英闻天下——572 Chinese Loess Wind Blows European Stage

 　　What you have just heard is Thierry Joulin from France singing the northern Shaanxi folk song "Nanniwan." Singers of these songs have breathed new life into this traditional Chinese folk music by spreading the scent¹ of the earth in their lyrics² to western Europe's music halls.

 

　　Thierry Joulin now lives in Shaanxi, a northwestern province that sits on the country's vast loess plateau. For thousands of years, the area's strong northwestern winds and countless³ ravines and gullies have mothered its distinctive⁴ folk song culture??the northern Shaanxi folk songs widely sung by locals and now a national intangible cultural heritage.

 

　　Among the many themes of northern Shaanxi folk songs, love among young people has been the most popular. These love songs are usually high-pitched and colloquial⁵ and sung with great force. In the widely circulated love song "Going to the West Gate," a young man who is forced to leave home to earn a living in the North expresses his sentiments to his girlfriend. The strong wind blowing across the plateau sends his affections to the girl who is waving good-bye to the young man from far, far away.

 

　　The affection and desire embroiled⁶ in northern Shaanxi folk songs have swept China since the 1980s. Some folk singers, however, have recently decided⁷ to hit the world stage. In Vienna in 2010 and Berlin and Warsaw in 2012, New Year's concerts of northern Shaanxi folk songs were held in the grandest halls. Singers from both northern Shaanxi and western countries co-staged a celebration of the folk music of the loess plateau.

 

　　Mi Zhuo is a young singer from Suide, a small county in northern Shaanxi where the folk songs were born. He says it was a privilege for him to sing in 2010 in the Wiener Musikverein, a stage he never envisioned himself standing⁸ on.

 

　　"I was rather nervous because it was my first time abroad, not to mention singing in the Wiener Musikverein, a place so holy and grand for us singers."

 

　　What added to Mi Zhuo's happiness was the local audience's sincere and enthusiastic response.

 

　　"Although I did not speak their language, I could tell their enthusiasm from the applause and the screaming. Also, I could see the sincerity⁹ in their eyes."

 

　　A pleasant surprise to Mi Zhuo at the concert was seeing western singers singing songs from northern Shaanxi.

 

　　"There were two foreign singers singing our folk songs at the concert, a male and a female, and they did an excellent job."

 

　　But did northern Shaanxi folk songs really tug¹⁰ at the heartstrings of audiences in Vienna, Berlin or Warsaw?

 

　　Shang Feilin, chairman of Shaanxi Musicians Association and a liaison¹¹ for the three concerts, is confident about the emotional chords that northern Shaanxi folk songs can strike with western audiences.

 

　　"I think people around the world all have emotions, and they all desire beauty. We all want to live a good life. Northern Shaanxi folk songs just express people's pursuit of beauty and a happy life. The best pieces of northern Shaanxi folk songs are love songs because they voice people's longing¹² for love. In some northern Shaanxi love songs, the bachelor hurries home and even cries on the way because he wants to see his beloved."

 

　　Wang Xiangrong, a famous singer of northern Shaanxi folk songs in the 1980s who is known as "the king of northern Shaanxi folk songs," explains from his own perspective about how his songs might move western listeners.

 

　　"Northern Shaanxi folk songs are the reflections of the true life of people living in the area, about their happiness and sorrow, and those things that go beyond borders. The pursuit of happiness, kindness and truth is shared by all nations. I am a folk singer from China, and I don't speak English, but I do understand the soul music of African-Americans. Their music has touched my soul because I feel the intense feelings in it."

 

　　Thierry Joulin, the Frenchman who sings the northern Shaanxi folk song "Nanniwan," recently sung the song at a northern Shaanxi folk song concert in Xi'an, capital city of Shaanxi Province. He says singing the song at the concert was an enjoyable experience for him, although that may not always be the case with other foreigners.

 

　　"The song was very beautiful, so I did it with pleasure. Because it comes from Shaanxi Province, so it belongs to the land and the nation. Actually, western people partly know the meaning, but they don't know the real matter."

 

　　Gou Bin¹³, an associate professor of translation studies at the Xi'an Conservatory¹⁴ of Music and a seasoned translator of northern Shaanxi folk songs into English, is not so optimistic about western audiences' understanding of the songs.

 

　　"I think this is a very serious problem. To be universal is not very easy. We usually say that western art, or western music, is universal; that is, it is very popular around the world. For northern Shaanxi folk songs, we want to take them abroad and see them accepted by English speakers. It is not only a problem of language. It is a problem of culture, mentality¹⁵ and psychology¹⁶."

 

　　Whether northern Shaanxi folk songs can captivate western music lovers on a large scale still remains¹⁷ to be seen, those who sing the songs face other challenges.

 

　　For young singers such as Mi Zhuo, who is dedicated¹⁸ yet feels a lack of impetus¹⁹ for progress, further education is the first priority.

 

　　"I plan to study in Italy. I have some fellow singers who have studied there before. I think it is good to study there for a while. And I myself still have much to learn to improve."

 

　　Immediate²⁰ promoters of this indigenous²¹ culture such as Shang Feilin consider the most pressing issue to be fostering the development of local talented singers.

 

　　"The first thing we need to do is set up independent groups of performing artists. Folk singers are becoming extinct in local villages and counties."

 

　　Senior artists see a bigger picture for the songs' prospects²². For Wang Xiangrong, the singer now already in his 60s, the globalization of northern Shaanxi folk songs is a task for the next generation and beyond.

 

　　"To be perfect, we need a long process. Many things can't be done overnight. And maybe we need the efforts of several generations. We need to be patient about it."

 

　　As an old saying in northern Shaanxi goes, "A hungry man sings for food and a laboring²³ man sings for land." Northern Shaanxi folk songs bring to the world the laughter and tears of these kind, industrious²⁴ and persistent²⁵ people.

 

　　Shang Feilin says he hopes the performance of northern Shaanxi folk songs abroad will help people in other countries realize the beauty of Shaanxi folk songs.

 

　　For CRI, this is Shen Ting.

1 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

2 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

3 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

4 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

6 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

10 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

11 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

12 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

13 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

14 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

15 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

16 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

19 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

20 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

21 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

22 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

23 laboring   

n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱，做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而，这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘（部分）

24 industrious   

adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的

参考例句：

• If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
• She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。

25 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。