[S.H.E.] 中國話

I love this song, it makes me really proud to be able to know Chinese, though I’m only half Chinese and it’s not exactly my root of origin ^^;

The title of this song simply means “Chinese language”, but the usage of this context instead of the usual “華語” word has a hidden meaning of ‘roots of origin’, reminding Chinese that they’re coming from the ancient land of China. This song uses lots of Chinese tongue twisters which really rhymes and sometimes the words meant more than what it seems to be (the translated ones are the real meanings, further translations are indicated through numberings right at the bottom), there are also some Chinese traditions and culture, so it’s kinda hard to translate.

中國話
Zhong Guo Hua
The Language of Great China (lit.)

扁擔寬   板凳長
bian dan kuan(‘r)   ban deng chang
The carrying pole¹ so broad, the wooden bench² so long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang(‘r)
The carrying pole would like to be tied on top of the wooden bench

扁擔寬   板凳長
bian dan kuan(‘r)   ban deng chang
The carrying pole so broad, the wooden bench so long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang(‘r)
The carrying pole would like to be tied on top of the wooden bench

---
倫敦瑪莉蓮 買了件旗袍送媽媽
Lun-dun Ma-li-lian mai le jian qi pao song mama
London’s Marilyn bought a Cheongsam³ for her mom

莫斯科的夫斯基 愛上牛肉麵疙瘩
Mo-si-ge de Fu-si-ji ai shang niu rou mian ge da
Mexico’s Fuzji fell in love with the clumps of beef noodles⁴

各種顏色的皮膚 各種顏色的頭髮
ge zhong yan se de pi fu   ge zhong yan se de tou fa
Various colours of the skin, various colours of the hair

嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they speak and say (in their mouth) is Chinese which is starting to get popular

多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
For countless years we have been working hard on English pronunciations and grammars

這幾年換他們捲著舌頭學平上去入的變化
zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ‘ping shang qu ru’ de bian hua
These years they become the ones to twist their tongues learning the changes of ‘ping shang qu ru’⁵

平平仄仄平平仄
ping ping ze ze ping ping ze
(play of words to rap, but please check for meanings)⁶

好聰明的中國人   好優美的中國話
hao cong ming de zhong guo ren   hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese (people), how beautiful the Chinese language is

---
扁擔寬   板凳長
bian dan kuan   ban deng chang
The carrying pole so broad, the wooden bench so long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang
The carrying pole would like to be tied on top of the wooden bench

板凳不讓扁擔綁在板凳上
ban deng bu rang bian dan bang zai ban deng shang
The wooden bench would not allow the carrying pole to be tied on top of it

扁擔偏要綁在板凳上
bian dan pian yao bang zai ban deng shang
But the carrying pole would so want to be tied on top of the wooden bence

板凳偏偏不讓扁擔綁在那板凳上
ban deng pian pian bu rang bian dan bang zai ban deng shang
Yet the wooden bench would not allow the carrying pole to be tied on top of it

到底扁擔寬還是板凳長
dao di bian dan kuan hai shi ban deng chang
So now is it that the carrying pole is broad? Or that the wooden bench is long?⁷

---
哥哥弟弟坡前坐
ge ge di di po qian zuo
(older and younger) Brothers sitting in front of the slope

坡上臥著一隻鵝
po shang wo zhe yi zhi e
On the slope there laid a goose

坡下流著一條河
po xia liu zhe yi tiao he
Below the there slope flowed a river

哥哥說   寬寬的河
ge ge shuo   kuan kuan de he
Older brother said: the broad broad river

弟弟說   白白的鵝
di di shuo   bai bai de e
Little brother said: the white white goose⁸

鵝要過河   河要渡鵝
e yao guo he   he yao du e
The goose wants to go across the river, the river wants to support of goose across

不知是那鵝過河   還是河渡鵝
bu zhi shi na e guo he   hai shi he du e
It’s unknown if it’s the goose who wants to cross the river, or if it’s the river who wants to support of goose across⁹

---
全世界都在學中國話
quan shi jie dou zai xue zhong guo hua
The whole world is learning Chinese

孔夫子的話   越來越國際化
kong fu zi de hua   yue lai yue guo ji hua
The words of Confucius, going worldwide gradually

全世界都在講中國話
quan shi jie dou zai jiang zhong guo hua
The whole world is speaking Chinese

我們說的話   讓世界都認真聽話
wo men shuo de hua   rang shi jie dou ren zhen ting hua
The things we say, causes the world to be listen¹⁰

---
紐約蘇珊娜 開了間禪風Lounge Bar
Niu-yue Su-sa-na kai le jian shan feng Lounge Bar
New York’s Susanna started an open air¹¹ lounge bar

柏林來的沃夫岡   拿胡琴配著電吉他
Bo-lin lai de Wo-fu-gang   na hu qin pei zhe dian ji ta
Wolfgang from Berlin used Huqin¹² together with electric guitar

各種顏色的皮膚 各種顏色的頭髮
ge zhong yan se de pi fu   ge zhong yan se de tou fa
Various colours of the skin, various colours of the hair

嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they speak and say (in their mouth) is Chinese which is starting to get popular

多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
For countless years we have been working hard on English pronunciations and grammars

這幾年換他們捲著舌頭學平上去入的變化
zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ‘ping shang qu ru’ de bian hua
These years they become the ones to twist their tongues learning the changes of ‘ping shang qu ru’

仄仄平平仄仄平
ze ze ping ping ze ze ping

好聰明的中國人   好優美的中國話
hao cong ming de zhong guo ren   hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese (people), how beautiful the Chinese language is

---
有個小孩叫小杜
you ge xiao hai jiao Xiao Du
There was a kid called Xiao Du

上街打醋又買布
shang jie da cu you mai bu
Went out to the streets to buy vinegar and also to purchase cloth

買了布   打了醋
mai le bu   da le cu
Purchased the cloth, bought the vinegar

回頭看見鷹和兔
hui tou kan jian ying he tu
On his way back he saw an eagle and a hare

放下布   擱下醋
fan xia bu   ge xia cu
Dropped the cloth, lowered the vinegar

上前去追鷹和兔
shang qian qu zhui ying he tu
And went after the eagle and the hare

飛了鷹   跑了兔
fei le ying   pao le tu
Off the eagle flew, as the hare ran away

灑了醋   濕了布
sa le cu   shi le bu
Spilled the vinegar, wetted the cloth¹³

---
嘴說腿   腿說嘴
zui shuo tui   tui shuo zui
The mouth talks about the leg, the leg talks about the mouth

嘴說腿   愛跑腿
zui shuo tui   ai pao tui
The mouth talks about the leg – loves running around¹⁴

腿說嘴   愛賣嘴
tui shuo zui   ai mai zui
The leg talks about the mouth – loves to selling sweet talk¹⁵

光動嘴   不動腿
quang dong dui   bu dong tui
Only moving the mouth, without moving the leg¹⁶

光動腿   不動嘴
guang dong tui   bu dong zui
Only moving the leg, without moving the mouth¹⁷

不如不長腿和嘴
bu ru bu zhang zui he tui
It’s better to not have a leg and a mouth¹⁸

到底是那嘴說腿   還是腿說嘴
dao di shin a zui shuo tui   hai shi tui shuo zui
So in the end, is the mouth talking about the leg? Or the leg talking about the mouth?

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1. 扁擔 (carrying pole): ancient Chinese balance this pole on their shoulders to carry things in two baskets, one on each side.
2. 板凳 (wooden bench): this is fully made of wood and is usually very long, to hold about 7-8 people.
3. 旗袍 (Cheongsam): tradisional Chinese costume for woman, the red one which Nino wore in Shukudai-kun, lol.
4. 牛肉麵 (beef noodles): more well-known in Taiwan (available in 600cc of course), served with soup & noodles, with meatballs & lean meat - all beef, sometimes with salted vegetables.
5. 平上去入 ('ping shang qu ru'): pronunciation intonations of the Chinese language. Each syllable may have four different intonations (it's already difinite which is the first or fourth), carrying different meanings.
6. 平(ping): the first intonation, referring to 'ping shang qu ru'. 仄(ze): the second, third and fourth intonation (上去入), referring to 'ping shang qu ru'.
7. more like: so what do you want now?!
8. sorry for the weird English, literal translation^^; but now I'm starting to think that it's actually a swan...
9. so who's helping who?
10. it can also mean: the language we speak, causes the world to be obedient.
11. 禪風(Open Air): ancient Chinese houses with an 'openable' roof, or it may be without barriers or doors from within the house compound. Like a bigger luxurious version of a bus stop, if you get what I mean^^
12. 胡琴 (Huqin): Chinese traditional stringed instruments (strings family), Erhu & Jinhu included. Usually made from horse tail hairs, more or less used like western guitars (plucking).
13. I would say the eagle or the hare caused the accident, but blame Xiao Du first... lol.
14. 跑腿: running around doing things which are none of your business, usually to please someone with higher ranking. Some people are manipulated.
15. 賣嘴: sweet talk which are usually fake promises or hipocrisy.
16. 動 (move): in this context, it means to work. Only the mouth working, without the legs moving. Empty talk without action.
17. Only the leg working, without the mouth moving. Immediate action without explanations.
18. out of frustration, of course that's not true ^^;