“茉莉花 (Molihua)” / “Jasmine Flower,” a piece of Chinese culture that has taken root around the world
Filed under:culture, music | Tags:Jasmine Flower, 茉莉花
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“The main melody, which Tan described as “glorious, heartwarming and full of respect”, was recorded using the digital recording of a 2,450-year-old bell set excavated from a site in Hubei.”
The original was a Chinese folk song created during the Qianlong Emperor period of the Qing Dynasty (1711-1799). “茉莉花” became known in the West first due to its inclusion by Giacomo Puccini in his opera Turandot in Italy.
Below are lyrics to this song and various renditions:
Simplified Chinese
好一朵美丽的茉莉花
好一朵美丽的茉莉花
芬芳美丽满枝桠
又香又白人人夸
让我来将你摘下
送给别人家
茉莉花呀茉莉花
Literal Translation
What a beautiful jasmine flower
What a beautiful jasmine flower
Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds
Fragrant and white, everyone praises
Let me pluck you down
Give to someone
Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower
“茉莉花” has been performed all around the world. Below are various incarnations.
CCTV-7 Commercial: “Let the world hear our sounds” based on “茉莉花” (Jasmine Flower)
By a Trio using Western instruments at the 2009 Cultural Spring Festival Show
By Kenny G
By the Vienna Boys Choir in Korea in 2002
By 宋祖英 (Song Zuying) at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2006 accompanied by an American Orchestra
By a Japanese choir
According to the China Daily article, “from Puccini to the Beijing Olympics, this melody is a gift from the Chinese people to the world’s athletes,” Tan said.
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January 19th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Song Zuying again? You would think that in this day and age a girl wouldn’t have to sleep with the president just to get ahead.
They always used to play Molihua on Jiangsu TV during the time it was off-air over night – I always wondered if there were some kind of Nanjing/Jiangsu connection for this song?
January 19th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
It was originally a Jiangsu folk song, most popular in the Jiangnan area where Wuu language is spoken. The Wuu language edition sounds much better than the mandarin one.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
It’s definitely a beautiful piece, and very well known. Chinese however has a lot of hidden treasures that do not get as much attention as this one. My favorite is Moon Reflected in Two Streams by the blind artist A-Bing.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Hi Cissy – wow, I’d really like to hear it in the Wuu dialect. Post it here if you find it before me! thx.
Hi Berlin – I’ve found a performance of it on Youtube – looks like this was performed in Japan:
This is a classic for sure. It’s only a matter of time before the “crouching tiger” effect takes hold for this thing to spread around the world. 🙂
January 21st, 2010 at 9:15 pm
I was surprised that this song was chosen in the Olympics played by the Chinese girls with low-cut Cheongsam. What makes the dress sexy is not the exposure (G string is not that sexy to me) but the little V-shaped exposure that leads to mystery, suggestion and imagination. I hope it was played by the 12 lady band.
This song was very popular in pleasure houses in Shanghai at the time, so it was a surprise. Would any one verify it?
October 19th, 2012 at 5:16 am
Does any one knows the relation between Kenny G’s Jasmine Flower and the traditional folk Song, Molihua/Jasmine Flower?