The Moon Shines Brightly (Nursery Rhyme)

「月光光」 (“The Moon Shines Brightly”) is a nursery rhyme from the Yue and Min speaking regions of Southern China. There are different versions in the various dialects from these language families, including Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew, but all start with the line “月光光” (“the moon shines brightly…”).

The version below is adapted from a Gêg-ion (揭陽 Jiéyáng) dialect speaker’s version, recorded by Tung (1959). The Chinese characters used by Tung have been changed in some places to be consistent with the usage in this Guide and other sources, and a small typo fixed.

Source: Tung Tong-ho 董同龢 (1959). Sì gè Mǐnnán fāngyán 「四個閩南方言」 (Four Southern Min dialects). Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica 30 (2) : 729-1042. BIHP website

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gueʔ⁴ kŋ³³ kŋ⁴⁴

ghuêh8 gng1gng1

月 光光

The moon shines brightly

gng1 – also pronounced or transcribed “geng1”, see also “nng1” (“neng1”) and “am1dng5” (“am1deng5”) below

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siu²¹³⁻⁵¹ tsai⁵⁵⁻¹¹ nŋ⁵⁵

siu3zai5-nng5

秀才郎

the gentleman scholar

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kʰia⁵⁵⁻¹¹ peʔ⁵⁻¹ be⁵¹

kia5 bêh8-bhê2

騎 白馬

rides a white horse

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kue²¹³⁻⁵¹ am³³ tng⁵⁵

guê3 am1dng5

過 庵堂

past a nunnery

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am³³ tng⁵⁵⁻¹¹ oiʔ³¹

am1dng5 oih2

庵堂 隘

the nunnery is narrow

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be⁵¹ sio³³ koiʔ⁴

bhê2 sio1-goih8

馬 相夾

and the horses are wedged together

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koiʔ⁴⁻¹ kue²¹³⁻⁵¹ sũã⁴⁴

goih8-guê3 suan5

夾過 山

wedged past a mountain

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koiʔ⁴⁻¹ kue²¹³⁻⁵¹ hũã¹¹

goih8-guê3 huan7

夾過 畻

wedged past a (?) river bank

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ai²¹³⁻⁵¹ tsiaʔ⁵⁻¹ ho⁵¹⁻²⁵ te⁵⁵ li lai⁵⁵⁻¹¹ tsũã³³

ai3 ziah8 ho2-dê5 li lai5 zuan1

愛 食 好茶 哩 來 煎

if you want to have good tea you have to come and boil it

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ai²¹³⁻⁵¹ tsʰua¹¹ ho⁵¹⁻¹⁵ bou¹⁵ kʰɯ²¹³⁻⁵¹ kaŋ²¹³⁻⁵¹ sũã³³

ai3 cua7 ho2bhou2 ke3 gang3suan1

愛 娶 好𡚸 去 幹山

if you want to marry a good wife you have to go to Mount Kang

Mount Kang appears to be a fictional place

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kaŋ²¹³⁻⁵¹ sũã⁵⁵ tsɯ³³ nio⁵⁵ gau⁵⁵⁻¹¹ ta⁵¹⁻¹⁵ paŋ²¹³

gang3suan5 ze1nio5 ghao5 da2bang3

幹山 諸娘 𠢕 打扮

the ladies of Mount Kang are good at making up

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ta⁵¹⁻²⁵ paŋ²¹³ dzi⁵⁵⁻¹¹ hu⁵⁵ kʰɯ²¹³⁻⁵¹ tso²¹³⁻⁵¹ kũã³³

da2bang3 ri5-hu5 ke3 zo3-guan1

打扮 兒夫 去 做官

they make up their sons and husbands to go be officials

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kʰɯ²¹³⁻⁵¹ si⁵⁵ tsʰau⁵¹⁻²⁵ oi⁵⁵ tseŋ¹¹ hou¹⁵⁻¹¹ sũã²¹³

ke3-si5 cao2oi5 zêng7 hou6suan3

去時 草鞋 X 雨傘

when they leave [they wear] grass sandals and carry an umbrella

zêng7 – “with, and” according to Tung

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lai⁵⁵ si peʔ⁵⁻¹ be⁵¹ kua²¹³⁻⁵¹ kim³³ ũã³³

lai5-si bêh8bhê2 gua3 gim1uan1

來時 白馬 掛 金鞍

when they return they ride a white horse fitted with a gold saddle