Brokeback: The Classic Chinese Literary dimension
by stevme (Sun Feb 26 2006 13:33:27 ) This appeared in another thread, but I think it's worth its' own subject. The poster is weewitch:
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There are quite a few threads on this board about Western classical literary references in BBM. Here is a Chinese one.
Although the film is set in Wyoming, the theme about cowboys in love, the language in English, Ang Lee has subtly incorporated many Chinese cultural elements in his filming. A while ago, I posted a thread about the Ying and Yang colors of the cowboy hats. Someone mentioned that almost every scene contained the five forces of nature – metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Ang Lee chose the Chinese title for his film. Instead of “Brokeback Mountain”, he transliterated it into “Broke-arm Mountain”, hinting that the loss of love between the two men is similar to losing a sibling, which in Chinese culture is regarded as one of your limbs.
After watching this clip (thank you ellemeno for posting it) I got thinking – what would Ang Lee have named this film if it were set in China and filmed in Chinese? (esp knowing that Ang grew up with a curriculum better versed in classical Chinese literature than the mainland schooling, I figured he would most definitely have employed classical references or analogies, just as he did in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon").
My guess is - he probably would have named it “Qing Qing Zi Jin” (pronounced ching ching dze gin) – a line taken from “The Book of Songs” (Shi Jing), collected and edited by Master Confucius, some dating back over 2500 years ago. It is the earliest book of classical poetry in Chinese history.
This particular line means “O that blue, blue shirt of yours”. What follows in the poem is “You You Wo Xin” (pronounced yo yo woa shin). The poem is as follows:
O that blue, blue shirt of yours
Remains with my heart intertwined
Although I cannot visit upon you
Whither a note from you shall I find?
qing qing zi jin
you you wo xin
zong wo bu wang
zi ning bu si yin?
The reference doesn’t stop here. If you can find Cao Cao (or Tsao Tsao)’s famous poem “Short Ballad”, in which he quoted those two lines from "Shi Jing", you will see that the entire theme is uncannily befitting of BBM, even though Cao himself at that time meant for something else
. (Cao was one of the most famous politicians and military strategists in Chinese history, who lived during the Three Kingdom era – around 220 ad, whose son became the first emperor of the Wei Dynasty).
Anyway, I know this thread attracts attention of Chinese speakers from all over the world. I don’t know where else to find you guys.
WO MEN DOU AI LI AN SHUSHU
(We all love Uncle Ang Lee.)
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Further on, weewitch comments:
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>You know the Chinese gay community and some critics believe this poem is in fact depicting the love of a man for another man.<
I wasn’t aware of such an association. Thank you for sharing that. I’m better informed now
.
>BTW, I think the Broke-arm Mountain is not the official translation of the movie. <
I read in the media coverage that Ang Lee chose this title. I see both being used now and it's a bit confusing.
>I used to think it was funny (to make such association). Now I sort of agree. The more I read it, the more I see it. <
If you think this is funny, the fun doesn’t stop here. In Cao’s ballad, after quoting those two lines, he followed with something like “because of you, I’ve been reciting this poem till now” (dan wei jun gu, chen yin zhi jin.) You know how you can derive various meanings from any given line in Chinese literature. If you interpret “gu” as “past, death”, then these lines assume a completely different meaning:
O that blue, blue shirt of yours
Remains with my heart intertwined.
Now that you have passed away
I’ve hummed its elegy till this day.
What elegy?
Jack, I swear…
WO MEN DOU AI LI AN SHUSHU
(We all love Uncle Ang Lee.)
