#NANKAI melody

[jpopstreaming]

🆕 「 NANKAI melody」 by Zinee&issei, sty, RIOSKE Available for streaming worldwide!🌐 Added to our weekly playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73

[miyos-multiverse-express]

[An audio clip is embedded. It seems to be Miyo, or maybe Ace, singing Ado's "Usseewa". Going off the tone, he's working off some frustration.]

"Tadashisa to wa? orokasa to wa? Sore ga nanika misetsukete yaru!

Chicchana koro kara yuutousei, Kizuitara otona ni natteita Naifu no youna shikou kairo, Mochiawaseru wakemonaku Demo asobi tarinai, nanika tarinai, Komacchimau kore wa dareka no sei? Atemonaku tada konransuru eidei

Sore mo sokka Saishin no ryuukou wa touzen no haaku, Keizai no doukou mo tsuukinji chekku, Junjouna seishin de nyuushashi waaku, Shakaijin ja touzen no ruuru desu

Haa? Usse usse ussewa Anata ga omou yori kenkou desu, Issaigassai, bonyouna Anata ja wakaranai kamo ne Aa yoku niau, Sono kamonaku fukamonai melody Usse usse ussewa, Atama no deki ga chigau no de mondai wa nashi!

Tsutte mo watashi mohan ningen, Naguttarisuru no wa no thank you, Dattara kotoba no juukou wo, Sono atama ni tsukitsukete uteba Maji yabanai? Tomare yashinai Fuhei fuman tarete nare no hate, Sadisutikku ni henbousuru seishin Kuso darii na, Sake ga aita gurasu areba sugu ni tsuginasai, Mina ga tsumami yasui you ni kushi hazushinasai, Kaikei ya chuumon wa senjin wo kiru, Fubunritsu saiteigen no manaa desu Haa? Usse usse ussewa Kuse kuchifusage ya genkai desu, Zettaizettai gendai no, daibensha wa watashi yarogai Mou miakita wa, Nibansenjiii kae no parody Usse usse ussewa, Marumaru to nikudzuita sono ganmen ni batsu Usse usse ussewa, (Usse usse ussewa,) Usse usse ussewa, Watashi ga zoku ni iu tensai desu

Usse usse ussewa, Anata ga omou yori kenkou desu! Issaigassai bonyouna, Anata ja wakaranai kamo ne?! Aa, tsumaranee Nankai kikaserunda sono memory, Usse usse ussewa! Atashi mo daigai dakedo Dou datte ii ze, mondai wa nashi!"

[There's some heavy breathing at the end.]

[uwmspeccoll]

Figure 1. Statue of Yan Xiu in Nankai school in Tianjin, China (Photo by Fanghong). Figure 2. Calligraphic couplet by Yan Xiu, UWM Special Collections (cs 000017).

Graduate Research: Chinese Scroll and Fan Work, Part 8

This week we focus on an important Chinese calligraphic treatise and on an interesting dichotomy in Chinese art relating to the couplet shown above (Figure 2) by noted Chinese educator and co-founder of Nankai University Yan Xiu (1860-1929, Figure 1) from our Zhou Cezong Collection of Chinese scroll and fan work. The couplet reads:

A copy of Wang Xizhi’s “Huang Ting Jing” (a copy of Wang’s calligraphic writing) is what I like to emulate. “Biyu”(an ancient musical composition)-like melody is what I usually play in my place. I strive to read various books including very valuable imperial collection. Orthodoxy of Confucianism is the principle I inherit and strictly follow.

In the fourth century, Wei Shuo (272-349), the teacher of Wang Xizhi (303-361, the most famous calligrapher in Chinese history), illuminated seven seminal strokes of calligraphy (Figure 3, see from right to left) in her treatise Diagram of the Battle Array of Brush (translated also as The Picture of Ink Brush):

First Stroke 一 ---Like a line of clouds stretching a thousand miles, indistinct yet tangible. Second Stroke 、---Like a rock falling from a peak, pounding yet crumbling. Third Stroke丿---Clean-cut like (the horn of) a rhinoceros and (the tusk of ) an elephant. Fourth Stroke ㇂---A shot from a crossbow which has one hundred Jun (15 kilograms) in strength. Fifth Stroke ∣ ---Old vine ten thousand years of age. Sixth Stroke ㇏--- Breaking wave and rumbling thunder. Seventh Stroke 𠃌 --- Sinew and joints of a strong crossbow.

Figure 3.  Wei Shuo’s Diagram of the Battle Array of Brush, from Lucy Driscoll and Kenji Toda, Chinese Calligraphy (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1935), pp. 41-46.

The brushstrokes from Yan Xiu’s couplet align with the key features of these seven key strokes. They look impregnable and sublime, as if representing  troops arrayed for battle, generating an aura of power and uprightness.

Yan’s brush style seems influenced by that of Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), as can be seen in Huang’s Scroll for Zhang Datong. For instance, for the character “書,” Yan (Figure 4: Left) and Huang (Figure 4: Right) commonly conveyed a sense of foreboding compactness and deliberate poise. This common feature indicates both of them had a great understanding of the ancient artistic principles. However, there is one striking difference between these two figures; and this difference reveals an intriguing dichotomy in Chinese art.

Figure 4. Left: Yan’s character from Figure 2; Right: Huang Tingjian’s Scroll for Zhang Datong

As one of the most celebrated calligraphers of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Huang disliked the formality and sophistication of some ancient arts. Instead, he stressed asymmetry, irregularity, and spontaneity in his creation while maintaining a dynamic equilibrium for the whole. In Figure 4 (Right), the first horizontal stroke (as well as the top of the central vertical stroke) breaks the balance of the composition by pushing the character to the top right. Next, the intensity of the second horizontal stroke pulls the dynamism of the word back to the left. The third and fifth horizontal strokes also contribute to this counterbalance by the alterations of their width and angle. Finally, the slim vertical line down to the left is overshadowed by the powerful counterpart to the right, thereby moving the axis to the right again. Here, Huang created an S curvature throughout the word, which is analogous to the contrapposto effect in Michelangelo’s statue of David---although the individual parts lean to different directions, the overall structure maintains an equilibrium. On the contrary, for Yan’s work in Figure 4 (Left), the composition and strokes seem to be uniform and sophisticated with very few contrasting and complementary elements. Bordering on rigidity, his brush was likely to be premediated in a careful plan; and he was faithful in carrying out this plan.

Chinese landscape painting has also undergone a similar dichotomy between dramatic exaggeration and rigid unification. For example, in his famous painting Early Spring, one of the most acclaimed Chinese artists Guo Xi (1020-1090) adopted the same curvilinear undulation and dramatic interpenetration. The landscape, which is depicted by the thickening-and-thinning strokes, emerges and recedes in a dragon-shape composition, indicating not only the rich variety of the scenes, but also a vison of the cosmos and the tension of psychology.

However, art by an orthodox painter, such as Wang Shimin (1592-1680) in the early Qing court, displays a kind of monotony and rigidity. In his The Serenity and Joviality on Pine Cliff, Wang applied similar textual strokes and stippled effect to the whole composition, without any interplay between disequilibrium and equilibrium.

The difference between Song Dynasty vividness and Qing’s rigidity is largely due to political factors. The five capable and enlightened emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) helped to establish an unrivaled cultural and artistic renaissance. By contrast, in Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), under the tight grip of ideology, any aesthetic deviation from the central principles would be regarded as revolution. Therefore, artists had to pander to the tastes of the emperor by following the specific formulas. Gradually, they got themselves into a rut, as a deadening pall would descend upon their creativities. Yan was a high official in the Qing court, so he was inevitably the victim of this stultifying uniformity.

Yan was the most important figure in the modernization of Chinese education, and is regarded as the founding father of Nankai University. In 1902, his trip to Japan culminated in numerous constructions of modern schools (almost at the same time Zhang Jian, whom I discussed in a previous post, promoted education in the southern part of China, so they won laurels as “North Yan, South Zhang”). In 1905, under Yan’s suggestion, the court terminated the imperial examinations, and Yan became the first vice-minister of the Ministry of Education. Under his leadership, the modern Chinese educational system was established. He was assisted by Zhang Yuanji, who I also discussed in a previous post, and Luo Zhenyu, whose couplet scroll in Oracle Bone script is also preserved in our Zhou Cezong Collection.

In 1920, Nankai University student Zhou Enlai (1898-1976, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China) was arrested by the government and later was dismissed from the school for his leadership in a student campaign. Yan created an ad hoc scholarship, and sent Zhou to study in Europe. When he learned that  Zhou had become a Communist member in France, he still continued to support the latter’s education because he said “literati should be allowed to have diverse ambitions.”

View more posts from the Zhou Cezong Collection of Chinese scroll and fan work.

– Jingwei Zeng, Special Collections graduate researcher.

[porcelain-yume]

AOHARU アオハル 英訳

Neverland (Lyrics: Ryota, Music: Tera)

English & Japanese Lyrics

 

English:

Beyond this point

In the little time we have left behind

Just how many times can you see the ones important to you?

 

When I think about that kind of thing

I suddenly feel lonely

I don’t really wanna think about it

but the reality’s drawing near  

That’s why I want to cherish dearly the time that we can be together

From the bottom of my heart        

I wonder if I can feel it        

 

Without really suiting my appearance

Every once in a while,

Maybe I’ll even try singing things like positive love songs

 

No matter how old you get

Don’t forget your initial enthusiasm

Just like when I was a child

I want my heart to always be fluttering ♡

 

Things like cliché love songs

And ‘true love’ movies

I don’t have even 1 millimeter of interest in

But I wanna feel my heart pounding

When falling in love with somebody,

You don’t really care about the reason why or if it makes any sense , right?

If you want to see someone then you should just see them ♡

 

Even if you don’t have confidence

Girls - fall in love without hesitation

Even if it doesn’t come true

If you can feel your heart racing again

it’s the best!

 

Without really suiting my appearance

Every once in a while,

I wanna sing even things like positive love songs

 

No matter how old you get

don’t forget your initial enthusiasm

Just like when I was a child

I want my heart to always be fluttering ♡

You only live once

So girls - fall in love without hesitation

And even if it doesn’t come true  

Wouldn’t it be great if your heart can race again.

♡ ♡ ♡ 

 

Notes:

The name ‘aoharu’ comes from taking the literal meaning of the two kanji of the word ‘seishun　青春’. When the kanji for blue and spring are combined together, it is pronounced ‘seishun’ and means youth or adolescence. This is also a time reminding us of young and innocent love.

 

Tera wrote the melody for this song and asked Ryota to write the lyrics. When he asked what kind of lyrics he should write, Tera gave him a hypothetical situation to think about. Imagine you just cut your hair, but you cut your bangs too short. You have a date with the person you really like and you really want to meet them and you don’t know what to do. He asked him to write about that kind of feeling.

初心忘れるべからず is a Japanese saying which has multiple interpretations such as: don’t forget what got you there in the first place, we were all beginners once; never lose your humility; don't let success get to your head; don't forget where you came from, don’t forget your original intentions, you should not forget the spirit you started with, don't forget the enthusiasm you had at the beginning, remember your initial enthusiasm etc

Japanese:

この先、残されている少ない時間の中で

Kono saki, nokosareteiru sukunai jikan no naka de

今、大切な人に何回会えるだろう？

Ima, taisetsu na hito ni nankai aeru darou?

そんな事を考えていたら

Sonna koto wo kangaeteitara

急に寂しくなった

Kyuu ni sabishikunatta

考えたくもないけれど現実が迫ってくる

Kangaetakumonai keredo genjitsu ga semattekuru

だからこそ一緒に居れるこの時間が

Dakara koso issho ni ireru kono jikan ga

大切に心から愛おしく

Taisetsu ni kokoro kara itooshiku

感じれるようになったのかな

Kanjireru you ni natta no kana

見た目にも似合わず

Mitame ni mo niawazu

たまには前向きな恋の唄なんかても

Tama ni wa maemuki na koi no uta nanka temo

歌ってみようかな

Utattemiyou kana

いくつになっても初心忘るべからず

Ikutsu ni nattemo shoshin wo wasuru be karazu

子供の頃みたいに

Kodomo no koro mitai ni

ずっとドキドキしていた��んだ

Zutto dokidoki shiteitainda

ベタな恋愛ソングとか

Beta na renai songu toka

純愛？映画とかには

Junai eiga toka ni wa

1ミリも興味は無いけれど

Ichimiri mo kyoumi wa nai keredo

トキメキは感じていたい

Tokimeki wa kanjiteitai

誰かを好きになることに

Dareka wo suki ni naru koto ni

意味だとか理由だとか

Imi da toka riyuu da toka

そんなこと気にしないでしょ？

Sonna koto ki ni shinai desho?

会いたければ会えばいいじゃん

Aitakereba aeba ii jan

自信がなくても迷わず恋せよ乙女

Jishin ga nakutemo mayowazu koi se yo otome

たとえ叶わ��くても

Tatoe kanawanakutemo

またドキドキ出来れば最高だろ

Mata dokidoki dekireba saikou daro

見た目にも似合わず

Mitame ni mo niawazu

たまには前向きな恋の唄なんかでも

Tama ni wa maemuki na koi no uta nanka demo

歌ってみたかったんだ

Utattemitakattanda

いくつになっても初心忘るべからず

Ikutsu ni nattemo shoshin wo wasuru be karazu

子供の頃みたいに

Kodomo no koro mitai ni

ずっとドキドキしていたいんだ

Zutto dokidoki shiteitainda

一度きりの人生迷わず恋せよ乙女

Ichidokiri no jinsei mayowazu koi se yo otome

たとえ敵わなくても

Tatoe kanawanakutemo

またドキドキすればいいじゃん

Mata dokidoki sureba ii jan

[hetaccasional]

(Please make sure to right click the link! :))

Song: 妄想感傷代償連盟×ストロボラスト (Delusion Sensation Compensation Federation × Strobe Last)

Song Producer: DECO*27, ぽわぽわP (Powapowa-P)

Arrange (MKDR): emon

Cover: ガムみかん (Gamumikan)

Hetaloids Used: Italy & Romano

English Translation: YoghurtStripper, ikuy398

Lyrics:

言っちゃった

itchatta

Oops, I said it

もう一時だけ隣りに居たい

mou chotto dake tonari ni itai

I want to be with you a little more

いやいやまさか　延長は鬱雑い

iya iya masaka enchou wa uzai

No, no, no way, an extension is too suffocating

御免なさい　帰ってね

gomennasai kaette ne

"I'm sorry" "Please go home"

二酸化の炭素　きみの濃度

nisanka no tanso kimi no noudo

Your carbon dioxide is too concentrated

浸ってたいよ　泥沼の夢に

hitatte tai yo doronuma no yume ni

I want to immerse you in a muddy dream

身勝手だって言われてもペロリ

migatte datte iwarete mo perori

Even if you say I'm selfish, I'll dig in.

不安じゃない　未来はない

fuan ja nai mirai wa nai

I'm not anxious, there's no future after all

その顔に生まれ変わりたいな

sono kao ni umare kawaritai na

I want to be born again with that face

「まだ気づかないのかな？

"mada kizukanai no ka na?

"Don't you notice it yet?

僕は僕らしく

boku wa bokurashiku

I'm starting to walk

歩き出しているのさ。 

arukidashite iru no sa.

In ways I believe in.

ほら、また。」

hora, mata."

There you go again."

そうだ。 

sou da.

Right.

知っちゃった

shitchatta

I knew

大嫌いを裏返したとて

daikirai o uragaeshita tote

As if turned inside-out, saying I hate it

そこに大好きは隠れてないと

soko ni daisuki wa kakuretenai to

and that there's nothing I like hiding in it

叶えたい　この想い

kanaetai kono omoi

I want to fulfill this feeling

甘え過ぎ太る心回り

amae sugi futoru kokoro mawari

For my heart to be spoiled greatly

“ファット想い→スリム”を掲げよう

"fatto omoi surimu" o kakageyou

Put a flag up saying "Fat feelings to Slim"

出逢った頃と同じ様に成ろう

deatta koro to onaji you ni narou

It'll be just like when we first met

思い笑描く理想狂

omoi egaku risoukyou

Let's envision an ideal today

血走る願いはやがて安堵

chibashiru negai wa yagate ando

My bloodshot wish will soon give me relief

だけど「大丈夫」なんて恋はどこにもないの

dakedo "daijoubu" nante koi wa doko ni mo nai no

However, There's no love in sight that's "okay"

だから妄想感傷代償連盟

dakara mousou kanshou daishou renmei

That's why we are the Delusional, Sentimental, Compensational Federation

誰かが生きてく

dareka ga ikiteku

If I (we) can put

愛を懐いて理想を号んだ

ai o idaite risou o sakenda

Cherishing love and shouting ideals

一秒ずつ

ichibyou zutsu

every second

行き場のない愚者のメロディー

ikiba no nai gusha no merodii

The melody of a fool with nowhere to go

言葉に出来たな��ば

kotoba ni dekita naraba

of someone lives on into words,

再挑戦・転生・テレポーテーション

saichousen tensei terepooteeshon

Re-challenge Reincarnation Teleportation

僕(ぼくら)は生きてく

bokura wa ikiteku

I (We) feel myself (ourselves)

何回だって　重ねて逝くんだ

nankai datte kasanete yukun da

Repeating over and over again

気がするのさ。

ki ga suru no sa.

live on.

終わりなき愛の隨に　さあ

owari naki ai no manimani saa

A series of a neverending love, now!

言葉をばらまくように 

kotoba o baramaku you ni

As if scattering words about

愛や厭

ai ya iya

I'm so sick of love

ほら、君が触れたのは

hora, kimi ga fureta no wa

See, what you touched is

痛みに歪んだ

itami ni yuganda

Your own mind

君自身の心さ。

kimi jishin no kokoro sa.

Perverted by pain.

ほら、また。

hora, mata.

There you go again.

今、笑っていたのさ。

ima, waratte ita no sa.

Now, I was smiling.

汚れたこころと 

yogoreta kokoro to

I was breathing

ぼくは息をしていた。

boku wa iki o shite ita.

With a foul mind

ただそれだけ。

tada sore dake.

That's all there is to it.

だから妄想感傷代償連盟

dakara mousou kanshou daishou renmei

That's why we are the delusional, sentimental, compensational federation

愛を懐いて理想を号んだ

ai o idaite risou o sakenda

Cherishing love and shouting ideals

行き場のない愚者のメロディー

yukiba no nai gusha no merodii

Melody of a fool with nowhere to go

再挑戦・転生・テレポーテーション

saichousen tensei terepooteeshon 

Re-challenge Reincarnation Teleportation

何回だって　重ねて逝くんだ

nankai datte kasanete ikun da

Repeating over and over again

終わりなき愛の隨に　さあ

owari naki ai no manimani saa

A series of a neverending love, now!

通称：愛情対象年齢

tsuushou: aijou taishou nenrei

This so called: age of yearning for affection

僕が旅立ち、

boku ga tabidachi,

When I (we) leave

愛を悪んで守った位相が

ai o nikunde mamotta isou ga

Is just a phase to protect love from being despised

居なくなる時

inaku naru toki

to set of

正しく歪み始めるの

tadashiku yugami hajimeru no

Then it starts to distort the right way

言葉に出来なくとも 

kotoba ni dekinaku to mo

Even if we have no words

最低じゃん　どうせ対人ローション

saitei jan douse taijin rooshon

Then I will wear my worst interpersonal lotion

あなたが笑顔で

anata ga egao de

Here's this song (the answer)

何回だって　傷付け合うんだ

nankai datte kizutsuke aun da

No matter how I get hurt over and over again

居られるように

irareru you ni

for us

混ざり合う愛のフィロソフィー　さあ

mazariau ai no firosofii saa

Philosophy of mixed-up love, now!

僕らのこの歌（答え）がある 

bokura no kotae ga aru

so you can be smiling

愛や厭

ai ya iya

I'm so sick of love