The Girl from Dabancheng
The Girl from Dabancheng (Chinese: 达坂城的姑娘; pinyin: Dá bǎnchéng de gūniáng), also known as "Qemberxan" (Uyghur: قەمبەرخان), is a popular Uyghur folk song about the Uyghur youth's yearning for a beautiful woman named Qemberxan.
In 1938, it was adapted into Mandarin Chinese by Wang Luobin and was sung in Lanzhou under the title "Song of the Coachman" (Chinese: 馬車夫之歌; pinyin: Mǎchē fū zhī gē). It became the first Uyghur folk song translated into Chinese in modern China.[1] Later, Wang Luobin's lyrics were modified and the work was renamed "The Girl from Dabancheng"; some had renamed it to "The Girl from Hangzhou" with the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. The song was later adapted in various forms. One performance of the song won an award in Pyongyang, North Korea in 2001.[2]
One of the early recordings of the song was done by a German ethnomusicologist on the singing of a Turpan Taranchi farmer's 16-year-old daughter. The song was most likely composed by a Uyghur soldier back in the time of Yaqub Beg, when the soldier was posted from southern Xinjiang to the north (Ili) or east (Turpan). Indeed, there are many songs dated back that time associated with a soldier's courtship, such as Havagul (mispronounced and adapted by Wang Luobin as Avargul), which talks about a girl in Ili. However, "Qemberxan" talks about a girl in Dabancheng (or Davanching in the Uyghur language) which lies between Turpan and Urumqi, and is a district of Urumqi. This district is well known as an entrepot on inter-oasis travel. The reputation of the beauty of local girls is partly due to the mixing among the different populations that traveled through it.[citation needed]
Lyrics
Uyghur original
Uyghur Arabic alphabet | Uyghur Latin alphabet | Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet |
---|---|---|
داۋانچىڭنىڭ يېرى قاتتىق تاۋۇزى تاتلىق | Dawanchingnighi yëri qattiq tawuzi tatliq | Даванчиңниғи ери қаттиқ тавузи татлиқ |
Lyrics by Wang Luobin
达坂城的石路硬又平啦 西瓜大又甜啦
那里住的的姑娘辫子长啊 两个眼睛真漂亮
你要是嫁人不要嫁给别人一定要你嫁给我
带上你的钱财连着你的妹妹赶上那马车来
English Translation
- The soil of the Davanching is hard
- But the water melon is sweet
- My darling is in Davanching
- Qambarhan is so sweet.
- Qambarhan’s hair is so long
- It touches the ground
- Please ask darling Qambarhan
- Does she want to get a husband.
- My tiny pearls spilled on the ground
- Please help me to pick them up
- I’d like to kiss you, but can’t reach
- Please bow your head down.
- One can ride a horse
- Around icy mountains.
- One tortures a good soul
- By an evil man
- It is hard to see
- No matter how hard I look.
- The separation with Qambarhan.
- Is extremely hard to endure
References
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1912–1949
- How Great is Our China!
- China Heroically Stands in the Universe
- Song of Five Races Under One Union
- Song to the Auspicious Cloud
- March of the Volunteers
- National Anthem of the Republic of China
- National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China
- 800 Heroes Song
- The Sword March
- Along the Songhua River
- The Great Wall Ballad
- Guerrillas' Song
- In the Taihang Mountains [zh]
- Marshal Training Soldier Song
- Song of the National Revolution
- Gong Xi Gong Xi
People's Republic of China
- March of the Volunteers
- Workers, Peasants and Soldiers, Unite [zh]
- The East is Red
- The Internationale
- Military Anthem of the Eighth Route Army
- Nanniwan
- Ode to the Motherland
- Song of the Military and Political University of Resistance Against Japan
- Three Rules and Eight Notices
- Unity Is Strength
- Osmanthus Flowers Blooming Everywhere in August
- The Sky Above the Liberated Zone
- When the Motherland Calls Upon Us
- Yellow River Cantata
- To the Rear of the Enemy
- I Love Beijing Tiananmen
- March of the People's Liberation Army
- I Love the Motherland's Blue Skies
- My Motherland
- Long Live Comrade Mao for Ten Thousand Years
- Red Star Shines
- Socialism is Good
- I Am a Soldier [zh]
- Learn from Comrade Lei Feng
- Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman
- Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China
- My Chinese Heart
- My People, My Country
- Bloodstained Glory
- Loyalty to the Country
- Story of Spring
- When That Day Comes
- Towards Revival
- I Love You, China
- On the Great Road
since 1949
- National Anthem of the Republic of China
- National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China
- Ode to the Republic of China
- The Plum Blossom
- 800 Heroes Song
- Night Raid [zh]
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song
- Chiang Ching-kuo Memorial Song
- Go and Reclaim the Mainland
- Taiwan Is Good
- The Anti-Communist and Anti-Russian Aggression Song
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