祝福祖国听歌感怀On Hearing “Bless the Motherland”

今日上午驱车到三界去，一路上歌声飞扬，一曲祝福祖国，单曲循环，听得心情澎湃。祝福祖国的词作者厉害，他通过与前辈后辈的探讨中，将“花朵、信念、果实、旗帜，道路”在旋律中次第铺展，又在议论中，达成一致共识，显示出祖国的情怀，还有唱不完的颂歌。接下来更需要下一代，代代不懈的努力与付出，才能维持繁荣强盛。

This morning I drove to Sanjie, and the singing soared the whole way: one song, “Bless the Motherland,” on repeat, and my heart surged as I listened. The lyricist is remarkable. Drawing on conversations between elders and the young, he lays out “flowers, faith, fruit, flags, the road” one after another across the melody, and through that dialogue arrives at a shared understanding — a deep love for the motherland, and songs of praise that could never all be sung. What comes next asks even more of the generations to follow: only through their unflagging effort and devotion, one generation after another, can that prosperity and strength endure.

家国情怀，华夏人的概念。你听了祝福祖国，自然而然胸襟开阔、格局打开。你祝福祖国，就是在祝福自己。祝福在这片土地上耕耘、期盼、生生不息的自己。

Love of family and country: an idea at the heart of being Chinese. Listen to “Bless the Motherland” and, without even trying, your heart opens wide and your horizons broaden. To bless the motherland is to bless yourself — the self that tills this land, that hopes, that carries life on without end.

秋风已递来秋凉，九月故事已翻篇，十月的温柔在继续。

The autumn wind has already sent its chill. September’s story has turned the page; October’s tenderness goes on.

同样的歌声，昨日下午，杉杉姐姐听了说声音重，关小，又说在单曲循环，只好切了。其实她是被她奶奶说了一顿，自感受了打击，于是无心听歌，自然歌声不适她心。美恶相生、善恶相成，音声相和，前后相随。本是一体的，老子把它揉合在一起是提醒我们对抗人心的“极端评判”。想拥有成功，却不愿面对“失败”；想“轻松成事”，却不愿承受“困难”，变成无心判断美恶，善恶。

The same song, yesterday afternoon: Big Sister Shanshan heard it, said it was too loud — turn it down — and then complained it was stuck on repeat, so I had to switch it off. The truth is, her grandmother had just given her a talking-to, and she felt knocked down, in no mood for music; no wonder the song didn’t suit her heart. Beauty and ugliness give rise to each other; good and bad complete each other; note and voice harmonize; before and after follow one another. They were always one. Laozi wove them together to remind us to resist the “extreme judgments” of the human heart. We want success but won’t face “failure”; we want to “get things done easily” but won’t bear “difficulty” — and so we end up unable to weigh beauty against ugliness, or good against bad.

歌声仍不变，心境自己辨。想要拥有成功的喜悦，便须拥抱失败的可能；想要轻松成事的从容，便须承受艰难跋涉的苦楚。否则，就是生命的割裂，一种对真实感受的逃避。

The song stays the same; the mood is ours to discern. If you want the joy of success, you must embrace the possibility of failure; if you want the ease of getting things done, you must bear the pain of the long, hard road. Otherwise, life is split in two — a running away from what we truly feel.

其实，在祝福祖国的歌声里，仿佛看见我自己的身影，有他们捧着花朵庆祝丰收的情景，有信念的旗帜下穿越风暴，再一起品尝过果实的甘甜，那曲折的道路上越走越远越走越好。

In fact, in the strains of “Bless the Motherland,” I seem to glimpse my own figure: there are people holding flowers to celebrate the harvest; there, beneath the banner of faith, they pass through the storm, and then together taste the sweetness of the fruit — on that winding road, going ever farther, and ever better.

真正的祝福从不会只挑选美好来颂扬，而是在看清所有艰难与曲折之后，依然选择热爱，选择前行。祝福祖国，亦是在祝福那个能容纳悲欢、能负重前行的你我他。

A true blessing never picks out only the beautiful to praise. It sees every hardship and every twist and turn clearly, and still chooses love, still chooses to go on. To bless the motherland is also to bless you, me, and everyone — all of us who can hold both sorrow and joy, and carry our burdens forward.