Yu Xi Tan 虞兮叹 Sigh of Consort Yu [闻人听書] - Chinese, Pinyin & English Translation 歌词英文翻译

Hi, here are some references and elaborations :)
00:00
The title 虞兮叹 refers to
虞 = Yu as in Consort Yu
兮 = 'xi' first appeared in the oracle bone scripts of the Shang Dynasty and, in ancient times, was used as an interjection with no real meaning. Modern equivalent would be 'ah'.
叹 = sigh
So the title may either be referring to Consort Yu's sigh or Xiang Yu sighing out Consort Yu's name. This would also be a reference to the Song of GaiXia 垓下歌, a poem that Xiang Yu wrote and sung during his last moments during the Battle of GaiXia. One of the lines is 虞兮虞兮奈若何 (roughly 'Yu xi, Yu xi, what should I do?').
00:34
This line, based on my interpretation, is about the helplessness of war. The 'beauties' in here may not be referring to beautiful women, but the young faces who would no longer be seen because of warfare. In troubled times, how many beautiful young faces will be sacrificed to exchange for the peace that will allow the living to let out a deep sigh of sorrow over all that was lost to achieve what they have today.
00:39
The Battle of JuLu (208BC-207BC) was fought in JuLu (modern day PingXiang County, HeBei Province) with a Chu victory.
00:45
This is basically saying:
So what if bloody battles were fought for thousands of miles, in the end, when the wind rises and smoke clears, it will all be a grain of sand in the river of time, a footnote in the history books.
It's about the brutality and pointlessness of war.
00:57
There are two possible references here:
1. The previously mentioned Song of GaiXia of which one line had the exclamation of 虞兮虞兮. In this case, this will sorta fall into place with the lyrics following as it seems to refer to when they were besieged in the Battle of GaiXia and the despair of knowing what was to come. (Also, I translated 'Yu xi' into 'Yu Ji' which just means 'Consort Yu' because I had no idea how to convey the interjection and just 'Yu' sounded weird.)
2. As the previous lyric mentioned the difficulty of farewell, this may refer to Xiang Yu and Consort Yu's reluctance to part that led to her following him on the campaigns.
Personally, I lean a bit more towards 1.
01:02
君 can have multiple meanings including a form of address similar to 'lord', a way for a woman to address her husband (夫君), a reference to someone of high moral values (君子) or a reference to a ruler (king or emperor).
Overall, this line refers to Consort Yu being willing to share the happiness and sorrows (coldness and warmth) with Xiang Yu, to share times good and bad.
01:05
Despite the current situation, our previous memories of joy cannot be taken away.
01:08
Refers to when Xiang Yu composed the Song of GaiXia and Consort Yu performed a sword dance and sang a verse in return that is referred to as Song with King Xiang 和项王歌:
汉兵已略地
(the army of Han has already occupied the land of Chu)
四方楚歌声
(from all directions comes the despairing sound of Chu songs)
大王意气尽
(Your Majesty's strong will and spirit have been exhausted)
贱妾何聊生
(for what reason do this lowly consort have to abandon you and live in disgrace)
The last two lines appear to be a response to Xiang Yu's call of Yu xi, Yu xi in his Song of GaiXia.
01:13
楚歌声四方 actually references Song with King Xiang by rearranging some of the characters (originally: 四方楚歌声)
四方 = four directions
楚歌 = Chu songs
声 = sound
There are two ways to interpret this:
1. Being besieged, surrounded by the enemy at all sides in a hopeless situations; refers to the members of the Han army singing Chu songs as a tactic to make them believe that Chu has been conquered.
2. The sound of the Chu soldiers' despair when they thought that their land has already been conquered.
So it's like either 'the enemy has surrounded us at all sides' or 'despair rises from all around us'.
01:19
After singing Song with King Xiang, Consort Yu committed suicide.
饮剑 'drinking the sword' refers to suicide by slicing the neck with a sword but has a poetic feeling to it. From what I read online, the 'drinking' refers to when someone drinks a cup of wine with many heavy thoughts and furrows their brows. In the same way, the person performing this action must have many burdens on their mind and would likely furrow their brows. In the same abrupt manner as someone tipping their head back and drowning a cup, 'drinking the sword' would also be one decisive action.
03:02
In the next life, I wish to accompany you surrounded by the tall mountains and flowing rivers separate from the murkiness of power.
Please check out my other channel Tempest & Me where I plan to make mostly historical/ cultural videos with a dash of randomness :)
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[@tempestjun437]

Hi, here are some references and elaborations :)
00:00
The title 虞兮叹 refers to
虞 = Yu as in Consort Yu
兮 = 'xi' first appeared in the oracle bone scripts of the Shang Dynasty and, in ancient times, was used as an interjection with no real meaning. Modern equivalent would be 'ah'.
叹 = sigh
So the title may either be referring to Consort Yu's sigh or Xiang Yu sighing out Consort Yu's name. This would also be a reference to the Song of GaiXia 垓下歌, a poem that Xiang Yu wrote and sung during his last moments during the Battle of GaiXia. One of the lines is 虞兮虞兮奈若何 (roughly 'Yu xi, Yu xi, what should I do?').
00:34
This line, based on my interpretation, is about the helplessness of war. The 'beauties' in here may not be referring to beautiful women, but the young faces who would no longer be seen because of warfare. In troubled times, how many beautiful young faces will be sacrificed to exchange for the peace that will allow the living to let out a deep sigh of sorrow over all that was lost to achieve what they have today.
00:39
The Battle of JuLu (208BC-207BC) was fought in JuLu (modern day PingXiang County, HeBei Province) with a Chu victory.
00:45
This is basically saying:
So what if bloody battles were fought for thousands of miles, in the end, when the wind rises and smoke clears, it will all be a grain of sand in the river of time, a footnote in the history books.
It's about the brutality and pointlessness of war.
00:57
There are two possible references here:
1. The previously mentioned Song of GaiXia of which one line had the exclamation of 虞兮虞兮. In this case, this will sorta fall into place with the lyrics following as it seems to refer to when they were besieged in the Battle of GaiXia and the despair of knowing what was to come. (Also, I translated 'Yu xi' into 'Yu Ji' which just means 'Consort Yu' because I had no idea how to convey the interjection and just 'Yu' sounded weird.)
2. As the previous lyric mentioned the difficulty of farewell, this may refer to Xiang Yu and Consort Yu's reluctance to part that led to her following him on the campaigns.
Personally, I lean a bit more towards 1.
01:02
君 can have multiple meanings including a form of address similar to 'lord', a way for a woman to address her husband (夫君), a reference to someone of high moral values (君子) or a reference to a ruler (king or emperor).
Overall, this line refers to Consort Yu being willing to share the happiness and sorrows (coldness and warmth) with Xiang Yu, to share times good and bad.
01:05
Despite the current situation, our previous memories of joy cannot be taken away.
01:08
Refers to when Xiang Yu composed the Song of GaiXia and Consort Yu performed a sword dance and sang a verse in return that is referred to as Song with King Xiang 和项王歌:
汉兵已略地
(the army of Han has already occupied the land of Chu)
四方楚歌声
(from all directions comes the despairing sound of Chu songs)
大王意气尽
(Your Majesty's strong will and spirit have been exhausted)
贱妾何聊生
(for what reason do this lowly consort have to abandon you and live in disgrace)
The last two lines appear to be a response to Xiang Yu's call of Yu xi, Yu xi in his Song of GaiXia.
01:13
楚歌声四方 actually references Song with King Xiang by rearranging some of the characters (originally: 四方楚歌声)
四方 = four directions
楚歌 = Chu songs
声 = sound
There are two ways to interpret this:
1. Being besieged, surrounded by the enemy at all sides in a hopeless situations; refers to the members of the Han army singing Chu songs as a tactic to make them believe that Chu has been conquered.
2. The sound of the Chu soldiers' despair when they thought that their land has already been conquered.
So it's like either 'the enemy has surrounded us at all sides' or 'despair rises from all around us'.
01:19
After singing Song with King Xiang, Consort Yu committed suicide.
饮剑 'drinking the sword' refers to suicide by slicing the neck with a sword but has a poetic feeling to it. From what I read online, the 'drinking' refers to when someone drinks a cup of wine with many heavy thoughts and furrows their brows. In the same way, the person performing this action must have many burdens on their mind and would likely furrow their brows. In the same abrupt manner as someone tipping their head back and drowning a cup, 'drinking the sword' would also be one decisive action.
03:02
In the next life, I wish to accompany you surrounded by the tall mountains and flowing rivers separate from the murkiness of power.

[@XUANDUYHA]

真有意思❤❤❤

[@lisajun6277]

很准确

[@ellychandra8887]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤