Translation and Appreciation of Tujia Minority Ballads <i>Hands on My Girl’s Shoulders</i> and <i>Embroidering the Sachet</i>

Abstract

With the advancement of the industrialization and digitalization of China, minority cultures are being impacted and transformed. Tujia minority ballad, as an essential form of Tujia culture, provides an ideal perspective to understand Tujia minority character, language, habits, and customs, and also reveals cultural connotations towards the current times. Based on the investigation, two Tujia minority ballads--Hands on My Girl's Shoulders and Embroidering the Sachet--with the same theme of love and labor are chosen in this paper for translation and appreciation. Tujia minority ballads originated from the living and production work of the Tujia minorities, and they contain rich ethnic memories and other cultural aspects. Our research shows that Tujia minority ballads reflect the worship to life, the relief from life hardships, and the pursuit of beauty, indicating that Tujia minority ballads not only have extremely high artistic and aesthetic value, but also contain the Tujia cultural and social backgrounds, and are a treasure house for understanding Tujia society and culture. Meanwhile, with the development of media and consumerism, the younger generations increasingly lack such awareness of truth, goodness, and beauty promoted in Tujia minority ballads, so Tujia minority ballads are still of great significance as a warehouse for traditional and minority cultures.