Wednesday, March 11, 2015

江山萬里心


江山萬里心 

Jiāng shān wàn lǐ xīn


風雨千年路 江山萬里心


Millennia of winds and rains alone the road we endure

Vastness of rivers and mountains our bosom contain 

秦關月 楚天雲 無處不是故園情

Moon in Qing frontier*

Clouds on Chu's sky

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 

紫塞三春猶飛雪 嶺南四季花似錦


Every spring, north across the Great Wall, snow flies still.

All seasons, south down Qin Mountain, flowers resembles brocade. 

九曲黃河怒淘湧 長江三峽一舟輕

Winding-twisting Yellow River splash and crash furious waves in

Yangtze River's gorges a boat flows swiftly through 

更有那桂林山水     
恰似人間仙境

Not to mention, Guilin's Landscape 

Alas, Heaven on earth as such!

敦煌月泉外 沙漠起駝鈴

Outside Dunhuang's Crescent Lake, 

camel bell rings the desert

風雨千年路 江山萬里心


Winds and rains endure the roads for millennia

Rivers and mountains of homeland are embraced in our bosom

秦關月 楚天雲

Moon in Qing frontier

Clouds on Chu sky

無處不是故園情 

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 

無處不是故園情

Nowhere is not overwhelmed by my nostalgia 


*Qin frontier is the paraphrase of 秦關, Hangu Pass. 
Hangu Pass was a strategic pass in Qin state's territory during Warring-States period (476BC ~221 BC). It was the entrance for Qin state to enter Guanzhong (literally, "inside the Passes"). During Warring-States Period Guanzhong was the western edge of Chinese civilization. Therefore, Hangu Pass symbolized the frontier of civilization in Chinese othodoxy.







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This poetic lyric is from the theme song of a travel TV show, “Da Lu Zun Qi” , broadcast in Taiwan. The show features the mild  monologue of the hostess describing historical and humanity landscape of China , down-to-earth shooting/reporting style, picturesque scenery, and ernest interaction with indigenous people. In evokes strong nostalgia and thus gained huge popularity among families of veterans and emigrants, who retreated from Mainland China around 1949 due to the defeat of KMT government in Chinese Civil War.

The TV show sustain its popularity over decades since its debut in 1990.  It is its 25th year of broadcasting in 2015,