Learn Chinese with 倾城 Lyrics & Pinyin Mavis Hsu

Classic (70s-90s)📅 7/24/2026👁️ 43 views

📖 Key Vocabulary 20

Core vocabulary featured in this video

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Level	Actions
高兴	gāo xìng	cheerful and optimistic	HSK 1
故事	gù shi	accident	HSK 2
成为	chéng wéi	become; turn into; prove to be	HSK 2
眼睛	yǎn jing	eye	HSK 2
分手	fēn shǒu	part; break up	HSK 4
冷静	lěng jìng	calm	HSK 4
就算	jiù suàn	even if; granted that	HSK 6
动听	dòng tīng	interesting to listen to; pleasant to listen to	HSK 7
老师	lǎo shī	teacher	HSK+
红色	hóng sè	red (color); revolutionary	HSK+
清城	Qīng chéng	Qingcheng district of Qingyuan city 清远市, Guangdong	HSK+
紧要	jǐn yào	critical; crucial; vital	HSK+
话题	huà tí	subject (of a talk or conversation); topic	HSK+
重要	zhòng yào	important; significant; major	HSK+
城	chéng	city wall; wall	HSK 3
倾	qīng	incline; lean; bend; collapse; overturn and pour out; empty; do all one can; use up all one's resources; overwhelm; overbear; overpower; incline; tend	HSK+
会	huì	compute	HSK 1
听	tīng	hear; listen	HSK 1
等	děng	etc.; and so on	HSK 1
大	dà	greatly; enormously	HSK 1

Imagine a city's grandeur dissolving into a soft, melancholic echo – that's the profound emotional landscape Mavis Hsu 許美靜 invites you into with her timeless 1990s ballad, "倾城" (Fallen City). As a prominent Singaporean Mandopop singer, Mavis captivated audiences across the Chinese-speaking world with her signature melancholic voice and emotionally charged delivery, making this song a masterpiece of elegant heartbreak. Get ready to not just listen, but to truly feel the beauty of the Chinese language through one of its most evocative musical gems.

Quick Info


Song Name	倾城 (Fallen City)
Artist	Mavis Hsu 許美靜
Original Singer	Original
Release Year	2005
Duration	04:15

The Story Behind the Song

"倾城" isn't merely a song; it's a breathtaking, melancholic meditation on the relentless whisper of time against beauty's fragile façade. Mavis Hsu's ethereal voice, a ghostly echo from a realm of pure yearning, drifts through a landscape where magnificent cities crumble, not to war, but to the poignant inevitability of change. It captures that exquisite ache of holding something precious, knowing it must eventually fade like a dream at dawn.

This ballad, a true Mandopop classic, transcends a simple love song to become an elegy for all that is exquisite yet fleeting. It embodies a deep cultural sensitivity to transience, transforming the user's specified 2005 re-release, or any encounter with it, into an enduring, wistful experience. "Fallen City" resonates because it articulates a universal human sorrow: the bittersweet beauty of acknowledging what once was, and the profound grace in letting it go.

✨ Lyrical Highlights

傾城的月光照亮了我卻不能溫暖我的手
Qīngchéng de yuèguāng zhàoliàngle wǒ què bùnéng wēnnuǎn wǒ de shǒu
The alluring moonlight illuminates me, yet cannot warm my hands.

This line beautifully uses the song's title, "傾城" (alluring/devastatingly beautiful), to create a powerful contrast. The magnificent moonlight offers no comfort, highlighting a profound internal coldness and emptiness that external beauty cannot touch. It encapsulates the theme of desolate beauty and the loneliness of lost love.

傾城的月光照亮我的憂傷卻不能帶走我的絕望
Qīngchéng de yuèguāng zhàoliàng wǒ de yōushāng què bùnéng dàizǒu wǒ de juéwàng
The alluring moonlight illuminates my sorrow, yet cannot take away my despair.

This expands upon the first line's imagery, making the moonlight a vivid, passive observer of the singer's deepening emotional pain. It poignantly illustrates how even a scene of such grandeur cannot alleviate profound internal suffering, emphasizing the inescapable nature of her grief. The line powerfully conveys the solitude of despair, untouched by the world's beauty.

Grammar Notes

📌 Verb + 了 (le)

The particle '了' (le) placed immediately after a verb indicates the completion or accomplishment of an action. It marks an action as having occurred in the past or being completed up to a certain point.

她吃了早饭。

Tā chī le zǎofàn.

She ate breakfast.

📌 也 (yě)

The adverb '也' (yě) means 'also', 'too', 'as well', or 'either'. It is used to indicate similarity, addition, or concession. It typically precedes the verb or adjective.

我也不喜欢。

Wǒ yě bù xǐhuān.

I don't like it either.

📌 就算 (jiùsuàn) ... (也/都)

This structure means 'even if' or 'even though'. '就算' introduces a hypothetical or concessive clause, often followed by '也' (yě) or '都' (dōu) in the main clause to emphasize the outcome regardless of the condition.

就算很累，他也要坚持。

Jiùsuàn hěn lèi, tā yě yào jiānchí.

Even if he is very tired, he still wants to persevere.

📌 Verb + 得 + Complement (potential complement)

This structure uses '得' (de) to form a potential complement, indicating whether an action can or cannot achieve a certain result or possibility. It's often followed by another verb or adjective describing the outcome.

她听得懂我说的话。

Tā tīng de dǒng wǒ shuō de huà.

She can understand what I say.

📌 Verb + 的 + Noun

The particle '的' (de) is used here to transform a verb (or a verb phrase) into an attributive modifier, describing the noun that follows. It often implies 'the noun that [verb]s' or 'the noun that is [verb]ed'.

他写的故事很有趣。

Tā xiě de gùshi hěn yǒu qù.

The story he wrote is very interesting.