate translation might be "eagle."

(5) To reference back to (3): this line translates more literally to, "two vines/trees are intertwined." However, 纏綿 also bears connotations of emotional attachment and commitment. Given this line's weight as the end of this stanza, I'm almost positive it's about Guo Jing's and Huang Rong's commitment to each other as two people who aren't/don't wish to be bound by traditional norms of gender, legacy, or patriotism. I therefore chose to give myself more creative liberty, both with "wild things," and with "clinging to each other."

(6) A more literal translation would be, "reason tries ceaselessly to cut, but still chaos remains." Given the earlier reference to flowing/free water, I thought that the object of reason's cutting would be love--fitting, as almost everyone around Guo Jing tries to dissuade him from loving Huang Rong, mainly by appealing to reason (she's not a good fit for his mission; she'll probably betray him and the country; her bloodline's bad). I think it very beautiful that chaos, love, and water are connected throughout this stanza: that the unreasonableness/irrationality of love isn't a bad thing at all.

(7) Others have translated this line to, "I have faced trials and tribulations," which sounds better in English. However, the individual characters of 身經百劫 refer to, 身 "body," 經 "endurance/scripture/holiness/tradition," and 劫 "sufferings/disasters." 劫 also has connotations of being taken by force, implying how a body that has been committed to enduring and upholding traditions/legacies is left with little agency. The use of 百 "hundred(s)" in this phrase also refers to the multitude and duration of these things--I therefore translated the line to include "know," a verb that implies a process of learning (quite literal, when it comes to the martial arts) and the duration of said process.

(8) 恩 "gratitude"/"loyalty" and 義 "righteousness"/"commitment to good" are both concepts Guo Jing is praised for, and are commonly found in Chinese classics as standards for good children. As much as Huang Rong helps Guo Jing grow away from the immense expectations of revenge/patriotism, I still think his arc is about finding what these things mean to him--whether that is refusing to kill (it's Huang Rong who kills Yang Kang, Guo Jing's fated enemy), or throwing caution to the wind to care for Huang Rong and those close to him. I therefore chose "goodness" as a more general term--one that doesn't carry the connotations of parental/generational/cultural expectation, but is still very Guo Jing.

In general, I think this translation is less faithful than my others--mainly because I feel so strongly about the love between Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and will therefore take as many creative liberties as possible for others to understand why.

[romantamsxiangshi]

Translation of Roman Tam's 1978 小李飞刀(Romantic Swordsman)

Lyrics by Lu Guozhan, instrumentals composed by Gu Jiahui

小李飞刀 is one of Roman Tam's most famous songs, written in reference to a fictional weapon from the 1978 TV adaptation of Ding Qing's and Gu Long's "Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword." The 小李飞刀, translated to "Little Li's Flying Dagger," is a famed sword made of ordinary steel. Its deadliness derives not from its physical properties, but from the mental strength and spiritual cultivation of its wielder.

Translation:

难得一身好本领 Finally I have mastered the sword (1) 情关始终闯不过 Yet still my/your heart is closed (2) 闯不过 柔情蜜意 And I cannot break through to my/your love 乱挥刀剑无结果 Clumsily, desperately, I slash and struggle, but to no avail (3) 流水滔滔斩不断 This torrent cuts unceasingly 情丝百结冲不破 But my/your heart is a knot unbroken 刀锋冷 热情未冷 This blade is so cold, so why is my love so warm? (4) (5) 心底更是难过 My heart endures more grief than ever (6)

无情刀 永不知错 This heartless blade has never led me astray 无缘分 只叹奈何 But there is no such thing as fate, is there? The only thing left to me is a sigh 面对死不会惊怕 I have never been afraid to face death 离别心凄楚 Yet a goodbye fills my heart with grief

人生几许失意 If you would permit me a little dejection 何必偏偏选中我 I must ask, why did you choose me? (7) 挥刀剑 断盟约 And how might I break my covenant with this blade? 相识注定成大错 My friend, you know as I do that we are doomed (8) (9)

无情刀 永不知错 This heartless blade has never led me astray 无缘分 只叹奈何 But there is no such thing as fate, is there? The only thing left to me is a sigh 面对死不会惊怕 I have never been afraid to face death 离别心凄楚 Yet a goodbye fills my heart with grief

人生几许失意 If you would permit me a little dejection 何必偏偏选中我 I must ask, why did you choose me? 挥刀剑 断盟约 And how might I break my covenant with this blade? 相识注定成大错 My friend, you know as I do that we are doomed 挥刀剑 断盟约 How might I break my covenant with this blade? 相识注定成大错 My friend, you know as I do that we are doomed

Translation notes:

(1) There is no verb in this line: the swordsman is commenting on how rare his skills are, and how difficult it was to gain them. I chose "finally I have mastered the sword" as an expression of duration, as processes in English can really only be captured in verbs. I also chose to heighten the contrast between the swordsman's human process/struggle, and the seeming immutability of "heart" and "love" in the next few lines. Also, 身 (shen/body) implies a certain corporality: after so much training, his body is inseparable from skill, and his skill keeps him from his love.

(2) Two notes: first, 情关 (qing guan) is directedly translated to "love," but it is notably not the 爱 (ai) used commonly to denote heterosexual romance. 情 translates to a broader "affection," while 关 translates to "closed/barrier." Secondly, the absence of pronouns in this line offers a variety of translations: "your heart is still closed," "my heart is still closed," "love is still inaccessible." All of these are equally valid: it is not only his own heart/the other's heart that remains forbidden to him, but love itself.

(3) 乱挥刀: 乱 translates directly to "chaotically" or "clumsily," while 挥 implies an amateurishness to "waving" the sword. This stands in sharp contrast to his supposed mastery of the blade. None of the ways he's learned to use/control himself and his weapon can help him when it comes to the matters of the heart.

(4) 热情 translates directly to "warm affection" or "enthusiasm."

(5) My choice to convert some of these lines into questions (there is no "why" or "how" in this line) is entirely subjective. The swordsman seems to be very confused, and resigned to that confusion; questioning felt like the best way to describe it, especially when it comes to contradictions such as cold/hot.

(6) 心底 translates to "bottom of my heart," 难过 to "pain" but also to "it is difficult to endure." I tried to capture the struggle to endure in my translation.

(7) Two notes: first, that there is no subject in this question. We don't know who the swordsman is questioning: his sword? The person he speaks to? Secondly, 偏偏 translates both to "happily/deliberately," and to "contrary to what is expected." This entire song is built upon expectations and disillusionment, and the inability to confront or challenge them.

(8) 相识 translates literally to "acquaintance," but can be broken down into 相 "mutual/same," and 识 "knowledge." The swordsman is speaking to someone who knows what he does, and is the same as him.

(9) 成打错 translates to "making/made/will make a big mistake." The absence of tenses in Chinese means that this mistake can be located in any or all temporalities, and can be made by or done to any or all of the subjects in the song. Perhaps the mistake is his decision to train with the sword; perhaps the entire world is simply wrong. I thought the existential nature of this line was best captured by "we are doomed."

[romantamsxiangshi]

Translation of Jenny Tseng's and Roman Tam's 1987 問誰領風騷 (Who Will Lead the Lost Ones?)

問誰領風騷 is the opening theme of the hit 1980's historical Hong Kong drama "Genghis Khan," starring Wan Ziliang, Huang Rihua, and Xie Ning.

Lyrics by Xue Zhixiong, music composed by Li Xiaotian

Translation:

[Roman Tam] 長天飛沙 sand billows across this vast sky [RT] 壯士血在狂號 a warrior's blood is charged with a scream [Jenny Tseng] 原野飛花 flowers billow across this vast field [JT] 壯士懷抱冷傲 a warrior's embrace is proud and terrible (1) [RT] 一代天驕 for the pride of a generation [RT] 千秋知我名號 a thousand autumns will know my name [JT] 談笑造時勢 with my voice and laughter i swear to change this world [JT] 問誰領風騷 and i ask, who will lead the lost ones? (2)

[JT] 飛奔大漠中 we will charge through this forsaken land [RT] 不畏懼冷風似刀 we will fear no wind, though it cuts us like a knife [JT] 烽煙萬千里 we will follow the light of a single beacon for ten-thousand miles [RT] 不記心中愛滔滔 the world will forget the love surging through my heart (3) [JT] 柔情藏心內 my heart will hide its love [RT] 血肉記春秋 but my flesh and blood will keep the score of every war (4) [together] 大地留著我的記號 and the earth will keep my mark

Translation notes:

(1) Could alternatively and arguably more accurately be translated to "a warrior embraces their coldness and arrogance." Both translations are concerned with the nature of a warrior's love, although I chose the translation that captures the way a warrior expresses their love, and not how the warrior views themself.

(2) 風騷 (feng sao/fung sou) is not directly translated to "lost ones," but to "coquettish/petty/flirtatious," a term frequently used to describe women. It also translates, less relevantly, to "literature/literary works/literary talent." To me, 風騷 has undertones of undesirable morality, and of undue concern with worldly, intangible, and present affairs (rather than legacy, goodness, and greater amorphous causes). Because so much of this song is about leading the way and blazing a new path, I chose to interpret 風騷 as those "lost" in these present/worldly/unmoral affairs. See point (4) for elaboration on the historical context that informed this choice.

(3) The absence and unnecessity of pronouns and subjects in Chinese means that this line can be translated any number of ways, including "the world will forget the love coursing through my heart," "I will forget the love coursing through my heart," "[unknown subject] will forget the love coursing through my heart," or (imperative) "forget the love coursing through my heart." I chose the first translation, because of the tragic irony between the "world" forgetting the warrior's love and the earth (thematic parallel) keeping the warrior's mark brings out how love/chivalry/legacy are ultimately rendered small in the face of greater forces.

(4) 春秋 translates to "springs and autumns," so a more direct translation of this line would be "my flesh and blood will keep the mark of every spring and autumn." But 春秋 is also the shorthand used to refer to the 春秋战国时代 (the Spring and Autumn/Warring States Period), 770 BC-221 BC, one of the bloodiest human conflicts in history. The sheer length of the conflict (500 years) must've been existential to every person and generation who lived through it, and who knew and remembered nothing but violence. Entire states, ruling families, and populations were uprooted and forced to flee tens of thousands of miles. It is no wonder that this period also saw an intellectual and philosophical flourishing (Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, etc. all became institutionalized, with their foundational texts written and disseminated during this time). I believe this harkens back to point (2) regarding the petty/coquettish/literary, in that a lot of these philosophers were wanderers who tried to find a ruling court who would implement their philosophies and political theories, but who were ultimately scorned and subject to lives of semi-exile/wandering. Such an existence was also considered emasculating in an era defined not by intellectualism and literary culture, but by warfare and violence--hence why I think the feminine undertone of 風騷 has not only to do with those who are morally lost/trapped in the immediacy of worldly affairs, but also those who are physically "lost" as they wander through traditionally non-masculine lives.