Lyrics Translation: [ 筆墨登場 | bǐ mò dēng chǎng | Entrance Of Calligraphy ]

筆墨登場 | bǐ mò dēng chǎng | Entrance Of Calligraphy
Back to album: 失業情歌 | Music Life


Singer: Anson Hu
Composer: Anson Hu
Lyricist: 吳英群
English Translation: DeniseJF



Chinese calligraphy is widely practiced and revered in the Chinese culture. This song contains a lot of chinese culture, and I have tried to add as many notes as I can to help readers understand.



( Outside Drum Tower, in the small courtyard, there are stone statues )
鼓樓外的小院門口有個門墩兒
gǔ lóu wài de xiǎo yuàn mén kǒu yǒu gè mén dūn er

( I spent all day riding it while eating a red berry popsicle )
我成天騎在上面舔著紅果兒冰棍兒
wǒ chéng tiān qí zài shàng miàn tiǎn zhe hóng guǒ er bīng gùn er

( Grandfather says, "Looks like you don't have much to do, )
爺爺說看你也沒事兒
yé ye shuō kàn nǐ yě mé ishì er

( might as well come so I will teach you how to write Chinese characters" )
不如來家裡我教你寫寫大字兒
bù rú lái jiā li wǒ jiào nǐ xiě xiě dà zì er

( Once I enter the courtyard, there is the smell of German ink )
一進院兒就聞見一德閣的墨汁兒
yī jìn yuàn er jiù wén jiàn yī dé gé de mò zhī er



( Between the vines on the porch, there are a pair of hidden bottle-gourds )
*Note: Bottle-gourd plant (aka calabash) is a plant that has used for food and medicine, but has also been associated for good luck, and hope for the Chinese.
門廊上籐蔓之間藏著一對兒葫蘆兒
mén láng shàng téng màn zhī jiān cáng zhe yī duì er hú lu er

( Engraved on redwood table are Wang Xizhi's book of rubbings )
*Note: Wang Xizhi is an Chinese historical figure known for his calligraphy. Book of rubbings refers to any paper rubbings from inscriptions on stoneware, stone tablets, seals, wood, and more.
紅木案上成堆的是王羲之的拓本兒
hóng mù àn shàng chéng duī de shì wáng xī zhī dì tà běn er

( Blue and white porcelain pen holder was Kangxi's toy )
青花瓷的筆筒是康熙年間的玩意兒
*Note: Kangxi is Qing Dynasty's second generation emperor.
qīng huā cí de bǐ tǒng shì kāng xī nián jiān de wán yì er

( Uncle pours a pot of Longjing tea, plays with the huqin fiddle )
*Note: huqin fiddle is the Chinese two-stringed Violin. 
大伯泡一壺龍井 拉上一段兒胡琴兒
dà bó pào yī hú lóng jǐng lā shàng yī duàn er hú qín er



*Marking
( Lay out a bunch of xuan paper on the table )
展一爿宣紙於案上
*Note: Xuan paper is fine writing paper, originally coming from Jing county
zhǎn yī pán xuā nzhǐ yú àn shàng

( The brass paperweight is shining )
黃銅的鎮尺明晃晃
huáng tóng de zhèn chǐ míng huàng huang

( When the setting sun penetrates through the window lattice on the east room, )
當東廂房的窗欞 透進一撇斜陽
dāng dōng xiāng fáng de chuāng líng tòu jìnyī piē xié yáng

( the freshly grounded, dense smelling ink, lingers )
初研的墨香氤氳繞樑
chū yán de mò xiāng yīn yūn rào liáng

( Pick up a weasel's hair writing brush with palm, )
掇一桿狼毫握手掌
duō yī gǎn láng háo wò shǒu zhǎng

( and strength is handled just right )
拿捏的力道剛剛好
nǎ niē de lì dào gāng gāng hǎo

( Look at Yan Zhenqing's copybook, the wind swept it to a corner )
*Note: Yan Zhenqing is China's historical figure known for his calligraphy. Copybook refers to rubbings from calligrapher's incriptions.
看顏真卿的字帖 被風掀起一角
kàn yán zhēn qīng de zì tiě   bèi fēng xiān qǐ yī jiǎo

( Wrist is hanging, I wrote the word "small" )
手腕高懸我寫一個字「小」
shǒu wàn gāo xuán wǒ xiě yī gè zì xiǎo



( Foreigners see Chinese characters as square boxes, )
老外看漢字都是一個個的方塊兒
lǎo wài kàn hàn zì dōu shì yī gè gè de fāng kuài er

( little do they know that writing it out has a special meaning and style )
殊不知寫出來是特別的有范兒
shū bù zhī xiě chū lái shì tè bié de yǒu fàn er

( Start, succeed, turn, close, then it's horizontal, vertical, updown to left, updown to right )
*Note: These are Chinese character writing strokes
起承轉合連接著橫 豎 撇 捺兒
qǐ chéng zhuǎn hé lián jiē zhe héng shù piē nà er

( Shouldn't learn from Mr. Bai who doesn't follow radical stroke rules )
*Note: Mr. Bai refers to people with erroneous written or misprounced words. 
不能學白字先生不認偏旁筆劃兒
bù néng xué bái zì xiān shēng bù rèn piān páng bǐ huà er

( Away goes the old year, new year firecrackers explode the word "blessing" )
辭舊迎新爆竹裡炸出一個「福」字兒
cí jiù yíng xīn bào zhú li zhà chū yī gè fú zì er

( Plentiful harvest, rice granary stores the word "bountiful" )
五穀豐登米倉裡屯著一個「豐」字兒
wǔ gǔ fēng dēng mǐ cāng li tún zhe yī gè fēng zì er

( New business opens, shopkeeper posts the word "fortune" )
開張大吉掌櫃的貼上一個「發」字兒
kāi zhāng dà jí zhǎng guì de tiē shàng yī gè fā zì er

( The large red word "happiness," someone married a wife )
大紅的「喜」字兒是有人要娶媳婦兒
dà hóng de xǐ zì er shì yǒu rén yào qǔ xí fu er



( Ying Ding bridge's lotus pond attracted a pair of dragonfly )
銀錠橋的荷塘惹來蜻蜓一對兒
yín dìng qiáo de hé táng rě lái qīng tíng yī duì er

( I don't have time, nor is wholeheartedly dedicated to tracing red characters )
*Note: red characters is a type of paper with red characters printed on for tracing over
我無暇張望一心一意描紅模子兒
wǒ wú xiá zhāng wàng yī xīn yī yì miáo hóng mú zǐ er

( The saying goes, "master directs us through the door, )
俗話說師傅領進門兒
sú huà shuō shī fu lǐng jìn mén er

( heart is calm, hand is diligent, practice depends on the individual' )
心要靜手要勤修行全看個人兒
xīn yào jìng shǒu yào qín xiū xíng quán kàn gè rén er

( If mind accidentally wanders, make a mistake, Grandfather will smack your hand )
一走神寫錯字爺爺要打手板兒
yī zǒu shén xiě cuò zì yé ye yào dǎ shǒu bǎn er

( Ancient people said "writing is like the personality, shows their spirit and manner )
古人云字如其人 透著一股精氣神兒
gǔ rén yún zì rú qí rén   tòu zhe yī gǔ jīng qì shén er

( Being wild but with devotion is said to be writing cursive with flavour )
狂放而有致說的是寫草書的韻味兒
kuáng fàng ér yǒu zhì shuō de shì xiě cǎo shū de yùn wèi er

( Silkworm's head, tail of the swallowtail, contains Lishu font's figure )
*Note: Lizhu font is a popular Chinese font and is very elegant
蠶之頭 燕之尾 蘊含著隸書的身段兒
cán zhī tóu yàn zhī wěi yùn hán zhe lì shū de shēn duàn er

( Using Xingshu font in one go, but shouldn't mess up the stroke rules )
*Note: Xingshu font is like handwriting, one single stroke writes one word 
行書要一氣呵成不能亂了規矩兒
xing shū yào yī qì hē chéng bù néng luàn le guī jǔ er



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