牧歌 (mùgē): pastoral song

Meanings

1 pastoral song
2 shepherd's song
3 pastoral (literary genre)

Characters

牧

Examples

草原上传来悠远的牧歌。

Cǎoyuán shàng chuán lái yōuyuǎn de mùgē.

A distant pastoral song drifted across the grassland.

这部电影像一首草原牧歌。

Zhè bù diànyǐng xiàng yī shǒu cǎoyuán mùgē.

This film feels like a grassland pastoral.

Tips

culture

Two layers: the literal sense (herders' songs, especially Inner Mongolian 长调 long-song) and the literary sense — used to translate Western pastoral genres (Virgil's Eclogues are 《牧歌》 in Chinese). Often evokes wide grasslands, sheep, horses, and a nostalgic calm.