If you’ve come to this page by chance, then maybe we have  緣 ???

( destined connection  ??? )

I like the music of this awards winning Chinese song (2005),  but not particularly fond of the lyrics,  except the part,  “ever since you said you love me,  the stars in my sky are all lit up,”  which gives an interesting description of what the night sky would look like to a happy person.
 
          music & lyrics written & performed by  Michael Wong ( 光良)  in Mandarin
             video showing piano playing (not by Michael) with lyrics  -  3:59 min.

a classic (1980’s)  Hong Kong song with philosophy of love reflecting the old Chinese culture  (keeping feelings inside rather than expressing them).  I like this song but feel sad when listening to it.   For  translated lyrics,  please see below post.

                music: Herb Alpert,   lyrics: 俞琤, 小菲,   sung by 曾路得,   read by 俞琤
                     song in Cantonese,  video showing only the sky  -  3:13 min.

music by Herb Alpert      original Cantonese lyrics by  俞琤, 小菲 
translated lyrics by Dragon2Dragon   ( for  song info,  please see above post )

part 1 (read)
Today we are in different corners of the world -
you’re having your own life, I am busy with my work.
But suppose one day we ran into each other by chance.
We would greet each other. Then we wouldn’t know what else to say,
for you would find that I have changed, just as I may not know you any more.
But this doesn’t matter, because at that moment,
I would only know I am still missing you very very much !

part 2 (sing)
Who has ever made me feel deeply in love ?
made me as light and gentle as clear water ?
made my mind return to a peaceful state ?
made my heart free from all worries ?
let me reexperience a past beautiful dream ?
let my soul regain all the comforts ?
let me feel calm lying under the moon ?

part 3 (read)
Actually, what is real and everlasting ?
Perhaps, I should only keep my wishes and desires,
rather than believing that there is some fortune in this world,
which can be easily gotten and forever possessed.
Sometimes, hot passions grabbed in hands may turn into ashes.
But being kept in the heart, they would be forever fresh.
Once I got this, all tears and miserable thoughts became meaningless !

repeat part 2 (sing)

Written for (Swiss watches) Titus commercials in Hong Kong by the International Advertisement Awards winner, Mike Chu,  this (1990’s) slogan means,

“It doesn’t matter whether something can last as long as the sky and the earth.
 What really matters is whether you’ve ever possessed it.”

I love this beautifully written slogan at first sight  (and I like my English translation too)     However, this kind of thinking is definitely not traditional Chinese  (perhaps, modern Hong Kong?)  Nevertheless, the use of old poem-like classical Chinese to describe some modern thinking makes this slogan sound even more interesting !

Mr. Mike Chu (Hong Kong)  =  朱家鼎
不在乎 =  does not matter,      天長地久 =  lasting as long as the sky and the earth,
只在乎 =  only matter,                    曾經 =  ever,             擁有 =  possess

commerical 1  -  scenes in WWII era,  with actor CHOW Yun-fat  -  2:33 min.  YouTube

 
commercial 2  -  scenes in early 20th century,  with Anita MUI  -  0:59 min.  YouTube

an old Chinese proverb,  meaning, 

“It takes ten years to grow a tree.  It takes a hundred years to educate a person.”

implying,

“it takes much more time and effort  to educate a person  than to grow a tree”

A previous teacher of mine heard this in a conference :  teachers usually have to say things more than 10 times before those things would get into the mind of a student. 

That explains how hard it is to educate a person !!      

十年 =  10 years,      樹 =  grow,          木 = wood = tree (in this context),
百年 =  100 years,    人 = person,     樹人 = educate a person

This tradition (?)  sounds like a joke to me!  

In olden time, during the year-end employee dinner,  if the boss plans to fire an employee, he will turn and point the chicken head  (of the whole-chicken dish)  toward that person.  Thus the name, merciless chicken !!!    If he doesn’t want to fire anyone, he would point the chicken head toward himself.

A question immediately came to my mind  -  what if he wants to fire more than one employee,  which way will the chicken head point ?

無情 = merciless,      雞 = chicken    =>      無情雞 =  merciless chicken

( heard this in KTSF Cantonese news recently )

a beautiful sentence within a long poem,  meaning,

“If we are birds in the sky, I wish we can always fly together, wing touching wing.
 If we are trees on the ground, I wish we are twinned trunks, connected together.”

I believe loving a person is wishing to be with that person all the time, and has nothing to do with sex  (sex is only one form of expression of love).  This sentence really describes very well what I think of love.

在天 =  in the sky,          在地 =  on the ground,           願作 =  願為 = wish to be,
比翼 =  wing touching wing,      鳥 =  bird,     =>         比翼鳥 =  a pair of lovebirds
連理枝 =  twinned trunks 

( from poem  長恨歌  by  Tang dynasty poet  白居易 )

When a naughty child heard about the monk who knows the past and can predict the future,  he decided to play a trick on the monk. 

Here was his plan:
hide a tiny bird out of sight to anyone behind himself,  test the monk’s prediction by asking him whether the bird hidden behind is alive or dead,
squeeze the bird to death before showing it to everyone  if the monk replied “alive”,
or  bring the bird out alive  if the monk replied “dead.”
His trick would ensure the monk predicts incorrectly either way.

When he finally played his trick,  the monk gave him a very surprised answer,
“dead or alive,  it is all in your hands!”

能 =  can,      知 =  know,      過去 =  past,      未來 =  future

(got this Chinese Buddhism story from some Hong Kong TV drama)

the idiom self-contradiction came from this old Chinese story :

A weapon seller in the market place boasted that his spears could pierce through anything in the world, and his shields can withstand any weapons.  A spectator asked him what happened if he used his spears to pierce through his shields.   Discovered his own contradiction,  he could not answer the question! 

But the word formed by putting the 2 Chinese characters (spear and shield) together has meant “contradiction” ever since, while all 4 characters mean “self-contradiction” 

自 =  self,       相 =  appear,  
矛 =  spear,     盾 =  shield     =>     矛盾 =  contradiction