Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
十里红妆
English translation:
Ten-Mile Red Dowry
Added to glossary by
Kieran Maynard (X)
Jan 10, 2014 21:15
10 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Chinese term
十里红妆
Chinese to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
I have translated this term as the 'Ten Li Marriage Procession.' The word 'parade' might sound better in some cases. It's a cultural practice from Ningbo and the larger Jiangnan region.
Field: Arts/drama
Context: history/arts
Audience: English-speakers assuming no knowledge of Chinese culture
Purpose: to explain the nature and history of custom on which the title scene of "The Red Dress" is based
See below:
十里红妆是以浙江省宁海县为主的浙江东部地区存在的一种婚俗，得名于当地嫁女时，所用的嫁妆从床铺家具到针头线脑一应俱全，从而迎送嫁妆的队伍绵延十里。2008年，这一婚俗被列入中国国家级非物质文化遗产名录。
江浙一带自古富庶，当地富户嫁女之时会打造蔚为壮观的送嫁队伍，以精美的红漆油彩配以贴金装饰，嫁妆中既有婚床妆奁也有针头线脑，延绵数十里，寄托着父母对女儿的殷切祝福，因此有“十里红妆”的动人景象
The performance by this name is called "The Red Dress" in English. While this is fine as a title, I need a literal translation for descriptions of the cultural phenomenon itself. Any ideas? Is "ten li marriage procession" good enough?
Thanks!
Field: Arts/drama
Context: history/arts
Audience: English-speakers assuming no knowledge of Chinese culture
Purpose: to explain the nature and history of custom on which the title scene of "The Red Dress" is based
See below:
十里红妆是以浙江省宁海县为主的浙江东部地区存在的一种婚俗，得名于当地嫁女时，所用的嫁妆从床铺家具到针头线脑一应俱全，从而迎送嫁妆的队伍绵延十里。2008年，这一婚俗被列入中国国家级非物质文化遗产名录。
江浙一带自古富庶，当地富户嫁女之时会打造蔚为壮观的送嫁队伍，以精美的红漆油彩配以贴金装饰，嫁妆中既有婚床妆奁也有针头线脑，延绵数十里，寄托着父母对女儿的殷切祝福，因此有“十里红妆”的动人景象
The performance by this name is called "The Red Dress" in English. While this is fine as a title, I need a literal translation for descriptions of the cultural phenomenon itself. Any ideas? Is "ten li marriage procession" good enough?
Thanks!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +3 | Ten-Mile Red Dowry |
Xiaoxian Su
|
| 3 | Ten Li Marriage Procession |
Yuemin Chen
|
Proposed translations
+3
1 hr
Xiaoxian Su
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in Chinese
United Kingdom
Native in: Chinese (Variants: Mandarin, Cantonese) 
Works in: English to Chinese, Chinese to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
Ten-Mile Red Dowry
Just an alternative - the link below directs you to an English article written about the topic.
Note from asker:
| This is great. I decided to change my translation to this one, since it doesn't require an explanation of the term "li" and is more literal. Thank you! |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Just what I was looking for! Thanks!"
1 hr
Yuemin Chen
China
China
Native in Chinese
Specializes in field
China
Chinese Translator (Love Family & Work)
Native in: Chinese
Works in: Chinese to English, English to Chinese
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Ten Li Marriage Procession
I looked up '红妆' in Xinhua Dictionary (http://xh.5156edu.com/html5/249360.html), and it said '红妆' refers to '红装'.
'红装' has two definitions in the same dictionary.
1. 妇女的红色装饰。泛指妇女的艳丽装束。（Red attire of a woman. In a broad sense it refers to the gorgeous attire of a woman.）
2. 指青年妇女。(Young women.)
I was told that 1 Chinese Li is equivalent to 0.5km. 10 Chinese Li = 5km.
So literally, '十里红妆' means 5km of red/gorgeous attire or young women. But judging from the context here, I think it refers to 5km of marriage procession/parade (where the red colour dominates the scene).
I think ‘Ten Li Marriage Procession’ is fine. The goal of the parade is to send the bride’s marriage procession to her new home, and probably to show off the wealth of her family.
'红装' has two definitions in the same dictionary.
1. 妇女的红色装饰。泛指妇女的艳丽装束。（Red attire of a woman. In a broad sense it refers to the gorgeous attire of a woman.）
2. 指青年妇女。(Young women.)
I was told that 1 Chinese Li is equivalent to 0.5km. 10 Chinese Li = 5km.
So literally, '十里红妆' means 5km of red/gorgeous attire or young women. But judging from the context here, I think it refers to 5km of marriage procession/parade (where the red colour dominates the scene).
I think ‘Ten Li Marriage Procession’ is fine. The goal of the parade is to send the bride’s marriage procession to her new home, and probably to show off the wealth of her family.
Note from asker:
| Thank you! This was helpful. |
Discussion
No one will actually measure the length of the parade, I think. 十里红妆 means a long parade. Someone might just have a look at the parade and said, ‘Oh. that is probably ten li long.’ But if 十里 is simply an exaggeration, then why didn't they say 千里红妆？ I think it is necessary to translate 十里 here, and 'ten li' is fine.
I think you may have to check out when the li was used if you need the exact figure for ten li. If you don't need the exact figure, ten li is all right. Anyway it is called 'li', whether it is equivalent to 406.8 metres or 500 metres.