演唱//Vocals：黃詩扶 (Huang Shi Fu)
作曲//Composer：黃詩扶 (Huang Shi Fu)
作詞//Lyrics：南岐 (Nan Zhi)
編曲/分軌//Arrangement：Mzf小慕 (Mzf Xiao Mu)
策劃//Planning：悠羽 (You Yu)
林黛玉（崑曲）// Opera singing：邵天帥 (Shao Tian Shuai)
崑曲指導//Opera singing advisor：張鵬 (Zhang Peng)
詩詞選段//Poem excerpt：曹雪芹《紅樓夢》("Dream of the Red Chamber" by Cao Xueqin)
混音//Mixing：么嘮 (Me Lao)
製作人//Producer：左木修 (Zuo Mu Xiu)
歌曲錄音//Recording：田躍君 (Tian Yue Jun)
崑曲錄音//Recording for opera singing：BOB後權寶@行人Studio
聯合出品//In collaboration with：觀其復 (Guan Qi Fu)
出品//Produced by：萬象凡音 (Wan Xiang Fan Yin)
*****
也作風露辭寒春
往事空照夢裡人
庭階蘚生，玉樓埋沉
醉裡問愁最相襯
To be as dewy breezes bidding farewell to chill spring
The past reflects hollow on the one in dreams
Steps overgrown with lichen, jade towers buried and sunken
Sorrows go best with inebriation
憑欄人間聞秋聲
原是垂淚不歸人
消磨光景，對影庭深
夤夜倉皇辭星辰
Leaning upon the railings, listening to autumnal sounds of the mortal world
It’s but the weeping one who will never return
A grind to pass time, facing one's shadow deep within the courtyard
The night hastily bids its stars farewell
風回小庭逐明月
隻身似飄蓬倦未歇
悵悵與暮夜
途拾杯中，漾泊一圓缺
Winds circle the courtyard and chase the bright moon
Lonesome as floating catkins, weary yet unrested
Melancholy and late nights
I merely collect my cup, within its ripples the same moon waxed and waned
【崑曲】
花謝花飛花滿天，紅消香斷有誰憐？
【Opera singing】
Flowers fall, fly, flutter across the sky; who will cherish them once their colors and fragrances fade?
往事空照夢裡人
庭階蘚生，玉樓埋沉
醉裡問愁最相襯
To be as dewy breezes bidding farewell to chill spring
The past reflects hollow on the one in dreams
Steps overgrown with lichen, jade towers buried and sunken
Sorrows go best with inebriation
也作遠天風裡塵
望斷當年笙歌枕
初逢花醅，醉向早春
空留醒時問離恨
To be as dust caught in a distant wind
Yearning in vain for those years pillowed by melodies
My first encounter with coarse flower wine, ushered me into a drunken spring
Leaving sober hours for the pains of separation
風回小庭逐明月
隻身似飄蓬倦未歇
悵悵與暮夜
途拾杯中，漾泊一圓缺
Winds circle the courtyard and chase the bright moon
Lonesome as floating catkins, weary yet unrested
Melancholy and late nights
I merely collect my cup, within its ripples the same moon waxed and waned
余花臨燭飄香屑
是芳菲散盡催辭別
冉冉對老雀
浮生好夢，算來多是竊
Remaining flowers met candle flames, snowing down as ashen flakes
Is when all their fragrances fade away, hastening this departure
Placidly one faces the old finch
Mortal’s sweet frivolous dreams, are perhaps mostly unearned bliss
趁這奈何天，夢裡暫相見
樓前花枝仍睡在當年
Seize this restless day, for a fleeting tryst in dreams
The flower branches before the tower sleeps still in the past
花謝花飛花滿天
紅消香斷有誰憐
游絲軟系飄春榭
落絮輕沾撲綉簾
Flowers fall, fly, flutter across the sky
Who will cherish them once their colors and fragrances fade?
Soft, swimming silk threads drift between spring pavilions
Fallen catkins catch gently upon embroidered curtain doors
試看春殘花漸落
便是紅顏老死時
一朝春盡紅顏老
花落人亡兩不知
Behold the remnants of spring when flowers fall
Is the time beauty ages and dies
Overnight, spring's ended and beauty aged
Flowers fall and the person’s passed, both into oblivion
*****
Translator's notes:
This song is inspired by the "Song for the Burial of Flowers" (葬花吟; actually I'm not too sure what are the minute difference between the terminologies for poetry form, so I'll use them interchangebly), from the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber"/"Dream of the Red Mansion" (红楼梦) or "Story of the Stone" (石头记), considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest novel written in the history of Chinese literature.
Full translation of the original poem (last two stanzas in this song are word-for-word from the original poem - the one from the link translated the classical text much better than mine! I suspect this may be from one of the official translations, but I can't be sure as it does not state its source): http://www.59edu.com/novel/shici/200912/15305.html
Lin Daiyu, in-story composer of the "Song for Burial of Flowers", played by actress Chen Xiaoxu, now considered the most iconic portrayal of the character.
An excellent English video briefly introducing the novel, for those who are interested:
The last forty chapters of the book has been lost to the world, the completed version we have now is based on the continuation by another author. This leads to many speculation for the story's plot, foreshadowing, and its true ending. For instance, this poem where Lin Daiyu gives the flowers a burial, some interpret it as her lamenting her own fate, foreshadowing her own tragic end, but some speculate that it is a metaphor for the fate of all the women and girls of the Jia family, as the fall from grace of this family is foreshadowed through the original eighty chapters.
It really is too big a topic for me to delve in any detail regarding this novel, one of the biggest reason being my lack of expertise. As far as my understanding goes, the author's mastery in characterization and nuances in its themes are some of the aspects that make this novel an exceptional masterpiece. I've seen heated debates on Zhihu (something like the Chinese version of Quora) on the novel. Then there's also "Team Daiyu" vs "Team Baochai". Do you prefer the one who wears her heart on her sleeve, prideful and neurotic, petty and abrasive, yet doubtlessly true in her love and loyalty (Lin Daiyu)? Or the one who is tactful, charismatic, gracious, skilled at negotiating the politics in a large family, but you're never quite sure where her true heart lies, and whether her warmth is genuine (Xue Baochai)?
Lin Daiyu (left) and Xue Baochai (right). From the TV series (1987 version).
I think I might have gotten carried away again. So I'll leave it at that. Hope that piques some interest in this classical work (that had led me down its rabbit hole recently as well)!
EDIT (20/02/2021): The old video is no longer working, but it's available here. I've also embedded another Youtube video with the song, and it's also available on Spotify.
Also, if I recall correctly the link for the full poem translation above is indeed from an official translation, and it's the version translated by David Hawkes.
