Vinyl LP - 牧羊曲 The Shepherdess Song - 鄭緒嵐 Zheng Xu Lan (少林寺 / The Shaolin Temple OST)

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It has been almost 40 years since Jet Li's first film "The Shaolin Temple" was released in theatres. The film made him an instant martial arts movie star, and even in these short clips, you could understand why. He was good-looking, charming, dynamic and charismatic; and he packed some serious punches, kicks, and weapons demonstrations. For those who hasn’t seen the movie, I encourage you to watch it - it's awesome!

This beautiful song "Mu Yang Qu" (牧羊曲), which translates to "The Shepherdess Song" became iconic offscreen, but it was its onscreen presence that added to much of its initial allure when the song played to the delightful and idyllic scenery in the movie. In the film, it was sung by the shepherdess heroine (perfectly portrayed by actress Ding Lan), but in real life, it was recorded by the talented Zheng Xu Lan. Alas, you could only hear half of the song in the movie, and to hear this original recording of this song in its entirety is quite rare. Over the years, I've listened to many examples of "Mu Yang Qu" sung by many different singers, and unfortunately, none could match this original performance. The gifted singer Chen Li Yuan has an admirable version and it comes closest to the original, though it still falls short.

It appears that the original soundtrack was released in Japan, perhaps only in Japan, so what is being played here is the Japanese vinyl pressing of the OST. I took a leap of faith without having the chance to listen to the album first, and bought the OST hoping the entire "Mu Yang Qu" song would be there. And it was there to my joy! Now I consider myself fortunate to have bought the album as it has become quite hard to acquire, especially with the song playing so cleanly, free of any major and frequent clicks. The vinyl recording presents the vocals with body and warmth, and the instruments with tremendous clarity and sense of depth.

As you listen, especially during the beginning, you might think the audio portion is from the movie, but make no mistake that it's from "The Shaolin Temple" original soundtrack; and it becomes very clear when the song doesn't stop midway and continues to the second half accompanied by some additional sequences I've added from the movie. As for the Chinese lyrics, I've not found an English translation that's adequate, so I took to the task of translating it myself, lol. I'm not certain how accurate my translation is, so please feel free to make any corrections in the comment section - it would be much welcomed! Here it is, and I hope you truly enjoy this ethereal song "Mu Yang Qu" (Chinese lyrics follow thereafter):

The sun rises over the Songshan mountain pass
As the morning bell startles the birds in flight
The small forest stream murmurs
On slopes lie grasses green

Scent of wild fruits, lively mountain flowers
Dogs hop, sheep scamper
Lifting the whip she gently shakes
The tiny melody permeates the mountain, permeates the mountain

Don't say girls are dainty
No doubt there's a pleasant oddity
Winters depart, Springs return, sixteen years have passed
The yellow flowers are positively youthful

Strong in stature, heroically courageous
Training often in martial arts, diligently hard at work
Ploughing, shepherding, and fighting ravenous wolves
Through the storm, alone one bears the burden

Through the storm, alone one bears the burden
Alone one bears the burden

日出嵩山坳
晨鐘驚飛鳥
林間小溪水潺潺
坡上青青草

野果香山花俏
狗兒跳羊兒跑
舉起鞭兒輕輕搖
小曲滿山飄滿山飄

莫道女兒嬌
無暇有奇巧
冬去春來十六載
黄花正年少

腰身壯膽氣豪
常練武勤操勞
耕田放牧打豺狼
風雨一肩挑一肩挑

風雨一肩挑一肩挑
一肩挑

Associated Equipment: Rega RP40 SE Turntable, Dynavector DV-20X2 H MC Cartridge, Schiit Mani Phono Preamp, Focusrite Forte USB Audio Interface
Encoding Software: Audacity at 24-bit/96kHz