Song Lyrics • Teresa Teng • Intermediate
夜来香
Yè lái xiāng
Tuberose (Night-Blooming Fragrance)
Why Learn With This Song
夜来香 is Teresa Teng's most classically poetic song in Mandarin — the vocabulary draws heavily from classical Chinese imagery (moon, night, fragrance, longing) that also appears in Tang and Song dynasty poetry. This makes it ideal for learners who want to bridge modern Mandarin with classical Chinese aesthetics. The directional complements (飘来, 老去) and poetic descriptors (芬芳, 思念, 梦幻) introduce vocabulary that is genuinely literary.
Key Vocabulary
| 汉字 Chinese | 拼音 Pīnyīn | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 夜来香 | yè lái xiāng | tuberose; night-blooming flower | Lit. 'night-comes-fragrance'. 夜 = night; 来 = comes; 香 = fragrance/fragrant. A flower that only blooms and perfumes at night |
| 夜色 | yèsè | night scene; the look of night | 夜 = night; 色 = colour/appearance. 夜色 captures the visual quality of night. 月色 (moonlight) is a parallel compound |
| 芬芳 | fēnfāng | fragrant; sweet-smelling | Literary/poetic word for fragrance. More elevated than 香 alone. Often paired with flowers in classical poetry |
| 醉 | zuì | drunk; intoxicated; enchanted | Can mean literally drunk from alcohol, or metaphorically enchanted/overwhelmed by beauty or feeling. 陶醉 = to be captivated/enthralled |
| 月下 | yuè xià | under the moonlight; beneath the moon | 月 = moon; 下 = under/below. Classical location expression. 月下老人 = the god of marriage (literally 'old man under the moon') |
| 微风 | wēifēng | gentle breeze; light wind | 微 = slight/gentle; 风 = wind. 微 is a common prefix for subtle/gentle things: 微笑 (slight smile), 微弱 (faint/weak) |
| 飘来 | piāo lái | to drift over; to waft toward | 飘 = to float/drift (often of scent, leaves, or cloth). 来 as directional complement = toward the speaker. 飘来飘去 = to drift around |
| 思念 | sīniàn | to miss; to think of; longing | 思 = to think; 念 = to miss/remember. More literary than 想 (xiǎng). 思念 implies sustained longing, not just a passing thought |
| 情人 | qíngrén | lover; sweetheart | 情 = feeling/affection; 人 = person. 情人节 = Valentine's Day. Not to be confused with 女朋友/男朋友 (girlfriend/boyfriend) — 情人 is more romantic and poetic |
| 梦幻 | mènghuàn | dreamlike; fantastical; illusory | 梦 = dream; 幻 = illusion/fantasy. 梦幻泡影 = a bubble of a dream — a Buddhist-influenced phrase for life's impermanence |
| 花香 | huā xiāng | floral fragrance; the scent of flowers | 花 = flower; 香 = fragrance. Simple compound but poetically effective. 花香四溢 = fragrance spreading in all directions |
| 迷人 | mírén | enchanting; captivating; charming | 迷 = to fascinate/lose oneself in; 人 = person. 迷人 = person-enchanting. Also used as an adverb: 迷人地笑 = smiling enchantingly |
Annotated Verses (First 2 Verses Only)
Full lyrics available on licensed platforms. These verses are reproduced for educational annotation only.
Verse 1
夜来香，我为你歌唱
Yè lái xiāng, wǒ wèi nǐ gēchàng
Night-blooming flower, I sing for you
夜来香 addressed directly as 'you'. 为 = for (beneficiary marker). 歌唱 = to sing (literary; more common everyday: 唱歌).
夜来香，我爱你的芬芳
Yè lái xiāng, wǒ ài nǐ de fēnfāng
Night-blooming flower, I love your fragrance
你的芬芳 = your fragrance (possessive 的). 芬芳 is literary — you would not use this word casually. It appears in poetry and formal writing.
啊，不管是多么寂寞的夜晚
A, bùguǎn shì duōme jìmò de yèwǎn
Ah, no matter how lonely the night is
不管 = no matter (regardless of). 多么 = how (degree). 寂寞 = lonely (emotional loneliness). 夜晚 = nighttime.
Verse 2
有了你夜来香
Yǒu le nǐ yè lái xiāng
With you, night-blooming flower
有了 = having/once there is. 了 marks a changed state or new reality. This structure means 'now that [X] exists'.
黑暗中为我带来光芒
Hēiàn zhōng wèi wǒ dài lái guāngmáng
You bring light to me in the darkness
黑暗 = darkness. 中 = within/amidst. 带来 = to bring (carry + come, directional). 光芒 = rays of light/radiance (literary).
在微风中飘来的花香
Zài wēifēng zhōng piāo lái de huāxiāng
The floral fragrance drifting in the gentle breeze
飘来 = drift toward (飘 float + 来 toward speaker). 的 links the entire phrase 在微风中飘来 to the noun 花香 as a relative clause.
Cultural Context
夜来香 is a Mandarin adaptation of 夜来香 (Ye Lai Xiang), originally a 1944 shanghainese pop song written by Li Jinhui and made famous in the Shanghai jazz era. Teresa Teng's version brought it back to a new generation, connecting 1980s pop audiences to a pre-Communist Chinese musical tradition that had been suppressed for decades.
The tuberose flower (夜来香) is significant in Chinese culture because it blooms and releases its strongest fragrance only at night — making it a symbol of hidden beauty, night-time romance, and things that reveal themselves slowly. This symbolism runs throughout Chinese classical poetry, where flowers, moon, and fragrance are the primary language of longing.
Listen to This Song
Follow the annotated verses while listening to the original recording.
Listen on YouTube →