‘Red Dust Inn (红尘客栈, Hóngchén kèzhàn)’ is included in the Taiwanese Mandopop artist Zhou Jielun (周杰伦, Zhōu jiélún) aka Jay Chou‘s latest album Opus 12 (十二新作, Shí’èr xīnzuò), which was released on December 28th, 2012. This ”Chinese-style (中国风, Zhōngguó fēng)” song is about a swordsman who pursued a reclusive lifestyle with his love but was eventually killed by the enemy.
Composer: Zhou Jielun/Jay Chou
Lyrics: Fang Wenshan/Vincent Fang
Singer: Zhou Jielun/Jay Chou
Lyrics (Original Chinese, Pinyin Romanization, and English Translation):
VERSE #1:
天涯 的尽头是风沙 (Tiānyá de jìntóu shì fēngshā)
The other end of the world is windy and dusty
红尘 的故事叫牵挂 (Hóngchén de gùshì jiào qiānguā)
The story of red dust1 is called having someone in your heart
封刀隐没在寻常人家 东篱下 (Fēngdào yǐnmò zài xúncháng rénjià dōnglí xià)
Hung up my sword and hid myself in the home of an ordinary person, under the eastern fence2
闲云 野鹤 古剎 (Xiányún yěhè gǔchà)
Floating clouds, wild cranes, old temples3
VERSE #2:
快马 在江湖里厮杀 (Kuàimǎ zài jiānghú lǐ sīshā)
The swift horse, fighting in the chaotic world4
无非 是名跟利放不下 (Wúfēi shì mínggēnlì fàngbúxià)
only because I was unable to let go of fame and fortune
心中有江山的人岂能快意潇洒 (Xīnzhōng yǒu jiāngshān de rén qǐnéng kuàiyìxiāosǎ)
With the country in his heart, how can a man be truly carefree
我只求与你共华发 (Wǒ zhǐqiú yǔnǐ gònghuāfà)
I only wish for our hair to turn gray together
CHORUS:
剑出鞘 恩怨了 谁笑 (Jiànchūqiào ēnyuànliǎo shuíxiào)
The sword unsheathed, feeling resentment, who is laughing?5
我只求今朝 拥你入 怀抱 (Wǒ zhǐqiú jīnzhāo yōngnǐ rù huáibào)
I only wish to have you in my arms today
红尘客栈 风似刀 骤雨落 宿命敲 (Hóngchén kèzhān fēngsìdāo zhòuyǔluò sùmìngqiāo)
Red Dust Inn, the wind cutting like knives, the rain falling, fate knocking
任武林谁领风骚我却 只为你 折腰 (Rèn wǔlín shuí lǐngfēngsāo wǒ què zhǐwèinǐ zhéyāo)
I don’t care who takes the lead in the world of martial arts, I only bend my back for you6
过荒村野桥 寻世外 古道 (Guò huāngcūn yěqiáo xún shìwài gǔdào)
(We) would pass by the deserted villages and untrodden bridges, (we would) look for the roads not taken
远离人间尘嚣 柳絮飘执子之手逍遥 (Yuǎnlí rénjiān chénxiāo liǔxùpiāo zhízǐzhīshǒu xiāoyáo)
Far away from the bustling mortal world, catkins floating in the air, hand in hand, free and unfettered
VERSE #3:
檐下 窗棂斜映枝桠 (Yánxià chuānglíng xiéyìng zhīyá)
Under the eaves, the twigs slant across the lattice window
与你 席地对座饮茶 (yǔnǐ xídì duìzuò yǐnchá)
We sit on the ground sipping tea
我以工笔画将你牢牢 的记下 (Wǒ yǐ gōngbǐhuà jiāngnǐ láoláo de jìxià)
I use Gongbi painting to etch you in my heart7
提笔 不为风雅 (Tíbǐ búwèi fēngyǎ)
I put pen to paper, but not for literary pursuits
VERSE #4:
灯下 叹红颜近晚霞 (Dēngxià tàn hóngyán jìn wǎnxiá)
Under the light, your blushing face is like the sunset’s glow
我说缘份 一如参禅不说话 (Wǒshuō yuánfèn yìrú cānchán bùshuōhuà)
I remark that chance (comes) is like practicing Zen meditation, without saying a word8
你泪如梨花洒满了纸上的天下 (Nǐ lèirúlíhuā sǎmǎn le zhǐshàng de tiānxià)
Your tears like pear blossoms sprinkled across the world on the paper [meaning painting and writing]
爱恨如写意 山水画 (àihèn rú xiěyì shānshuǐhuà)
Love and hate are like the Xieyi landscape painting9
CHORUS
任武林谁领风骚我却 只为你 折腰 (Rèn wǔlín shuílǐngfēngsāo wǒ què zhǐwèinǐ zhéyāo)
I don’t care who takes the lead in the world of martial arts, I only bend my back for you
你回眸多娇 我泪中 带笑 (Nǐ huímóuduōjiāo wǒ lèizhōngdàixiào)
How beautiful you were glancing back, I smiled through tears
酒招旗风中萧萧 剑出鞘 恩怨了 (Jiǔzhāoqí fēngzhōng xiāoxiāo jiànchūqiào ēnyuànliǎo)
The wine inn’s flag fluttered in the wind, the sword unsheathed, feeling resentment
Footnotes:
^ A figurative term referring to “the world of mortals”.
^ “Under the eastern fence” is quoted from the poem “Drinking Wine” by Tao Yuanming (365–427) of the Jin Dynasty: “I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern fence / And serenely I gaze at the southern mountains”. This poem is famous for the pursuit of a reclusive lifestyle.
^ Images associated with that reclusive lifestyle.
^ “The swift horse” is a synecdoche. It’s hard to translate the word 江湖 (jiāng hú) “rivers and lakes”——a figurative term often used to refer to a chaotic world of unpredictable changes.
^ 恩怨 (ēn yuàn) literally means “gratitude and resentment”, but this term often means “resentment”.
^ 折腰 (zhé yāo) “bend my back, bow” alludes to the anecdote that Tao Yuanming would not “bow like a servant in return for five bushels of grain”.
^ 工笔 (gōng bǐ) Gongbi is a realistic technique Chinese painting.
^ “Chance” refers to the possibility of two people encountering each other——in this case, the possibility of meeting one’s soul mate.
^ 写意 (xiě yì) Xieyi is an interpretive and freely expressive Chinese painting style, the opposite of Gongbi.
