神探狄仁杰 Shen Tan Di Renjie - 长歌一曲

神探狄仁杰 Shen Tan Di Renjie - 长歌一曲: "Dí Rénjié (Chinese: 狄仁傑) (630-August 15, 700[1]), courtesy name Huaiying (懷英), formally Duke Wenhui of Liang (梁文惠公), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during her reign. He was one of the most celebrated officials of Wu Zetian's reign and was credited with moderating her reign from being considered one of terror to one of greater efficiency and honesty."

From 2004 to 2007, CCTV Network of China has aired three consecutive drama series based on Di Renjie's detective works, all under the title "Amazing Detective Di Renjie (神探狄仁杰)". The series depicts a cast of slightly fictionalized version of true historical figures, such as Empress Wu and Di Renjie himself. Each series is divided into more than one sub-plots, each of them depicting the solving of one single case (which seems small at the beginning, and will gradually evolve into an unimaginably huge evil plot usually targeting at threatening the empire). These series were first aired on CCTV-8, the "Television Drama Channel". It is currently airing on CCTV 11 as two consecutive episodes from around 11AM to around 1PM


Those who like history and Chinese history in particular would like this Series. However the Chinese spoken often refers to ancient concepts that are no longer part of daily spoken Mandarin. So even if your Chinese is already quite good, you may struggle understanding everything that is going on.

I love in particular the song that goes with the series 长歌一曲 whose lyrics and vocabulary translation I provide below. The song is sang by the famous artist from the Inner Mongolia region 腾格尔(Teng2 ge2 er3).


长歌一曲 Click the link to listen

每次听到你，
总是大风起，
每次看到你，
却又惊雷起，
长烟落日山河壮，
你在飘渺云里 画里，
你在飘渺云里 画里，
长歌一曲，
好风 好梦 好歌 好 意气，
长歌一曲，
好风 好梦 好歌 好 意气，
长歌一曲；
每次想起你，
依稀枕边耳语，
每次见到你，
铁马金戈剑雨，
荡气回肠千山万，
幽幽在我心里梦里，
幽幽在我 心里梦里，

长歌一曲，
好风 好梦 好歌 好 意气，
长歌一曲，
好风 好梦 好歌 好 意气，

长歌一曲
哎
长歌一曲，大风起兮云飞扬……

Vocabulary - 生词

却又[卻-] quèyòu conj. ①(but) again (emphatic) ②then later
惊雷[驚-] jīngléi n. a sudden clap of thunder
意气[-氣] ¹yìqì n. ①temperament; spirit ②impulse | ∼-yòngshì de rén man of moods ③personal feelings
缥缈//飘渺[縹緲//飄-] piāomiǎo* v.p. ①dimly discernible; misty ②lingering softly (said of music) ③difficult to discern
落日 luòrì n. setting sun
依稀 ¹yīxī* v.p. vague; dim | Wǒ ∼ hái jìde yéye de múyàng. I vaguely remember how my grandfather looked. ◆adv. probably; very likely
铁马[鐵馬] tiěmǎ n. ①strong armored cavalry ②bicycle ③tinkling metal strips on the ends of temple roofs ④armored horses
剑(F劍) [jiàn] sword; 宝剑 bǎojiàn double-edged sword
戈 [gē] ancient Chinese weapon
荡(F蕩) [dàng] swing, sway; loaf about; 扫荡 wipe out; 震荡 shake [tāng]
回肠[-腸] huícháng n. ileum ◆v.p. 〈wr.〉 worried; agitated