#cdrama music

[a-sea-with-no-shores]

I like this song from The Ingenious One (雲字訣) a lot--I don't know, a lot of themes are dramatic and beautiful but not really singable songs, if you know what I mean? And this one is, somehow? I don't know music words, as you can tell.

(As a bonus my partner and I recently finished Ultimate Note, so we can now picture Hei Yanjing singing all the theme songs from our favorite shows lol)

There is of course a peachey blossom video with lyrics in English (more or less) and pinyin

tbh I wish the instrumental score were available for this drama too, but I haven't been able to find it. I don't know what makes the difference between a drama that gets a full score/BGM release and one that doesn't. Pretty much all the ones I've found are great writing music, so I wish I could find more.

[tockamybeloved]

Let's ROAST! All the Qin Sins Chinese Dramas Have Committed! [CC]

[slushy-sash]

bro cooked so hard he split the sea in half

[ginpotts]

LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY 永夜星河 ✧ 2024 ✧ Episode 05

Are you out of your mind?

[mostlyfate]

FANGS OF FORTUNE 大梦归离 (2024) dir. Edward Guo, Luo Luo, Wei Nan

[cdramastuff]

Moonlight Mystique - Episode 17.

[bellesdiaries]

I thought you disappeared Thought you were gone Buried you in my heart But as I moved on I had this feeling as I was falling

[xinyuehui]

´‵﹢ Make friends sincerely without holding back. ◂◂

I'm part of your gang,

࣪ every move of yours is monitored by me, yeah ！！✧

Lyrics from ♩ 渣泥ZANI〈間諜小狗 / Spy Dog〉૮˶• ﻌ ���˶ა

[storge]

You once swore that you will marry me. Now, I'm right before you.

Nothing Gold Can Stay (2017) 1.72

[zishuge]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Ep. 37

[barananduen-blog]

🔊Fangs of Fortune - "Little Poem" 《小诗句》 ED dance MV🔊 This is so cute! 🥹 [Source]

[yilinwriter]

Kindred Spirits 知音: "The One Who Truly Understands Your Songs"

Update: Thank you for all the shares on this post! I want to mention that my debut book of Chinese poetry translations and essays on translation, The Lantern and the Night Moths, is out from Invisible Publishing and available through all bookstores. The longing for kindred spirits is one of the main themes running through the book. https://yilinwang.com/the-lantern-and-the-night-moths/

For #AroWeek, I want to talk about the Chinese term 知音 (pronounced zhīyīn in Mandarin), which has influenced my thinking about queerplatonic relationships. zhī 知: to know, knowing yīn 音: music, sound literally, a zhīyīn is someone who "truly understands your songs"

the term zhīyīn comes from a story about finding a kindred spirit through music.

There are many versions of the story. Here's one version:

One day, the musician Yu Boya was playing a qin (see image) in the wilderness, when he met Zhong Ziqi.

When Boya played one song, Ziqi immediately understood it and described it as reflecting the mood of soaring mountains (高山). When Boya played another song, Ziqi also comprehended immediately and described it as creating the mood of flowing waters (流水). Ziqi could understand all of Boya's songs. When Ziqi passed away, Boya felt so distressed that he destroyed his qin and never played it again. Boya thought of Ziqi as a "zhīyīn," and that term continues to be widely used to this day.

In a modern context, the term of "zhīyīn" is often translated into English as a soulmate, a kindred spirit, or a very close friend, but at its core, it's a term that refers to a type of intensely emotional, spiritual, and platonic connection with someone.

The original songs played by Boya have been long lost to the passage of time, but musicians and composers have tried to imagine what the songs might have sounded like.

There's even a recording of "Flowing Waters" (流水) included on the Voyager Golden Record, symbolically helping humankind search for a zhīyīn as it drifts around in outer space.

For me, as an aspec (demiromantic, biromantic, and asexual) Sino diaspora femme, the idea of zhīyīn offers me a way to think about the concept of queerplatonic relationships, given that it's very similar to the idea of a soulmate but without the necessary romantic connotations of the word in English. The concept of zhīyīn is explored again and again in various Sinophone literature and popular media, from wuxia and xianxia c-dramas to poetry that alludes explicitly or indirectly to zhīyīn.

Folks who follow my work as a translator might know that I have been translating poems by Qiu Jin (1875-1907), one of China's most renowned feminist poets. She frequently wrote about her longing for a zhīyīn. Some of my translations: https://chinachannel.lareviewofbooks.org/2021/02/12/qiu-jin/

The concept of zhiyin also features prominently in my upcoming book of poetry translations, The Lantern and the Night Moths. I originally wrote this thread for Twitter but wanted to bring it here for #AroWeek. Alloromantic folks, please take a moment to learn more about #AroWeek and support arospec creators. If you are arospec and found me via this tweet, please feel free to say hi!

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Liú HâiKuan 劉海寬

Wb update 2024.02.14

Another piece he composed, Kingdom.

KuanKuan also shared the music score in the comments!

[renewedmotionforjudgment]

Xie Wei's ongoing attempt to woo, part 22/?? featuring:

[eulaties]

and yes i WAS kicking my feet and twirling my hair at this scene

[lyselkatz]

Love-stained skyward lotus flower*

My HCs for the Netherworld River of Oblivion (WàngChuan 忘川) and Bridge of Helplessness (NàiHé 奈何橋).

It can be taken literally or figuratively. DFS saving LLH's life in extremis

Or tracking him into the Netherworld to drag him back...unless it's to follow him to the other side.

It's about how love can lead one to the Heavens as well as into Hells willingly, with a reference to Kurukullā (and possibly Rāgarāja, both known to transform worldly lust into spiritual awakening).

*Title comes from the MînNán/HokKien song 蓮花空行身染愛 by the really cool Taiwanese band 珂拉琦 Collage.

花 開佇你蹛亓樓 • 想 當時欲綴你走 • 多情亓雨崁著目睭 [...] • 日子過一工閣一工 • 你亓一切攏猶未放 • 越頭欲揣過去亓我 • 煞來袂記家己亓名 • 是我欲陪你流浪 • 長路終點滿天花雨 • 雺霧內底戇神 • 千年流轉你亓世界 • 自作多情亓儂 • 眼前地獄家己揀個 •天上 地下 人間 四方妖孽請恁退下 •這繁華世間 眾生有情人 • 有情生煩惱 甘願受罪 • 心狂閣火著 明知會艱苦 • 千錯萬錯 攏佮你無關

Flowers bloom in your house • I wanted to leave with you • the sentimental rain wets my eyes [...] • Days after days • I can't let go of anything about you • turning to search for who I've been • I realise that I've forgotten my own name • I've been wandering with you willingly • at the end of that long path the sky is filled with flowers • In the mist clarity hits • thousand years roaming your world • in delusion of my love reciprocated • I've chosen my own hell before my eyes • In the mortal realm, above and under, evildoers please back off • In this flourishing world all livings feel • feelings feed distress but the suffering is voluntary • my heart burning mad knew the anguish to come • Ten thousand mistakes are mine and have nothing to do with you.

...☕?/commission