[English translation] 江山雪 - Snow over Rivers and Mountains

作曲/編曲//Composer/arrangement: KIDE

後期//Post production: E

作詞//Lyrics：荀夜羽 (Xun Ye Yu)

原唱//Original vocal：小愛的媽 (Xiao Ai’s mom/Xiao Ai De Ma)

特邀念白//Narrators：阿冊 (A Ce), 柒夜 (Qi Ye)

演唱//Vocal (cover)：蚊香 (Wen Xiang)

混音//Mix：Mr曾經 (Mr Ceng Jing)

Other covers:

小爱的妈：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iabciSZbXag

西國海妖：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IyuAwXcqyM

(And many more available on Youtube)

Instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaupzsshzy8&t=218s 

***

純則粹 陽則剛 天行健 兩儀遵道恆長 故有長久者不自生方長生之講
Pure in essence, stark in strength
Heaven runs diligently, two states in constant obedience of nature’s law Hence there’s the saying, longevity favors those who do no egoistic self-preservation


百丈峰 松如浪
地勢坤 厚德載物之像
故君子不爭炎涼

Pine trees rose like waves upon peaks a hundred meters tall The earthy landscape contains within itself all virtues and matters Like so, a gentleman does not concern himself with trifles


混沌開 分陰陽
輪轉更迭萬物始蒼蒼
觀其微妙於九天之下六合八荒

Primordial chaos split into Yin and Yang
Only through its changes in cycles can all lives flourish
Do observe its intricacies, under the heavens, in this universe


自春生 入秋藏
天之道四時更迭有常
若有常為何晨曦比這夜還涼

Birthed in spring, hidden in autumn
Heaven’s law changes with a rhythm of certainty
If there should be certainty, why is dawn colder than this very night?


若無常 為何我總會想
與你 守月滿空山雪照窗

If there naught be certainty, why am I constantly drawn to the thought
Of waiting on the moon with you, snow reflecting light through our windows in the vacuous mountains?


[Narration]
大道無形，生育天地；大道無情，運行日月；大道無名，長養萬物。

Dao is shapeless, birthing heaven and earth; Dao is loveless, moving both sun and moon; Dao is nameless, nurturing all lives.


一念坐忘 趁月光
聽 清風追逐流雲纏綿飛舞的癡狂
交錯的剎那 生怕洩露心頭沉淪的慌
微漾

I thought of meditating while the moon still shines
And listen to winds chase the streaming clouds, entwined in a dancing frenzy
At the moment we intersected, I feared that the panic from my heart’s fall would be revealed
As a subtle ripple


[Narration]

吾不知其名，強名曰道。
夫道者：有清有濁，有動有靜；天清地濁，天動地靜； 降本流末，而生萬物。
清者，濁之源，動者，靜之基；人能常清靜，天地悉皆歸。

Its name I know not, Dao is the name assumed.

Dao, defined as such: it encompasses the clear and the murky, the moving and the still; heaven is clear while the earth murky, heaven moves while the earth is still; it descends from its source and flows to its end, thus birthing lives in tens of thousands.

The clear is the source of the murky; the moving, foundation of the still; should one stays oft in clarity and stillness, heaven and earth shall be his to own.


未曾忘 蒙昧時授我出世方（君卻重入塵浪）
如何渡暖意 才能化盡你眼底 千山月下霜（將眷戀深藏）
揮劍 斬痴念萬丈（已決意相忘）
卻 輸給回眸一望

I’ve never forgotten, in my ignorant days, who taught me the way out of mortal’s entanglements (yet you returned to its tumbling dust)
How shall this warmth be delivered, to melt away mountain frost under the moon, beneath your eyes (hiding all your longings deep within)
I raised my sword, and severed my overwhelming lengths of obsession (already decided to forget one another)
Yet my defeat was spelled, when you cast a glance back at me


曲中全 直藏枉
盛世於斯須間興亡
有誰能與天數相抗
逆轉世態炎涼

Wholesomeness within the crooked, vanity concealed in the righteous
The glorious world rises and falls in passing moments
Who can oppose heaven’s will
And reverse the state of this world?


都說
心欲靜 更難放
何時起光陰 與心意
放縱如 白駒
不肯收韁

It’s been said
The heart yearning stillness finds it harder to let go
Since when, time itself, together with my heart
Bolted like a white colt
Still I refuse to draw its reins


[Narration]
情不敢至深 恐大夢一場
卦不敢算盡 畏天道無常

Love I dare not let run deep, fearing it should be merely an elaborate dream
Entirety of my fortunes I dare not predict, fearing heaven’s uncertainty


時有序 世滄桑
天地將傾時誰保 誰無恙
指上訣 念念入心藏

There is order in time, and vicissitudes in the world
When heaven and earth topple, who can promise whose safety
Incantations upon my fingers, I chanted till it’s kept by heart


君為刃 吾便以此身 為盾防
仗劍鎮山河護 你無恙

If you shall be a blade, then this body of mine I’ll make the shield
Wielding a sword to surmount the land, so that I may protect you, safe and well


***

Translator’s comment:

I did this because I happen to enjoy dropping boulders directly above my feet.

Also, I’m in my pop culture Taoism phase. And I can’t say I don’t enjoy a bit of a challenge.

This is really not an easy one to work with. Lots of references to Taoist literature, so I try to go back to the sources and translate to the best of my ability. Some philosophical concepts are difficult to convey in full. E.g. For “the earthy landscape” (地勢坤), the word “坤” is a somewhat nebulous concept. It’s one of the symbols of the Ba Gua (Eight Diagrams) from the earliest surviving Chinese literature, the I Ching. It can mean the earth (as oppose to the heavens), or the feminine (as opposed to the masculine), or the southwest direction.

Downside number two: I’m not very well-read in Taoist literature and doctrine, so I only know some of the more superficial aspects of it.

This song contains a mix of pop culture Taoism. It was originally composed as an homage to a Chinese MMORPG (劍俠情緣叁 or 剑网三). One of the sects, the Chun Yang Sect (纯阳), takes inspiration from Taoism, and the characters are modeled after Taoist priests and priestesses. (The song “A Taoist Nun Friend of Mine” is also inspired by events in the same game, by the way.) So the first line “纯则粹 阳则刚” probably serves more as a reference to the game than providing much actual meaning.

I especially like these lines from the original sources:

天行健，君子以自强不息。
地势坤，君子以厚德载物。
——《周易》

"Like the diligence of heaven, a gentleman should be relentless in improving one self.
Like the nurturing earth, a gentleman should cultivate good virtues and be accepting of all matters."
- I Ching