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hunxi-guilai · 3 years

Text

疏林如有诉 SHULINRUYOUSU / AS IF THESE WOODS COULD SPEAK

INTRODUCTION:

疏林如有诉 Shulinruyousu (Spotify link here; YouTube link here) is the eleventh song on the CQL companion album, and is sung by Gao Qiuzi as Wen Qing’s character song.

Like Wei Wuxian’s character song, Wen Qing’s character song reflects on her relationship to altruism and kindness, the blurring of dreams and reality, the dynamics of chance, destiny, and fate. The lyrics also incorporate the 也曾 yeceng / “I once…” sentence construction that forms a central motif in 曲尽陈情 Qujinchenqing, highlighting both their incredible achievements and the way popular memory betrays their respective legacies.

With my paltry research and resources, I can find no obvious literary reference or symbolic significance in this song’s title, though I can unpack the character 诉 su a bit. I’ve defanged the word somewhat by simply translating it as “speak,” though it can be that neutral, as in 告诉 gaosu / “to tell [someone], to inform.” Generally speaking, 诉 su is more powerful than that, however—it has valences of a legal complain/suit (投诉 tousu / “to appeal” or “to register a complaint,” 申诉 shensu / “to appeal, petition,” 控诉 kongsu / “to accuse, denounce”) as well as emotional expression (诉苦 suku / “to pour out one’s bitterness and woes,” 诉衷情 su zhongqing / “to express one’s genuine emotions”). It would sound somewhat less lovely and concise, perhaps, but conceivable alternative interpretations for the title of Wen Qing’s character song, with the meaning teased out a bit, could be “the woods seem as if they have a complaint to lodge” or “the woods seem as if they have sorrows to tell.”

PRODUCTION STAFF:

Lyricist：钟乌衣 Zhong Wuyi

Composer：陈亦洺 Chen Yiming

Arranger：1AN【异新音乐】

Mixing：within_轶名【异新音乐】

Flute：水玥儿 Shui Yue’er

Additional Voices：高秋梓 Gao Qiuzi / 喜子 Xizi

Recorder：徐涛 Xu Tao【雅弦录音棚】

Producer：黄喜 Huang Xi / within_轶名

Performed by: 高秋梓 Gao Qiuzi

LYRICS + TRANSLATION:

有风遥吹窗上铃 / A wind blows—the bell on the window sways

同族人同梦不同醒 / Same clan, same dreams—different wakings

是谁在牵引已定的命 / Who is it, leading us to a predestined fate?

身陷泥沼再难挣离/ Upon sinking into the mire, it is hard to fight your way free

从来恩仇最分明 / Favor and hatred have always been distinct

惟剖丹相助不忍听 / Only cutting out a core to help each other—I could not bear to hear

曾医数苦疾 / I treated countless bitter injuries

皆如水中萍[1] / and they all drifted past, like weeds on water

世间又添凄凉影 / Adding reflections of desolate misery to this mortal realm

门内虚光灯影 / Candlelight blurs inside the door

恻隐无凭 / Compassion stirs, with no basis

也曾尚存那缕 / I, too, once held that thread

济世之心 / of a heart that wished to help the world

投之以桃[2]何须留我名姓 / What need have I for fame to do what is right?

冠此家姓便空余恶名 / Crowned with the surname of this family, soon there is nothing left but infamy

银针斜入谁人颈 / Whose neck did my silver needles pierce?

也曾携弟报此恩情 / I, too, once brought my brother with me to repay favor

有言无人信 / I have words, but no one to believe me

仓惶几处惊 / Panicked—shock in every direction

挫骨扬灰[3]也同命 / Bones, broken; ashes, scattered—we share the same fate

孤灯点亮山径 / A lonely lantern lights the mountain path

前路难明 / The road forward is difficult to know

当时善怀谁又能算得清 / The kindness I held in my heart then—who can calculate it clearly?

若只惶惶为避山外风雨[4] / If I had only hidden, frightened and uneasy, from the winds and rains beyond the mountains

谁轻叹医者仁心 / who would sigh gently for the benevolent heart of doctors?

待到秋叶老去 / Waiting until the autumn leaves age

新坟旧地 / New graves, old haunts

便教西去的鹤[5] 载我同行 / I ask the west-flying cranes to carry me with them

看遍千景最是人间无情[6] / I’ve seen a thousand things—the human realm is heartless

焚尽此生愿来世同宁[7] / Burn this life to ashes—I wish, in the coming world, to share in peace

ANNOTATIONS:

[1] 水中萍 shuizhongping, literally “[duck]weed floating on water,” is often used to describe passerbys who have no connection to each other—they meet briefly, bump into each other, and then separate, without any lingering connections. The metaphor originates in the Song Dynasty poem 《阮郎归·风中柳絮水中萍》 by 王丛书 Wang Congshu, which begins with the lines: 风中柳絮水中萍。聚散两无情 / in the wind, willow catkins; in the water, floating duckweed. Meeting and separating—both, without feeling.

[2] The phrase 投之以桃 touzhiyitao is a reference to the poem 《诗·大雅·抑》 in the 《诗经》 Shijing / Classic of Odes, which contains the lines 投我以桃，报之以李 / toss me a peach, and I’ll repay you with a pear. This gets abbreviated into the chengyu 投桃报李 toutao baoli, which is used to describe reciprocal relationships of giving. Here, the lyrics reject the need for 投之以桃 touzhiyitao / reciprocity in order to do what is right.

[3] 挫骨扬灰 cuogu yanghui / literally, “to grind bones and scatter ashes” is particularly significant in premodern Han Chinese burial practices, which I get into a bit in this post.

[4] The phrase 山外风雨 shanwai fengyu / “the winds and rains beyond the mountains” metaphorically refers to the worldly conflicts of the show, much like the binome 风云 fengyun in 清河诀 Qinghejue (endnote 6).

[6] The line 便教西去的鹤 / “I ask the west-flying cranes…” is a reference to the chengyu 驾鹤西游 jiahe xiyou (literally, “to ride a crane and journey westwards”). This chengyu is often used in poetry to refer to death in a roundabout, literary manner.

[7] Alternate translations of 人间无情 renjian wuqing include: “the human realm is merciless” “the human realm is unfeeling” “the human realm is ruthless” “the human realm is uncaring.” I don’t think I can overstate the definitive cynicism of this line.

[8] 同宁 tongning means “to share in peace” / “to live together in tranquility.” It is also a stealth pun on Wen Ning’s name, which contains the same character. A conceivable alternate translation for this line could be: “Burn this life to ashes—I wish, in the coming world, to be with A-Ning.”

ONCE MORE WITH CLARITY VERSION:

A wind blows—the bell on the window sways

Same clan, same dreams—different wakings

Who is it, leading us to a predestined fate?

Upon sinking into the mire, it is hard to fight your way free

Favor and hatred have always been distinct

Only cutting out a core to help each other—I could not bear to hear

I treated countless bitter injuries

and they all drifted past, like weeds on water

Adding reflections of desolate misery to this mortal realm

Candlelight blurs inside the door

Compassion stirs, with no basis

I, too, once held that thread

of a heart that wished to help the world

What need have I for fame to do what is right?

Crowned with the surname of this family, soon there is nothing left but infamy

Whose neck did my silver needles pierce?

I, too, once brought my brother with me to repay favor

I have words, but no one to believe me

Panicked—shock in every direction

Bones, broken; ashes, scattered—we share the same fate

A lonely lantern lights the mountain path

The road forward is difficult to know

The kindness I held in my heart then—who can calculate it clearly?

If I had only hidden, frightened and uneasy, from the winds and rains beyond the mountains

who would sigh gently for the benevolent heart of doctors?

Waiting until the autumn leaves age

New graves, old haunts

I ask the west-flying cranes to carry me with them

I’ve seen a thousand things—the human realm is heartless

Burn this life to ashes—I wish, in the coming world, to share in peace

MORE PL TRANSLATIONS:

masterlist

PL Translations: an introduction

无羁 Wuji

曲尽陈情 Qujinchenqing

不忘 Buwang

赤子Chizi

恨别 Henbie

不由 Buyou

清河诀 Qinghejue

#PL translations #shulinruyousu.mp3 #Wen Qing #Gao Qiuzi #oh look it's the most underrated character song on the album #do you ever think about the Wen sibs--

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