Jia Ren Qu | 佳人曲 (“Beauty Song”)

  • music (2004) by Shigeru Umebayashi | 梅林茂 (b. 1951)
  • lyrics (ca. 82 BCE) by Lǐ Yánnián | 李延年 (d. 90 BCE)
  • Shí miàn mái fú | 十面埋伏 (“House of Flying Daggers”) 16 July, 2004


About:
Jia Ren Qu is an ancient Chinese song written by Han Dynasty musician, Lǐ Yánnián. The story in the song has been repopularized by Zhang Yimou’s film, Shí miàn mái fú (“House of Flying Daggers”), in which Mei (Zhang Ziyi) sings a modern version with music written by Japanese composer, Shigeru Umabayashi.

Il Troubadore premiered their version1 at Deano’s Vino on 2005 November 18. Umebayashi’s version is scored for erhu, pipa, voice and flute. Jon plays the èrhú and dízi lines on the cello and sings in Mandarin while Robert supplies the pípá part on mandolin.


Lyrics:
Běifāng yǒu jiārén, juéshì ér dúlì.
Yí gù qīng rén chéng, zài gù qīng rén guó.
Nìng bù zhī qīng chéng yǔ qīng guó.
Jiārén nán zài dé.

In the North there is a lady, stunning and singular.
One look confounds a city; a touch dooms an empire.
Rather not wishing to know, the ruination that may follow,
rare beauty is here and now.

Shí miàn mái fú – IMDB
House of Flying Daggers – Website
Zhang Yimou – IMDB
Zhang Ziyi – IMDB
Shigeru Umebayashi – Website

PAST PERFORMANCES (selected)

2009

  • Jul 18 – Muncie, IN: Ball State University | Middle Eastern Mayhem IV. il Troubadore & Vashka

2005

  • Nov 18 – Indianapolis, IN: Deano’s Vino | World Music and Dance Night. il Troubadore

NOTES

  1. Silpayamanant (2004). ↩︎

REFERENCES

Silpayamanant, Jon. (2004, July 16). il Troubadore: Jia Ren Qu [Online]. il Troubadore. http://www.troubadore.com/2004/07/jia_ren_qu.html [ARCHIVED].

Silpayamanant, Jon. (2005, November 18). il Troubadore: Deano’s Vino [Online]. il Troubadore. http://www.troubadore.com/2005/11/deanos_vino.html [ARCHIVED].