’猪都笑了‘

My heart breaks to hear this.

Beijingers say that they have a lot of sandstorms
Inner Mongolians just laugh
Inner Mongolians say that their land is vast
Xinjiang people just laugh
Xinjiang people say that they have a lot of ethnic groups
Yunnanese people just laugh
Yunnanese people say that they live high up
Tibetans just laugh
Tibetans say that they have a lot of artifacts
Shaanxi people just laugh
Shaanxi people say that they got involved in the Revolution very early
Jiangxi people just laugh
Jiangxi people say that they can eat spicy food
Hunanese people just laugh
Hunanese say that they have a lot of beautiful women
Sichuanese people  just laugh (x3)
Shandong people say that their economy is good

Shanghainese just laugh

Shanghainese say they have a lot of peasant workers
Guangdong people just laugh

Guangdong people say they have a lot of rich old moneybags
Hong Kongers just laugh
Hong Kongers say they have a lot of mistresses
Taiwanese just laugh
Japanese say that the Sino-Japanese relationship is friendly
Chinese people just laugh
Japanese people say they love peace
Asians just laugh (Wolves in sheep’s clothing)
Japanese say they want to defend world peace
Americans just laugh
Japanese say that they are people
The pigs of the world just laugh
[Ad nauseam]

Nothing good can come of this.

Anyone who doesn't see World War III on the horizon is kidding himself. The only question is when.

bodawei,

Of course this song isn't at all the worst kind of racist material I have ever seen. And needless to say I know that Chinese people do not have a monopoly on racist behavior.  But since we are talking about China now--yes it is ignorance, but the problem is that this is planned ignorance. When governments deliberately raise their children in a very persistent and thorough campaign, including lies and withholding of information, to become people who gloat, jeer and deride (not only against Japanese) that is a problem. Don't have the time now, but I wanted to talk about that later. That campaign has to be dismantled first, before the education can start.

@pete

it is troubling. when i first began to listen to the song for the first time i thought it was a fantastic tune. then i couldn't believe my ears toward the end. i thought how can this be allowed to be sold.

if this were released in your or my country law suits and jail sentences would be the result for all thos involved. come to think of it no record co in their right mind would touch it in the first place.

while i don't think ww3 will result as a consequence, it is nevertheless another fine example of transferring internal frustrations to an external fictional threat, thereby nullifying any internal opposition by silencing any criticism out of fear of being vilified by the mob.

i wonder how much 单行道 were paid?

many other such gems can be found where this came from.

Hi bodawei,

I just posted the translation. Sorry, I can't do the Japanese. Any poddies who can 帮个忙？

The stereotypes in the song, by the way, are very popular. You hear them all the time. So there is some educational content, along with the shameful racist trash at the end.

Contrast this with Randy Newman's "Rednecks," an equally provocative but much more intelligent and perceptive song.

@pete, miantiao

啊呀！ reminds me of my first visit to SH; went with our daughter to the 'city exhibition' building where there are cute little cartoons showing.  We soon realised that the cute cartoons display an amazingly racist story about the near neighbours.

BTW - thanks very much for the translation.  

Have either of you heard of the band 舌头?

Hi miantiao,

It goes without saying that the song itself won't lead to WWIII. But modern China looks an awful lot like early 1930s Germany. Give the economic crisis a few more years and we may see Xinjiangers with crescent moon arm bands and mysterious camps in Qinghai.

A charismatic leader emerges from prison where he has written his manifesto of hatred and conquest. The incompetent and despised government falls (they sold us out to the foreigners!), and he assumes the throne to popular delight.

A trembling world will plead for peace and rumble sternly at each hint of militarization. Sudetenland Germans  Taiwanese compatriots are brought back into the warm embrace of the Motherland, from whom they were separated for far too long.

This is just speculation. I pray it doesn't come true.

And I've mentioned it before, but my favorite movie about modern China is Cabaret. Watch it and weep.

Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign
Your children have waited to see
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs to me...

most political music critiques released in the west are inward looking,either directed at the nation or the west in general.

the most notable in australia's history are midnight oil.their music went a long way to bring about recognition of injustices perpetrated against aboriginals and helped bring about a change in attitudes and subsequent legislation in regard land rights.

peter garret(lead singer and lyricist) is now a minister of the current govt. in regard to aboriginal living standards, there is still a long way to go.  big kev saying sorry just doesn't cut the mustard i'm afraid.

@miantiao

I've been told that record companies like we know in the West (like Capitol, Sony etc) do not exist, or survive long.  Recording contracts are extremely short term and everyone wants their money up front.  Royalties as we know them do not exist, for obvious reasons.

@pete

there many similarities to 30's germany.i just hope, for everyone's sake, that what the current leadership are saying in public to the world is the truth, because there is only one neville chamberlain.

@bodawei

spot on about intellectual copywright.

most popular music artists have deals with hongkong and taiwanese record labels, i'm lead to believe.

@miantiao

I support your suggestion of some discussion about contemporary Chinese pop - but have to admit to a high degree of innocence (or ignorance).  I have several CDs like 挂在盒子上， PK14, Twisted Machine, Muma, 小河 as well as 崔建 and some more underground material! I'd like to know more about what they are saying.. I've been meaning to challenge myself.  

This one you've posted - wold you mind translating?  Particularly the segue into Japanese!

miantiao,

Good call on Midnight Oil,one of my favourite bands,esp good to listen to up very loud [and driving around in a Monaro if I had one I'd imagine;对不对 ？].Their music was that much more powerful because of the strong message. 哎唷，力量和热情

@miantiao

Thinking about your post: I wouldn't expect this kind of material to be censored in China because it does not threaten the authority of the Govt; in fact (as Pete says) it reflects beliefs that are widely held. It is more folky than anything - no deep thinking involved, nothing challenging.

I don't think it would be censored in Australia either, assuming it was produced in Australia, because it is expressed as art.  It would likely get a completely different reading here.  In fact here it could be interpreted as ironic, or political - either way we tolerate such expression.      

But I do think 'China' tolerates (albeit unpredictably) critical thought, particularly in the visual arts.  (I'm not suggesting that this song is in any way 'critical'.)  Some of the underground material expresses views critical of Chinese institutions, modern and traditional - it is referred to as underground but you can hear the songs performed in public. 

Thanks again for the post - good idea.  Any more?

@bodawei

 i have a sneaky suspicion its 'well produced and well placed' art! for the very reasons i've stated above.

it would definitely be a prime target for charges relating to inciting racial hatred and law suits relating to racism. 

i agree with your comment that the tune is not critical, rather just insulting. the not too difficult language ensures the message in the lyrics reach a wide audience within the mainland.

plenty more where that came from, but perhaps next time a tune not so controversial.

ps the only japanese in the tune i could understand was sionara.

it appears the band is from chongqing or sichuan judging by the mandarin accent and familiarity with sichuanese by the lead singer. it really is worth a listen.

miantiao,

For some reason I have this sneaking (not sneaky--in my case anyway) suspicion that you dislike authoring dumb (sorry, no offense intended. It's just that I consider disclaimers to be inherently dumb) disclaimers. So I have to commend your overcoming that aversion to include in your post

the lyrics of this song in no way reflects the opinions or beliefs of myself 

--a most judicious decision; though it does make me a little sad to understand that it must have seemed necessary, in the interest of preempting the conceivable hazard of someone such as myself crawling out of the woodwork to slug you in the jaw and create a scene.

I haven't been ignoring this thread, just been too busy to comment (we wouldn't want me to comment hastily now would we).

Will say though I'm a bit surprised, at how quickly the following comments (after Pete's translation) accumulated ...

I'm still don't have time now to share my thoughts.　Just to say that the recurring Japanese line isn't good Japanese.  わたしはさようなら literally would be "I [am] sayonara (good-bye)", if it's to be regarded as a sentence. Otherwise, it would be seen as a sentence missing the entire predicate. Haven't heard the song, am guessing they just wanted a rhyme w/啦.

pete,  Randy Newman is a genius! Anybody responsible for a song like "Short People" is a genius!

随后再说

@miantiao - excellent post, sport. 很有意思。

(um ... very presumptuous to imagine everything is about me of course but have I by any chance caused the room to freeze and go silent ...?  if so--i'm sorry, to have kept you holding your breaths for so long.)

Pls relax!  I promise--when responding to a post I find offensive I will make that so unquestionably clear from the outset, nobody will have to wonder what I mean.  I'm not yet comfortable with those smilies and winkies and stuff.

Okay. So I've had the chance to go listen (anyone else?).  I see there are many versions/variations on lyrics though the base is the same. Many lines seen in the lyrics I didn't hear, I guess those are spoken parts not included in the MP3 files. The fifth version showing up in the linked page, the 经典版 is close to the one miantiao posted.  I haven't had time to actually go through and examine all the minor differences; one I did notice was a variation on the line 日本人说自己人啦 as 小日本说他是人啦; actually most of the versions seem to be the latter, which makes more sense if you're going to deride a "people" you don't consider human for calling themselves human. 

The "Japanese" わたしはさようなら is in hiragana in this 经典版. In other versions on the same page you can see the line expressed in hanzi, 我打西瓦赛有那拉 to approximate wa-ta-shi-wa sa-yo-na-ra.  I guess the singer there is doing an imitation of the stereotype Imperial Army villain in 抗日 TV dramas and movies.

The fourth version on the same page, the 续集, a remake by the band themselves, provides a bit more levity (from my perspective anyway, as I am Japanese after all); were I more familiar with all the names mentioned it would probably be funnier. But I could follow enough. And in place of the ever-hated xiaoriben, the one-way-road guys, who as far as I can see are at least posing as serious musicians, chose to pick on a boy band of all targets (and I have no background knowledge of either so don't really know if they have a history or what, how popular they are respectively etc). Needless to say 花儿乐队 and their fans were none too happy.

And what does that say about us--? Leaving such insults unanswered!  I wonder sometimes recently if I myself am not getting a little "used" to slurs against Japanese. Resigned, I would not like to be. But it's a defense mechanism I suppose. If you didn't become a little numb you would just spend all your time constantly incensed, and we just aren't physically built to withstand that sort of adrenaline flow for extended periods without serious consequences to our health.

*sigh* Even if the entire population of Japan went online to quash every such slur against us it would still be like stamping out cockroaches. Just not possible. And I wonder what would ensue if I went here and asked "为什么单行道他们要骂日本人？" Well actually, I don't wonder. I know.

Anyone else with more thoughts?  I have a few more thoughts as well as questions but out of time again--  回头再来

PS   oh I just saw how long this went on. sorry about that!

A few months ago, during the confrontation in the Gaza strip, I was inundated by some of the most disgusting racsist material I have seen in my life, perpetrated and distributed widely by Jewish people about the Palestinians.  It was all deeply disturbing.  (I can't read Arabic so I couldn't understand the material being floated by the other side of the divide.)  I have to say that this song is mild by comparison - I can't begin to tell you the horrors that the Middle East conflict dredges up in humankind.  The point is that the Chinese do not have a monopoloy on this behaviour.  It is ignorance, and unfortunately widespread.  The only long term answer is education, and learning foreign languages has an important role to play.

@zhenlijiang

the slurs are worth noting and discussing amongst ourselves and with people who don't hold any extreme racist views. as you say asking the question on the site you mention will only attract those with racist views who have been enculcated that way. pointless.

yeah, local tv dramas act to incite, foment and socialise the public to think in such ways and in varying degrees. they do nothing to improve understanding or promote reconciliation. nevertheless,and it goes without saying, that not all chinese hold such extreme views and just want to move on.

democracy doesn't incubate us from  being duped by popular or extreme nationlist and racist tripe(hitler) because of democracy's inherent principle of the public vote. however, democracy allows for the freedom to express and question, thus making it more difficult for such extreme views to distort the minds of the public through the media and education system etc. 

the racist views expressed(and intentionally on behalf of the chinese people which i find particularly conceited and disturbing) in the lyrics of this song would not be tolerated by the law in the west. 

great to have a japanese comment here. your comments are revealing.

@miantiao, thx for the post.  I'm going through the Chinese before I read Pete's translation.  I hear comments like this about Japanese not only from mainland Chinese, but also from otherwise reasonable Singaporeans and Hong Kongers/ese.

IMO, the true victory of WWII wasn't the defeat of Japan and Nazi Germany; rather it was the act of turning former foes into allies.  It seems that most of Asia has yet to learn this lesson.