壁上观 Bi Shang Guan [张晓涵 Zhang XiaoHan] - Chinese, Pinyin & English Translation 歌词英文翻译

[@tempestjun437]

Hi, here are some references and elaborations :) 00:00 壁上观 refers to the idiom 作壁上观 which is derived from a historical story and originally meant 'overlooking a battle between two sides from atop a wall,'. Eventually it became a metaphor for watching from the sidelines without giving any help. Noted to have some derogatory meaning when used in a sentence. Now the song itself, the singer is a part of the team 一棵小葱 who focuses on traditional-inspired music. This song is described with the phrase 聆画为歌，乘乐舞梦敦煌 (listen to the paintings as a song, using music and dance to dream of Dunhuang). The whole song has a sort-of ... the feeling I get is that the song looks back at the long history of China, the prosperity that it has experienced represented by the Dunhuang murals. It goes into great length describing the brilliance of that time, and ends on a rather helpless note of how we are only bystanders to history. Like how the listener is taken on a journey of dancing among the gods and deities, surrounded by vibrant colours bringing back the glory of an empire long past, only to wake up and realise that we are all bystanders watching from the wall above as time clashes with these artefacts of the past. (Also, kinda expected but, loads of references to Buddhism so I'm not going explain every single one. I did my best to translate the terms across and will be noting those that are more vague) 00:55 - 01:06 'Over a thousand autumns have passed, but the yellow sand has never rubbed away nor caused to fade, the vivid colours of the Tang Dynasty'. 01:08 宫阙 refers to the palace where the emperor lives because there are twin watchtowers on the walls surrounding the complex called 双阙 and so the phrase 宫阙 is also used to refer to the palace. Here, I imagine those old, ancient structures and how shadows and light will dance and intertwine depending on the position of the light source. In that moment, you stand inside history and sort-of forget what year it is; 2024 or 439? Standing inside these physical manifestations of history, every shadow and light seem to be manifesting something greater. Whether they are truly there or not, you are allowed a glimpse of their splendour. 01:25 Huxuan Dance 胡旋舞 (or shortened to 胡舞) is a folk dance that was introduced to the Central Plains (birthplace of Chinese civilisation, think like native land of the Han Chinese) from the Western Regions. The dance has a distinct and cheerful rhythm and was popular during the Tang Dynasty. From what I found, the dance was introduced from smaller kingdoms in the west including 康国 (Kingdom of Kang)、史国 (Kingdom of Shi)、米国 (Kingdom of Mi), etc. These small kingdoms (totalling 15), during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, were located near the GuiShui River Basin AKA the Amu Darya. 01:33 诸天 is a Buddhist term referring to the guardian deities. So something like; 'accompanied by the stars that shine with the presence of the guardian deities.' 01:49 蒙尘 has multiple meanings; to be buried by wind and dust; beauty that has been buried by wind and dust; in ancient times, the emperor who has lost his thrown and fled. This lyric seems to be saying 'with this journey to Dunhuang, I am buried by wind and dust, but upon arrival I come upon this joyful feast and join with the spirits and deities inside the caves.' There are soo many metaphors. But originally, I interpreted it a bit wrong. But the line was so sad and pretty I just wanted to note it here; 'This time, going to a joyful feast for the beauty that has been buried by wind and dust'. It makes no sense grammatically or with how the song is sung, but I just imagined the line to be almost grieving for the art and history that has been buried by time. However, this wouldn't make sense with the rest of the lyrics (especially 00:55 - 01:06). 01:57 朱颜 refers to either a rosy and beautiful face; or a pleasant expression. It expresses intimacy and trust. Might be talking about the faces of the buddhas and spirits within the caves. 璀璨 comes from 《鲁灵光殿赋》by 王延寿 in the Han Dynasty. It describes the brilliance of pearls and jade (also used to describe people and other things); basically the kind of beauty found in light reflecting off the surface of jade and pearls, splendid and radiant but also a bit flamboyant with almost otherworldly beauty. There can be two ways to interpret this; 1. The faces painted and carved have lost their beauty through time; 'Rosy and beautiful faces change, how come the previous splendour of the cave paintings cannot be seen?' 2. (the way I chose to interpret it, mainly due to the lyric following this one) The rosy faces have changed, but how can we not see their previous splendour?; 'Rosy and beautiful faces change, how can we not see the former splendour of the cave paintings'. 02:05 The beauty of the murals and statues have changed, we are able to still see their former splendour. But even knowing that they are being whittled away by time, when we wake from our dream of the prosperous ages, we still become bystanders watching from above as they struggle against the winds and dust (metaphor for time?) Singer: 张晓涵 Zhang XiaoHan Lyrics: 小六 XiaoLiu Composition: 周明聪 Zhou MingCong Arrangement: 甘虎 Gan Hu Please check out my other channel Tempest & Me where I make mostly historical/ cultural videos with a dash of randomness :) Other channel: www.youtube.com/@TempestMe-ob3ml

[@kellykelleher7321]

Thank You ❤❤

[@kellykelleher7321]

Absolutely Magnificent ❣️💖💖

[@kenong7]

amazing, perfect magnifico, bravo

[@uglyyuff1214]

I hear a remix of this. It's faster but with a beat behind it. Do you happen to know where I could find it? Thanks!

[@8MonkeyIsland8]

Who came here from watching Wukong videos on TT?

[@sudgaur1601]

Thank you for the translation 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@franciscoreyes3979]

no me importan todas sus Indirectas, yo solo haré todo lo que mi propia persona me dice hacer les parezca bien o no pues yo no estoy en este mundo para complacer a nadie más que a mi propia persona este correcto o no lo siento mucho si no los complazco.🦉🇲🇽🇹🇼🇨🇳🇲🇫🇩🇪🇮🇳🇧🇷🇪🇦🇺🇾🇨🇺🇪🇨❤