Talk:Digging Flowers

Latest comment: 1 year ago by Mliu92 in topic Lyrics

Lyrics

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Taken from the Hualien City tutorial document:

Piece zh-t pinyin literal context
 
1-1
小弟組織兒童隊,
腦筋思想都改變,
路上查問通行證,
父母親戚都不認。
Xiǎodì zǔzhī értóng duì,
nǎojīn sīxiǎng dōu gǎibiàn,
lùshàng cháwèn tōngxíngzhèng,
fùmǔ qīnqī dōu bù rèn.
Little brother runs a child brigade,
I changed my thoughts,
asking about his health,
no one recognizes him.
In this case, the 1-1 tile is "little brother" (小弟). The Young Pioneers of China are youths organized into brigades (兒童隊) by the Communist Party; early on, they were asked to perform police work and disavow their parents.
 
1-2
么二薛丁山,
三步一拜寒江關。
Me èr xuēdīngshān,
sān bù yī bài hán jiāng guān.
One two Xue Dingshan,
three steps & bow to Hanjiang Pass.
This refers to the "Conquest of the West" by Xue Dingshan [zh], the son of Xue Rengui and husband of Fan Lihua. The 1-2 tile is is nicknamed "final three" (三丁), a close homonym of Xue's given name (丁山), in reverse order. Hanjiang Pass (寒江關) is also known as Shibaocheng (石包城), which are now the Shibao City ruins [zh] in Subei Mongol Autonomous County, Gansu Province.
么二薛丁山,
彈打開口雁,
梨花配夫婦,
征西多少難。
Me èr xuēdīngshān,
dàn dǎkāi kǒu yàn,
líhuā pèi fūfù,
zhēng xī duōshǎo nán.
One two Xue Dingshan,
open the goose's mouth,
for the pear-blossom couple,
how difficult to conquer the west.
三丁三兄弟,
桃園三結義,
劉備關羽三張飛。
Sān dīng sān xiōngdì,
táoyuán sān jiéyì,
liúbèi guānyǔ sān zhāngfēi.
The last three,
sworn brothers from Taoyuan,
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei are three sworn brothers (The Oath of the Peach Garden) from Romance of the Three Kingdoms; uses the nickname for the 1-2 tile (三丁).
 
2-2
一張板凳四角方,
方卿得中狀元郎,
可恨姑娘良心惡,
假扮道情陳府行。
Yī zhāng bǎndèng sìjiǎo fāng,
fāng qīng dé zhōng zhuàngyuán láng,
kěhèn gūniáng liángxīn è,
jiǎbàn dào qíng chén fǔ xíng.
A bench has four legs,
Fang Qing won first place,
and his aunt has a guilty conscience,
pretending to be righteous.
The Pearl Tower (珍珠塔) is a traditional Wuxi opera; Fang Qing was poor and asked his aunt to borrow money, but was ridiculed instead; his cousin Chen Cui'e gave him a "Pearl Tower" heirloom, which he sold to pay for the Imperial examination, winning first place. Afterward, he sang a song in daoqing style [zh] (道情) to shame the aunt, then married Cui'e.
四方畫圖影,
活捉宋公明,
無處可投奔,
逼上梁山城。
Sìfāng huàtú yǐng,
huózhuō sòng gōngmíng,
wú chù kě tóubèn,
bīshàngliángshān chéng
Send pictures everywhere,
to capture Song Gongming alive,
he was forced to flee,
to Liangshan Marsh.
Here the "bench" card is called 四方; in this case, it is meant to indicate the four cardinal directions. Song Jiang, courtesy name Gongming (宋公明), is the leader of the 108 Heroes of the Water Margin, who have their camp in a marsh near Mount Liang.
 
2-3
二三小將趙子龍,
長坂坡上真威風。
Èrsān xiǎojiàng zhàozilóng,
zhǎngbǎn pō shàng zhēn wēifēng.
Two three Gen. Zhao Zilong,
so majestic at Changban.
Zhao Yun, given the courtesy name Zilong (趙子龍), rescues Liu Shan in Chapter 41 ("Liu Xuande and the people") of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, based on the Battle of Changban.
 
2-4
二四是蛤蟆,
仙金追癩麻,
追到黃礁山,
打死老硬總帶班。
Èrsì shì hámá,
xiān jīn zhuī lài má,
zhuī dào huáng jiāo shān,
dǎ sǐ lǎo yìng zǒng dàibān.
Two four is the toad
Xianjin chases Leima,
to Mount Huangjiao,
beating Lao Gang to death.
The 2-4 card is nicknamed toad (蛤蟆) for its shape. Wang Xiangyi, nicknamed Xianjin (仙金), was a bandit from Dachen [zh] incorporated into the self-defense force. Leima (癩麻) and Lao Gang (老硬) were other bandits. Huangjiao Mountain (黃礁山) is on Huangjiao Island [zh] which is off the coast of Luqiao District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province.
 
2-5
二五要去劫法場,
八妹改扮道姑樣,
聽得號炮三聲響,
法場救出七兄長。
Èrwǔ yào qù jié fǎ chǎng,
bā mèi gǎibàn dàogū yàng,
tīng dé hàopào sān shēngxiǎng,
fǎ chǎng jiùchū qī xiōngzhǎng.
When I went to court on the 25th,
8th sister dressed as a nun,
hearing three cannon blasts,
7th brother was saved from execution.
This is a reference to The Generals of the Yang Family; "8th sister" (八妹) alludes to Yang Bamei, and "7th brother" (七兄長) alludes to Yang Yan, seventh son of Yang Ye. 2-5 is a seven-point tile nicknamed nun.
 
4-4
銀牌八點亮晶晶,
杞梁被拏造長城,
姜女千里尋夫君,
哭倒城牆不見人。
Yínpái bā diǎn liàngjīngjīng,
qǐ liáng bèi ná zào chángchéng,
jiāng nǚ qiānlǐ xún fūjūn,
kū dào chéngqiáng bùjiàn rén.
Eight silver medals shine brightly,
Qilang was taken for the Great Wall,
Jiang Nu traveled far to find him,
crying when he could not be found.
Lady Meng Jiang (also known as Jiang Nu, 姜女) is a famous folktale which relates how a widow's tears caused part of the Great Wall of China to collapse, revealing the bones of her husband Fan Qilang (杞梁).
 
5-5
十點梅花撲鼻香,
萬民同聲讚忠良。
Shí diǎn méihuā pūbí xiāng,
wànmín tóng shēng zàn zhōngliáng.
10th hour: plum flowers are fragrant,
and all unite to praise patriots.
Zhongliang (忠良) may refer to a "loyal and upright" patriot.
 
5-6
十一牛頭是麥帥,
擔任聯軍總指揮,
大批飛機到朝鮮,
炸死共兵不能算。
Shíyī niútóu shì mài shuài,
dānrèn liánjūn zǒng zhǐhuī,
dàpī fēijī dào cháoxiǎn,
zhà sǐ gòng bīng bùnéng suàn.
Bullhead 11 is Gen. MacArthur,
commander-in chief,
many planes flew to N.Korea,
killing countless soldiers.
麥帥 is General Douglas MacArthur; the 5-6 piece is nicknamed bullhead (牛頭) or chuxian (楚仙), which is a homonym for North Korea (朝鮮).

Mliu92 (talk) 22:21, 28 September 2023 (UTC)Reply