This week as I tried to decide what to choose for the folk song of the week, I got thinking about the upcoming Lunar New Year and decided it would be really fun to share a Chinese folk song! And my very favorite Chinese folk song is Jasmine Flower (Mò Lì Huā)! I learned it in English as I went through my undergrad program from my professor, Dr. Jerry Jaccard, who I believe created the singable translation himself. The translation is very nice and maintains the original feeling and beauty of the folk song, however, as I went to do more research on the song before sharing it with you, I realized that the word for Jasmine Flower (Mò Lì Huā) had been misspelled as Morli wha, which reminded me how important it is to double check the information I am given and that I should go straight to a cultural source to double check everything.
This folk song is very old, dating back to at least The Qing dynasty (1644–1912). As with any folk song, there are now many variants and you’ll find different texts through the ages. Some texts refer to the beauty of the Jasmine flower, while others talk about their hesitation to pluck the flower, and so on. It has become a beloved and entrenched folk song in Chinese culture. Partially because of its popularity, it was recently used as a political anthem for the “Jasmine Rebellion”. There were even new words written for the protest:
You can’t find jasmine flowers in China, You can’t find jasmine flowers in China
If you have one in your hand, Public Security will arrest you
A fist and a boot will quickly strike
Chinese people are not mutes
But none dare speak
Jasmine flower, oh, jasmine flower.
One of the reasons the song was chosen for the rebellion was because of the song’s status as a beloved cultural staple. There are many videos of government leaders singing/listening to the song through the years, making it hard for the censors to filter out the Jasmine flower videos of the leaders/the traditional song vs. the new protest version of the song. Very, very interesting how folk songs can become anthems for political protest, as we have seen many times over through the years.
On the song card I’m sharing today there is a simple activity included, exploring the melodic line of the song with scarves. The movements should be graceful and gentle, reflecting the beauty of the song. Scarves are like magic in the music classroom–they are always a huge hit!
I have a few extra videos and resources to share about this folk song that I’ll put out with the activity for this folk song. Make sure to check back in a few days for that! I have really enjoyed finding a culturally respectful and meaningful way for young children to connect with this folk song within its cultural context.
After downloading the song card you’ll notice that this song, originally in Chinese, is provided with pinyin transcription in the sheet music, making it easier for non-Chinese speakers to follow. The singable English translation is provided below. It would be super cool to sing the song to your students in Chinese, but the English translation is lovely as well.
Click here to download the free 4x6 song card
Happy Singing!
-Lauren
Ps- I am very grateful for the work done by Kim Wiens at Chinesefolksongs.com for her work in researching and presenting this folk song and giving me the cultural context I needed to really understand the work.