gentle colossus
Accented CinemaI've translated the Tao Te Ching rap from A Chinese Ghost Story. And in this thread, I'm going to annotate every single line of lyrics, explaining all the jokes to you.
Let's speak some nonsense.
人間道
The way of the mortals
Tao is often interpreted as "The Way of the universe". The Title subverted that interpretation by supplanting the universe with the human realm. As we'll see, it is both nonsensical and profound.
道道道道道道道
Tao Tao Tao Tao Tao Tao
What possible meaning can this have? Well, there is none. But the rhythm came from 急急風, a type of rolling drum beats from Cantonese opera, often used when a character rushes onto the scene.
鑼鼓《急急風-四擊頭回頭》
道可道，非常道
The way that can be told is not the eternal way.
This is just the first line of the Tao Te Ching. Everything starts off normal, which sets the expectation.
天道地道 人道劍道
The way of heaven and earth
The way of man and sword
And then it quickly goes off script.
The ways of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity are concepts from I-Ching, which is still related to Taoism. But when the way of the sword appears, and you know that blunt is starting to do its magic.
黑道 白道 黃道 赤道
The way of crimes and laws
The ecliptic and the equator
In Chinese, organized crime is often referred to as "The way of black", and thus the law is "the way of the white".
The ecliptic, or the sun's trajectory, is called "The Yellow Path", and the equator is called "The Red Path".
Supposedly, on old Chinese star charts, the equator is marked with red, hence the name "red path".
For an embarrassingly long time, China believed the Earth was flat. So the concept of the Equator has less to do with geography and more with astrology, hence why Red Path & Yellow Path sound similar.
For an embarrassingly long time, China believed the Earth was flat. So the concept of the Equator has less to do with geography and more with astrology, hence why Red Path & Yellow Path sound similar.
乜道物道 道道都道 自己嗰道係非常道
Whatever way
The way's everywhere
My way is the supreme way
As the swordsman continues to list concepts that barely count as a "way", he pretty much gives up and says: "Whatever, dude, everything is the way."
"It's my way or the highway."
我呸 呸呸呸呸 胡說八道
I spit, I spit, I spit. Utter nonsense.
The official subtitle implies that the swordsman is speaking nonsense. But in actuality, it's pretty ambiguous. Personally, I think he's condemning Tao as a nonsense concept. Keep going and I'll explain.
呢度嗰度 邊度係路 花道茶道 哈
Here and there, where's the road?
Ikebana and Sado? Lol
Ikebana and Sado mean "way of flower" & "way of tea" respectively.
I see this as the swordsman questioning what even counts as a "way", dismissing both as trivial human concepts masquerading as profound.
陰道陽道 吼
Vagina and mangina? lmao
Yes, there's a dirty joke in here! On the surface, he appears to have said "the ways of Yin and Yang". But the way of Yin is the Chinese word for Vagina.
This slight immature joke is him further dismissing Tao as some profound concept.
If you are unconvinced that this is a dirty joke. Well, it's much more blatant in the Mandarin version, in which he literally says "食道尿道 陰道陽道".
It means "The esophagus, urethra, vagina, and the way of Yang".
https://youtu.be/Z1mDDjhwrb4
黃霑 James Wong【道】Official Music Video
鬼哭神號 旁門左道
The cries of demons and gods
The illegitimate ways and shortcuts
The swordsman calls all these interpretations of Tao illegitimate. The word 旁門左道 in a Wuxia context generally refers to cults and other unsavoury practices.
狗上瓦坑 必然有路
A dog on the roof
means there must be a way
The official subtitle translates this as "fornicating dog," which is just plain wrong. This is a Cantonese idiom. It literally means a dog on the water drain on the roof.
The idea is that dogs are not cats, they can't just climb up. If they are on the roof, there must be a way up there.
你度我度 豺狼當道
Your place and my place
Wolves rule the way
In the penultimate line, the lyric ties back to the theme of the movie. The world is rotten, and the wolves have control of all three branches of the government.
我自求我道
I seek my own way
So, the only way is to find your own way. The swordsman has withdrawn himself from worldly affairs, and is seeking his own enlightenment.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
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