#also will maybe post a tl of the original IG post hunter made abt it. (on a separate post lol)

[collage-tls]

蓮花空行身染愛 // The Lotus Dakini’s Stained Love

welcome to my twisted annotated lian-hue lyric translation. unfortunately there is a reason ppl post internet essays on interpretations of this song. i did my utmost to make a clarifying translation where i could, but ultimately the original lyrics are simply very convoluted and metaphor-packed, and i didnt want to twist them to the point of overly-imposing my own interpretation. should u desire to "know what this song is about," there is a synthesis of things the artists have said about it, things i've read others say about it, references i've looked up, and, of course, my own reading of the lyrics @ the end. annotations interspersed between stanzas. expand at your own risk. do listen to the song either way tho its a banger

「由本自性清淨故，令諸愛染悉無垢」 (1) because of our own pure nature, all love-stains are rendered unblemished

(1) my own understanding of this quote is that since our essential/original nature is pure, even impure things like excessive attachment/desire are also ultimately pure in their own sense as part of the natural world/human experience…? thus complicating a term which seems to often carry negative connotations.

om Gu-lu-gu-lie chu-li so-ha om Gu-lu-gu-lie chu-li so-ha (2)

(2) the essential mantra of Kurukulla (transliterated to chinese as 咕嚕咕列Gulugulie)

又閣是彼个 無代無誌想著的形影  there it is again, that uninvited silhouette 親像一陣風 吹落來 是春風少年(3) it's funny how carefree young men blow past you just like a gust of wind 坐嘛是思念(4) 坐袂牢 真無聊的思念 in moments of stillness my thoughts turn to you, this same old restless longing 倒咧眠床頂 予月娘 笑規个暗暝 i lay in bed and watch the moon laugh through the night

(3)  this line gave me endless grief and is still subject to edit tbh. lit. "just like a gust of wind blowing by is spring breeze young man." after much deliberation, i decided that 少年, meaning either young man or youth, most likely means young man here and the overall phrase w/ "spring breeze" is referencing a particular image of male youth and its fleeting nature and impact on the women around them in this moment where our female narrator is recalling the memories of a lost love in her life. so. that is what i was aiming to capture (4) lit. to sit is to long [for you], which is imagery i quite like but maps awkwardly to english phrasing esp w the rest of the line.

我行過你的世界(5) i have walked through your world 啥物我攏無愛 there's nothing there i want 只想欲佇你心內（寫一條歌）   i just want to be in your heart (to write a song)

(5) this line has the first actual pronoun uses of “i”(我) and “you”(你) in the original lyrics (chinese languages often drop pronouns, but it feels like an interesting artistic choice 2 me anyhow)

車行過𪜶的期待 your train has run past their expectations 這站閣無落來  it still hasn’t reached this station 無想欲對誰交代（心內驚驚）  i don’t want to explain myself to anyone (the fear in my heart)

想起我彼暗小可仔歹勢(6) i recall the slight shame i felt that night 予你揣著我  you found me, 規身軀藏無好勢的委屈 my whole body composed of exposed grievances

(6) 歹勢；to my understanding, this word carries connotations of both shyness & embarrassment/shame. the only english word i can think of that somewhat comparably includes both of those is abashment, which no one has heard anyone say out loud ever. so i picked the one that resonated more w my personal interpretation.

風中的飛龍咧吼  a dragon cries in the wind 聲 聲予天搖地動  the sound shakes the heavens and the earth 愛你的傳說寫佇頂懸  the legend of my love for you is written up above 感情紲來愈飛愈懸  emotions rise the higher it flies

花 開佇你蹛的樓(7) flowers bloom where you reside 想 當時欲綴你走 i wonder what could have been if I’d gone with you then 多情的雨崁著目睭  a downpour of emotions obscures my view 你的代誌(8)講袂清楚 and my understanding of you blurs

(7) i have always wondered if this was supposed 2 be a hua(花)  manlou(樓) pun here w/ the first & last character but who knows lol. see notes on song inspirations for context. (8) more headaches. the mandarin word 事情(shìqíng), which seems to be the universal tl of the taiwanese word 代誌, does not map super easily onto any 1 english word. the general definition is matter/affair/business, but it is often used in contexts where actually using any of those words in an english tl would sound super out of place. like this one. most literal tl i can think of is your actions/situation/circumstance/affairs are not clearly explained. went with ‘my understanding of you blurs’ to go with the line b4 it, since my understanding of the lines’ collective meaning is something along the lines of like. ive been so blinded by my feelings for you that ive lost sight of who you really are/wonder if i ever knew you at all

看你行過千山萬水  i have watched you cross a thousand mountains, ten thousand rivers 手內薔薇微微仔芳 the fragrance of the rose you hold seeps into the air 行踏輕鬆跤步的我 (恬恬佇遮攏無出聲)  i tread through life lightly (staying here quietly, noiselessly, still)

日子過一工閣一工  day after day goes by 你的一切攏猶未放  you still have not let anything go 越頭欲揣過去的我  i turn back to search for a former version of myself 煞來袂記家己的名 and find I have forgotten my own name

(拆開你的 [心肝內底] tearing open your [heart] 會看著 暗淡的愛 i can see our hopeless love) (9)

(9)  this interlude section features 2 abbreviated lines from another collage song, 《這該死的拘執佮愛》(this damn unyielding love)   the full two lines are 「是按怎拆開你的 心肝內底 / 會看著 暗淡的愛流成水/血」（tl: Why do I tear open your heart? I can see our hopeless love flowing like water/blood)—parts used in this song have been bolded. since it only says "tear open your... i can see our hopeless love" in this song, i decided to add minimal context and complete the first clause

是我欲陪你流浪  i am willing to accompany you as you wander 長路終點滿天花雨 (10) at the end of this long road lies a sky full of petals and rain 雺霧內底戇神 in the mist your expression looks dazed 千年流轉你的世界 (11) a thousand years pass in your eyes

(10) reference to buddhist verse cited in background section of extended notes (11)  lit. a thousand/thousands of years flow through/in your world

自作多情的人  unrequited lovers 眼前地獄家己揀的  reside in a hell of their own making 天上 地下 人間   heaven, hell, and the land of the living 四方妖孽請恁退下 (12) demons from all realms, i beg you to withdraw

(12) this and the prev line are definitely a make of it what you will set of lines. i did my best to help comrades, now it's up to you. will add comments on realms imagery wrt fictional characters used as inspiration eventually but u are currently reading first iteration of this post.

這繁華世間 in this flourishing world 眾生有情人  all living things have lovers 有情生煩惱（甘願受罪）  to be in love brings troubles (willingness to suffer) 心狂閣火著  anger burns 明知會艱苦   i'm fully aware of the hardships ahead 千錯萬錯 （攏佮你無關）  countless mistakes (none concerning you)

NOTES:

1) KEY BACKGROUND. imo what follows is the most important piece of context, & everything after is more optional set dressing: in his initial lengthy instagram post around the song’s release, hunter shared that the primary inspiration for the song was the story of Guo Xiang, a side character in Jin Yong’s 1950s-60s wuxia series The Condor Trilogy, known for the unrequited love she harbors for the story’s protagonist.

(he also explains that this character’s story came to mind after a chance encounter with a particular verse from the Kṣitigarbhasūtra: 《南方世界湧香雲，香雨香雲及花雨》, which you can see references to w/in the song [10])

he mentions additional inspiration from the Eileen Chang novella protagonist Ge Weilong + a secondary character from Gu Long’s Legend of Lu Xiaofeng, Hua Manlou [7]. Chang’s novella tells the story of a young girl’s loss of innocence and faith in love, and i am sorry to admit the hua manlou one defeated me i honestly still cannot tell how he fits into the themes here lol. sorry.

i think knowing this does rly help create a cohesive narrative throughout the song and situates it/the many metaphors w/in it as part of an exploration of the internal world of the narrator through the experience of unrequited/lost love.

2) RELIGIOUS IMAGERY. firstly, a deconstruction of the title & intro, 蓮花空行身染愛 (The Lotus Dakini’s Stained Love) : 

蓮花空行，lit. Lotus Dakini, refers to Kurukulla, a dakini belonging to the lotus family in buddhist mythology. the song opens on her essential mantra. (the om gu lu gu lie chant [2])

i understood 身 here to be serving as a possessive (oneself/one’s own), hence the ’s. however, on its own it means body.

lastly, 染愛，lit. stained love, composed of 染(to dye, stain, contaminate) and 愛(love); these characters are a reverse of the traditional buddhist concept of 愛染, as seen in the scripture quote relating to kurukulla that serves as an epitaph to the posted lyrics 「由本自性清淨故，令諸愛染悉無垢」 [1]

i could not find any evidence of an established english tl/explanation of this term, so to my (limited!!) understanding, 愛染 (lit. love-stain) refers generally negatively to a concept of excessive attachment to things or people, with underlying—though not exclusive—associations w romantic/lustful attachment due to the characters used. note that this is a noun; in the case of the song title, stain染 has been moved to the position of adjective modifying love愛. do with that what you will.