弥渡山歌

Midu Echoing

YANGYINYUE

咿哪，山对山来崖对崖

yī nǎ，shān duì shān lái yá duì yá

Yi-na, from mountain to mountain, cliff to cliff,

蜜蜂采花深山里来

mì fēng cǎi huā shēn shān lǐ lái

Honeybees fly deep into the mountains to collect pollen.

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

咿哪，

yī nǎ，

Yi-na,

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die to collect pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

咿哪，山对山来崖对崖

yī nǎ， shān duì shān lái yá duì yá

Yi-na, from mountain to mountain, cliff to cliff,

蜜蜂采花深山里来

mì fēng cǎi huā shēn shān lǐ lái

Honeybees fly deep into the mountains to collect pollen.

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

咿哪， 蜜蜂本为采花死

yī nǎ，mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Yi-na, Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

山对山来崖对崖

shān duì shān lái yá duì yá

From mountain to mountain, cliff to cliff,

蜜蜂采花深山里来

mì fēng cǎi huā shēn shān lǐ lái

Honeybees fly deep into the mountains to collect pollen.

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

山对山来崖对崖

shān duì shān lái yá duì yá

From mountain to mountain, cliff to cliff,

蜜蜂采花深山里来

mì fēng cǎi huā shēn shān lǐ lái

Honeybees fly deep into the mountains to collect pollen.

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

山对山来崖对崖

shān duì shān lái yá duì yá

From mountain to mountain, cliff to cliff,

蜜蜂采花深山里来

mì fēng cǎi huā shēn shān lǐ lái

Honeybees fly deep into the mountains to collect pollen.

蜜蜂本为采花死

mì fēng běn wèi cǎi huā sǐ

Honeybees are born to die for collecting pollen,

梁山伯为祝英台

liáng shān bó wèi zhù yīng tái

Just like Liang Shanbo was for Zhu Yingtai.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

崖对崖(崖)

yá duì yá (yá)

Cliff to cliff,

崖对崖

yá duì yá

Cliff to cliff.

About This Song

弥渡山歌 (Midu Mountain Song, or more well-known as Midu Echoing) is a traditional folk song from Midu County in Yunnan Province, passed down through generations of the Bai and Yi ethnic communities. The song uses the call-and-response style typical of Yunnan mountain singing, where workers would sing across valleys and hillsides. Its opening "咿哪" is a characteristic vocable (a melodic filler syllable with no literal meaning) used to carry the tune across open terrain. The imagery of honeybees, mountains, and cliffs reflects the rural landscape of western Yunnan and the themes of devotion and longing that run through most Midu folk repertoire. The version most widely known today was popularized during the 1950s folk music collection movement, though the melody itself is believed to be considerably older. The characters mentioned inside of the song are known as the Butterfly Lovers. 梁祝 (The Butterfly Lovers) is one of China's four great folk legends, often called the "Chinese Romeo and Juliet." The story follows Zhu Yingtai (祝英台), a young woman who disguises herself as a man to attend school, where she falls in love with her classmate Liang Shanbo (梁山伯). After three years of study together, Liang remains oblivious to her true identity. By the time he realizes his feelings and proposes marriage, Zhu has already been betrothed to another man by her family. Liang dies of heartbreak, and on the day of Zhu's wedding, she throws herself into his grave. The two lovers emerge as a pair of butterflies, inseparable in death. The legend originated during the Eastern Jin dynasty and has been adapted into every Chinese art form: opera, film, ballet, and most famously the 1959 Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (梁祝小提琴协奏曲) by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, which remains one of the most performed orchestral works in China. The song captures the aching tenderness of two people bound together by fate but kept apart by the rigid social structures of their time.