Kilo Lingo

Mandarin · Chapter 14 · Lesson 21 · Vocabulary

Song: 茉莉花

Play it, read along word by word, then answer the questions. Every word is at your level - the song page teaches the few that are new.

Play the song and read along - tap any word you don't know. Then answer the questions underneath and the lesson completes itself.

茉莉花

mòlìhuā

Jasmine Flower

Most recordings, including this one, sing a 1957 revised text that is still under copyright claim in China. We print the Qing-dynasty verses the melody originally carried - where the sung words drift from ours, that is why.

Lyrics

第一段

cǎo

第二段

gōu

第三段

méiguī

méiguī

méiguīwǎnwǎn

zhā

New words in this song

Comprehension drill

4 questions on what you just read. Get one wrong and the story will show you where it says otherwise.

The melody was notated by John Barrow of the 1793 Macartney embassy and published in 1804; the text here is the Ming-Qing "Fresh Flowers Tune" of three flowers, first attested in the Qianlong-era anthology Zhuibaiqiu (c. 1764-1774). The three-verse jasmine-only text everybody sings today is a 1957 revision with a copyright claim running to 2063, so this page prints only the older text. Source text. Translation ours.

Open the full song page for the background to the song.

Lesson 21 of 24 in this chapter

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