Yueren Song is a translated work that appeared in country of Chu and Yue during Spring and Autumn period and has been confirmed as earliest translated work in China. The lyrics of this song were first recorded in "Shuo Yuan" written by Liu Xiang during Western Han Dynasty. The article says that during Spring and Autumn period, E Jun Zixi traveled along river, constantly singing and dancing. A woman from Yue saw scene and sang:

The grass is flooded, Yuchang, Zeyu Changzhou, Zhoukou (original word - Zuoyu, Yoji), Zhouyan - almost Qin Xu, without decorations - almost Zhaochang and Qinyu, seeping into rivers and lakes.

Songs of Yue Girls are songs of country of Yue. Being a native of country of Chu, Mr. E could not understand them, so he asked someone to translate them. Translated content:

Tonight, when we leave for Zhongzhou, what day is it, and we will be in same boat as prince. To be ashamed and to be good, not to be ashamed, to be stubborn and unstoppable, knowing prince. Mountains have trees and trees have branches, but heart says you don't know king.

At that time, Chu State was included in Chinese cultural circle, and language used was not much different from that of Central Plains. However, language used in Yue is called "鴃 language of language". Although Chu State and Yue State are neighboring countries, they "speak differently with bird sounds."

Vietnamese characters

So what is Yue nation? At that time, people collectively called inhabitants of the southeast coast "Baiyue", Wuyue, Yangyue, Donggou, Minyue, Nanyue, Xu, Luoyue, etc. They lived in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi. , Jiaozhi, Taiwan, Hainan. The Geographical Records of Hanshu contains: "From Jiaozhi to Kuaiji there are seven or eight thousand miles, and there are different places in Baiyue, each with its own caste."

After Qin Shihuang united Baiyue lands, these Baiyue ethnic groups gradually merged into Han people. However, Central Plains Dynasty settled Pearl River basin relatively late, allowing many Baiyue ethnic groups to survive. The Zhuang, Yao, Dong, Bui and Shui peoples living in Pearl River Basin are descendants of Baiyue people.

In 1980s, Mr. Wei Qingwen, a Zhuang language researcher at Institute of Ethnic Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed that ancient Yue nationality had a close relationship with current Zhuang nationality, so he analyzed Yueren Song from perspective of language. He found that pronunciation and word formation of "Yueren Song" had much in common with Zhuang language. He ordered proposed ancient Zhuang language according to order of original song, and made a literal translation of words and sentences. for suggestion:

Where is it late today? Where is middle of boat? The prince of middle of palace arrived. The prince met me and appreciated, villain was grateful, devil knows, prince played with my villain. Feeling in throat of villain.

To make translation more literary, Mr. Wei made another free translation:

What holiday is tonight? The sea trip is so great. Who is sitting in middle of boat? This is Lord Wangfuzhong. The prince accepted and appreciated him, and I can only be grateful. But I don't know when I can swim with you again, I feel your kindness in my heart!

In 1991, Mr. Zheng Zhang Shanfan transcribed Chinese transcription of "Yueren Song" from Thai once more. Thai is national language of Thailand, and Thai and Baiyue are also closely related. His translation is as follows:

Oh night, night of joyful meetings! How shy I am and how good I am at rocking boat. Rocking boat slowly across river full of love! Filthy me, respected prince His Royal Highness unexpectedly met. There is a longing in depths of my heart that I have never spoken of.

Later, based on research of previous scholars, Mr. Zhou Liuxi compared translation of Chu, used living materials of Zhuang and Dong, and referred to other common Yue languages ​​such as Shui, Dai, Buyi, etc. for reconstruction of ancient pronunciation. The deciphering revealed largest number of ancient Yue words, and full text of Yueren Song was reconstructed using ancient Chinese related words. . His translation is as follows:

What a good day to steer a boat on river tonight? With whom? and you are princes. I am very ashamed to be appreciated and appreciated by adults. How I want to know prince! Today we finally met. The mountain has bushes and bamboo has branches. You know? I have great admiration and affection for you.