春天裡來天真的好姑娘 —— IN SPRING COMES A FAIR MAIDEN

One of the very first Chinese movies I ever saw was the slanted yet cheerful film Intersection (十字街頭 'shi zi jie tou'), at the end of which four companions share the news that a fifth person, also a friend, has in despair committed suicide. They decide that that was the weak way out, and arm in arm with new resolve they stride forth from the Shanghai docks into the broad tumultuous city to go on living.

It is, of course, a love story. Zhao (played by Zhao Dan 趙丹) falls in love with Yang. Wet laundry is involved, along with factory work and trams.
All five people are, at times, unemployed.
They are poor, but they are chipper.

Sadness, heartache, pathos; good cheer, romance, and gumption!

Plus of course the fortuitous circumstance that the love interest, played by Bai Yang (白楊), rents the room next to where Zhao and Xu live.
Which, at first, neither realize.


Here's the scene where Zhao is deliriously happy about having met a charming young lady. He sings gaily as he spruces up.
La la la la la! Perhaps even hey tiddly hi ho!
Or, in Chinese, lang li ge lang.
朗里格朗。


春天裡 -- 趙丹歌詞
SPRINGTIME, BY ZHAO DAN

[Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14zfvPyF2Mk


春天裡 - 趙丹歌詞

春天裡來百花香，郎里格朗里格朗里格朗，
和暖的太陽在天空照，照到了我的破衣裳，
朗里格朗格朗里格朗， 穿過了大街走小巷，
為了吃來為了穿， 晝夜都要忙。

朗里格朗， 朗里格朗， 沒有錢也得吃碗飯，
也得住間房， 哪怕老闆娘作那怪模樣，
里格朗里格朗， 朗里格朗， 朗里格朗。

朗里格朗， 朗里格朗， 貧窮不是從天降，
生鐵久煉也成鋼， 也成鋼；
只要努力向前進， 哪怕高山把路擋。

朗里格朗格朗里格朗， 遇見了一位好姑娘，
親愛的好姑娘, 天真的好姑娘！
不用悲， 不用傷， 人生好比戰場， 身體健， 氣力壯，
努力來乾一場；
身體健氣力壯大家努力干一場。

秋季裡來菊花黃， 朗里格朗里格朗里格朗，
陣陣的微風在迎面吹，吹動了我的破衣裳，
朗里格朗格朗里格朗，穿過了大街走小巷，
為了吃來為了穿， 晝夜都要忙。

朗里格朗， 朗里格朗，
沒工作也得吃碗飯，
也得住間房， 哪怕老闆娘作那怪模樣，
朗里格朗里格朗里格朗里格朗里格朗。

里格朗里格朗，
成敗不是從天降，生鐵久煉也成鋼， 也成鋼，
只要努力向前進哪怕高山把路擋。

朗里格朗里格朗里格朗，
遇見了一位好姑娘，
親愛的好姑娘，天真的好姑娘！
不用悲， 不用傷，
前途自有風和浪，穩把舵齊鼓槳哪怕是大海洋，
向前進， 莫徬徨， 黑暗盡處有曙光。

Chūntiān lǐ - Zhào Dān gēcí

Chūntiān lǐ lái bǎihuā xiāng, láng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng,
Hé nuǎn de tàiyáng zài tiānkōng zhào, zhào dàole wǒ de pò yīshang,
Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, chuānguòle dàjiē zǒu xiǎo xiàng,
Wèile chī lái wèile chuān, zhòuyè dōu yào máng.

Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, méiyǒu qián yě dé chī wǎn fàn,
Yě dé zhù jiān fáng, nǎpà lǎobǎnniáng zuò nà guài múyàng,
Lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, lǎng lǐ gé lǎng.

Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, pínqióng bùshì cóng tiān jiàng,
Shēng tiě jiǔ liàn yě chéng gāng, yě chéng gāng,
Zhǐyào nǔlì xiàng qiánjìn, nǎpà gāoshān bǎ lù dǎng.

Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, yùjiànle yī wèi hǎo gūniáng,
Qīn'ài de hǎo gūniáng, tiānzhēn de hǎo gūniáng!
Bùyòng bēi, bùyòng shāng, rénshēng hǎobǐ zhànchǎng, shēntǐ jiàn, qìlì zhuàng,
Nǔlì lái gān yīchǎng;
Shēntǐ jiàn, qìlì zhuàng, dàjiā nǔlì gàn yīchǎng.

Qiūjì lǐ lái júhuā huáng, lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng,
Zhèn zhèn de wéifēng zài yíngmiàn chuī, chuī dòngle wǒ de pò yīshang,
Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng, chuānguòle dàjiē zǒu xiǎo xiàng,
Wèile chī lái wèile chuān, zhòuyè dōu yào máng.

Lǎng lǐ gé lǎnglǎng lǐ gé lǎng,
Méi gōngzuò yě dé chī wǎn fàn,
Yě dé zhù jiān fáng, nǎpà lǎobǎnniáng zuò nà guài múyàng,
Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng.

Lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng,
Chéngbài bùshì cóng tiān, jiàngshēng tiě jiǔ liàn, yě chéng gāng,
Zhǐyào nǔlì xiàng qiánjìn nǎpà gāoshān bǎ lù dǎng.

Lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng lǐ gé lǎng,
Yùjiànle yī wèi hǎo gūniáng,
Qīn'ài de hǎo gūniáng, tiānzhēn de hǎo gū niáng,
Bùyòng bēi, bùyòng shāng,
Qiántú zì yǒu fēng hé làng, wěn bǎduò qí gǔ jiǎng nǎpà shì dà hǎiyáng,
Xiàng qiánjìn, mò páng huáng, hēi'àn jǐn chù yǒu shǔguāng.


Paraphrasis:

"In Springtime multitudes of flowers bloom, the sun lights the sky and warms my worn out clothing; I walk through the streets and alleyways, and I have to stay busy day and night to feed and clothe myself. Barely any money for a bowl of rice! I'm still housed, but the landlady gives me queer looks."

"Poverty is not necessarily fated, as long as you strive despite all obstacles; AND I have met a wonderful girl, a lovable and precious girl! What use is sadness, what use is heartache; life's travails require strength and determination, if one remains healthy one may build a family."

"In Autumn the chrysanthemums blossom, the wind rips at my face and tattered clothing; I walk through the streets and alleyways, and I have to keep busy day and night to feed and clothe myself .......

........ success has it's own wind and waves, together storms are drummed up; go forward without fear, the darkness yields to brilliant dawn."


It is a cheerfully optimistic song, perhaps even insanely so. At the time, China was reeling from the Japanese invasion, and the bandy-legged dwarf terrorists were riding high on the corpses of their victims; the poverty and economic hardship was at a peak in Shanghai, where the common people could not distinguish between gangsters and bankers, so intertwined had those two endeavors become, and politicians and activists were heading ever faster towards a bloody cataclysm.

Yet the protagonist played by Zhao Dan sees reason for hope. He can eat, despite having no job, and he has found the girl of his dreams.
He is strong, and determined that all will be well.
It bloody well has to be!
Never give up.


When I first saw this movie circumstances in San Francisco were by no means rosy. Ronald Reagan was in Washington, and the Republicans were intent on rolling back the tide of human progress. Employment skills such mechanical draughting and print-technology were being destroyed by technical advances, particularly CAD ('computer-aided design').
I'm sure you recall that it wasn't the best of times.
The movie spoke to me.

You'll note that that handsome devil Zhao Dan, when hanging his sopping laundry to dry, inadvertently places it so that by the time the young lady next door wakes up her pillow will be drenched. She and her friend get even by pushing the pole back over to his side, and then hammer his picture nails back too. A mini war is thus started, and one of the funny moments happens when in discussing their neighbor problems with each other they slowly realize that they're talking about the other person.

The entire movie can be seen here:

十字街頭

It is without subtitles.
But the Mandarin is very clear.

The singing scene takes place at the twenty fifth minute in. The dripping wakes up Yang in the next room, who reacts with indignation at the twenty eighth minute, just after Zhao has stepped out.

In the months after the release of the movie, things went from bad to very much worse. The Japanese war machine spun into high gear, and Shanghai bore the brunt of the madness. Tens, hundreds of thousands of civilians were slaughtered, and many artists, intellectuals, and university graduates undertook the arduous journey to the safe areas in Szechuan and Shensi, far behind the lines.

Twelve years later, the music finally played again in Shanghai, but not with the spirit it once had had.

The next several years were somewhat more silent.



Zhao Dan, original name 趙鳳翱 ('Zhao Feng-ao') was born in 1915. His career ended during the Cultural Revolution.
He passed away in 1980.
Miss Bai Yang (楊成芳 'Yang Chengfan'), who was a charming teenager when this movie was made (born April 22, 1920), lived until 1996. She continued making movies in Shanghai till 1961. Following a regrettable hiatus of over twenty years, she first performed again in 1989.
Intersection was his fourth film, her second.




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