Sunflower, by Xie Tian Xiao (Part 2)

向阳花 (song's title in Chinese) | Learning a Chinese song with GPT

This article is the second and final part of the series analyzing Sunflower, by Xie Tian Xiao. However, starting this week, I have added a little technical section, for programmers learning Chinese. If you are not a programmer or have no interest in a technical section, just read on here, and at the end of this part about the song please just ignore the technical section. You can may also click here to skip to the ChinesePython section directly.

向阳花 (Sunflower), by XTX

In case you haven’t seen Part 1, or if you need a refresher, here is the full article introducing the Chinese rock song and the artist and composer.

We have so far covered the first half of the song, or rather, we stopped short of the bridge and chorus. Let’s now see the bridge and follow up with chorus. This will make up the entirety of the song, which will repeat the first part after the chorus, then repeat the chorus. Here is a live performance of this song.

无数个雨点, 在我面前洒满大地

(Wú shù gè yǔ diǎn, zài wǒ miàn qián sǎ mǎn dàdì)

In terms of its composition within the song, this line serves as a bridge between the previous lines and the following line, which will introduce a new element into the imagery of the song. The lyrics continue to build on the idea of rain that was introduced earlier.

The verses of the song we’ve seen, so far, have painted a picture of the vast and boundless nature of the world with rain representing, as it often does, abundance, and growth. Here the rain is mentioned again, but this time the focus is on the individual experience of being in the rain. By focusing on this first-hand experience of rain, it provides a sense of connection between the abstract imagery of the part we have analyzed so far, and the distinct imagery of the chorus.

The phrase "无数个雨点" means "countless raindrops," emphasizing the sheer volume of rain falling down. The part "在我面前" means "in front of me," signalling a first-person perspective. "洒满大地" means "covering the earth," further suggesting abundance, and the all-encompassing nature of the rain. But here are these expressions in detail:

• 无数个 (wúshù gè) - "countless" (adjective + measure word “ge”). Here is an explanation of measure words, straight from the series’ Part 1.

• 雨点 (yǔ diǎn) - "raindrop" (noun). This character “dian” has many meanings referring to “point” and “drop”, as is the case here.

• 在 (zài) - "at/in/on" (preposition). A very basic grammatical particle of Chinese.

• 我面前 (wǒ miàn qián) - "in front of me" (pronoun + noun). “Wo” is the universal word for “I”.

• 洒满 (sǎ mǎn) - "covered in" (verb + result complement)

• 大地 (dà dì) - "earth" (noun)

The sentence can be fully translated as "Countless raindrops cover the earth in front of me." This serves, as noted, to bring the song to a more personal level, contrasting with the broader, abstract imagery of the previous lines. It also continues to touch on the theme of growth, implying that rain has the power to transform the world around us.

站在这里，只有一个问题

(Zhàn zài zhèlǐ, zhǐ yǒu yīgè wèntí)

Meaning: Standing here, there is only one question.

Continuing the lead-up to the chorus, this verse presents a direct statement, alluding to the speaker being in a specific location and with a singular concern. It leaves the listener wondering what this question could be, creating a sense of anticipation for the chorus.

In terms of language use, this verse employs a straightforward grammatical construction with two clauses connected by a comma. The first clause consists of the verb 站 (zhàn), meaning "to stand," followed by the preposition 在 (zài) and the noun phrase 这里 (zhèlǐ), meaning "here." The second clause uses the adverb 只 (zhǐ), meaning "only," followed by the numeral 一个 (yīgè), roughly meaning “one”, and the noun 问题 (wèntí), meaning "question." This use of 只 emphasizes the singular nature of the question and adds a sense of simplicity to the verse.

One example of a similar use of 只 in a different context is the phrase 只要 (zhǐ yào), meaning "as long as." For example, "只要你努力学习，就能成功" (zhǐ yào nǐ nǔlì xuéxí, jiù néng chénggōng) means "As long as you study hard, you can succeed." In both cases, 只 serves to emphasize the limited or singular nature of something.

In conclusion, the bridge sets up a simple but intriguing premise, and here comes the emotional chorus.

向阳花, 如果你生长在黑暗下

(Xiàng yáng huā, rú guǒ nǐ shēng zhǎng zài hēi àn xià)

The verse says "Sunflower, if you were to grow under darkness..."

• 向阳花 (xiàng yáng huā) means “sunflower"

• 如果 (rú guǒ) means "if"

• 你 (nǐ) - "you"

• 生长 (shēng zhǎng) - "to grow"

• 在 (zài) - "in"; 黑暗 (hēi àn) - "darkness"; 下 (xià) - "under"

The word order in Chinese is subject-verb-object, with the subject being "sunflower" (向阳花) and the verb being "to grow" (生长). The conditional particle "如果" (rú guǒ) is used to introduce a hypothetical situation. The preposition "在" (zài) is used to indicate location, and "黑暗下" (hēi àn xià) is, literally, "under darkness".

Overall, this is using figurative language to express the idea of hardship or adversity.

向阳花, 你会不会再继续开花

(Xiàng yáng huā, nǐ huì bù huì zài jì xù kāi huā)

Again we see the words “Sunflower” (xiàng yáng huā) and “you” (nǐ) as above, and this time we additionally have,

• 会不会 (huì bù huì) - "will or won't"

• 再 (zài) - this is an adverb meaning "again". This is not the same word “zai” seen above, they have the same tone, but notice how the characters are different, and that one is used to indicate a location.

• 继续 (jì xù) - "to continue"

• 开花 (kāi huā) - "to bloom"

The verse is asking whether the sunflower will bloom again. The word order in Chinese is, again, subject-verb-object, with the subject being "sunflower" (向阳花) and the verb being "to continue to bloom" (继续开花).

Finally, still in the chorus, the following phrase is sung as a complement, rhyming with the previous verse:

会不会害怕

(Huì bù huì hài pà)

The question particle "会不会" (huì bù huì) is used to ask whether something will or will not happen. “Hài pà” means "to be afraid" or "to be scared" in English. It is often used to describe a feeling of fear or anxiety about something, whether it be a specific object or situation, or just a general feeling of unease. The character "害" (hài) means "harm" or "injure," while "怕" (pà) means "to fear" or "to dread." Together, the phrase suggests a sense of being afraid of something that could cause harm or injury. In the context of the song lyrics, the phrase "会不会害怕" (huì bù huì hài pà) means "will you be afraid" or "will you be scared."

Sunflower can be a metaphor for people facing challenges in their lives. The singer poses a hypothetical situation, asking whether it would continue growing. This metaphor reflects on the resilience and perseverance needed to overcome difficulties in life. Just like the sunflower, that can grow even in the darkness, people can find the strength to keep going even when things seem bleak.

The use of the flower as a metaphor is not uncommon in Chinese culture. In fact, there is a well-known proverb that goes "好花不常开，好人不长久" (hǎo huā bù cháng kāi, hǎo rén bù cháng jiǔ), which means "Beautiful flowers do not bloom all the time, good people do not last forever". This proverb bleakly notes the sometimes transient nature of goodness.

The remainder of the song, from here on, repeats its first half, seen in the previous article. The chorus is also repeated, and then these words, as seen above, get emphasized and sung again and again: 向阳花, (xiangyang hua), and 会不会害怕 (hui bu hui haipa).

And so, this song of a simple and straightforward construction has come to an end. I really hope you enjoyed learning a bit of Chinese language and culture. On the next week, another song by Xie Tian Xiao will be taken up, continuing, for now, our theme of Chinese rock music.

Thanks for reading Chinese Meme!

ChinesePython

We’ll make use of ChinesePython, also known as zhpy, which is simply python with chinese characters, and it’s a very interesting option for practicing your memorization of the characters later on. But we’ll start really small, with the simplest of hello worlds, today.

Though it has no direct relation to the song seen earlier in this blog post, still over the weeks there’ll be a common thread between the learning done under ChinesePython and the songs we analyze, by pointing out the chinese characters we have already seen, and by referring back to song verses constantly, to study the words of the python programs used in practice in the songs. I hope you enjoy this approach

Here is a very simple two-line python program.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

資料 = 輸入("輸入姓名: ")

印出("歡迎,", 資料)

Simplified Chinese:

资料 = 输入("输入姓名: ")

印出("欢迎,", 资料)

Naturally, I had ChatGPT review the code for a learner of Chinese:

This is a Python program using the UTF-8 encoding for Unicode characters. The first line "資料 = 輸入("輸入姓名: ")" prompts the user to enter their name and assigns it to the variable "資料".

Simplified Chinese: The first line "资料 = 输入("输入姓名: ")" prompts the user to enter their name and assigns it to the variable "资料".

• 資料 (zī liào), Simplified 资料: here is a variable assignment to a Chinese word meaning "data".

• 輸入 (shū rù), Simplified 输入: a word that means "input".

• "輸入姓名: " (shū rù xìng míng), Simplified 输入姓名: This is the argument passed to the 輸入 function. It means "input name". "Xìng míng", mean "surname and given name".

To recap, this prompts the user to input their name, and assigns the name to a variable. The second line "印出("歡迎,", 資料)" prints the message "歡迎," which means "Welcome," in Chinese, followed by the value of the variable "資料" which contains the name entered by the user. The function "印出" is the equivalent of the built-in Python function "print". Let us see the characters used here in detail, along with the Simplified Chinese equivalents (even though these cannot be used to code in ChinesePython, only the traditional variants):

• 印出 (yìn chū), Simplified 印出: "print" or "output".

• "歡迎," (huān yíng), Simplified 欢迎: This is a string literal that means "Welcome,"

• 資料 (zī liào), Simplified 资料: this is the variable that was assigned the user's input in the previous line. It means "data".

In summary, this trivial program prompts the user to enter their name, then prints a welcome message in Chinese that includes their name.

Thank you for checking out this ChinesePython intro! This wraps up our brief technical study of Chinese for this week.