Why Bother Yourself

"何须问" (He Xu Wen) is a song edited by Da Mao, scored by Guo Hao-Wei, and sung by Xu Xuan (Yang Tian-Xiang) in White Snake (2019). Xiao-Bai (Zhang Zhe) also sung this song later in the movie. The literal translation of its title is "Why ask". It can also be translated into "Why bother youself?" or "Why trouble yourself ?"

Xu Xuan's version
During the song, Xu Xuan and Xiao-Bai was taking a boat trip to Yongzhou City. Xiao-Bai was still upset about her amnesia, and tried her best to recall her past. Xu Xuan tried to comfort her but didn't persuade her. So he sung this song to her, tried to tell her that she shouldn't be bothered by her past, and it was more important to focus the life she had now.

Lyrics

''君不见，东流水. Can't you see the water which flows to the east?''

来时无踪迹，　　　　　No one knows where it's from,

''一去无穷已. no one knows where it goes.''

''君不见，城上日. Can’t you see the sun hung above the city?''

今暝没山去，　　　　　Tonight it will disappear behind hills,

''明朝复更出. and will appear again tomorrow morning.''

何须问，浮生情？　　　Why bother yourself with those earthly affairs?

''原知浮生是梦中. You should know that life is just a dream.''

何须问，浮生情？　　　Why bother yourself with those earthly affairs?

''只此浮生是梦中. This life is but a dream.''

''只此浮生是梦中. This life is but a dream.''

Xiao-Bai's Version
During the boat trip, Xu Xuan once invited Xiao-Bai to sing this song together, but Xiao-Bai refused due to her shyness. At the end of the movie, when Xu Xuan's soul began to disintegrate, his memories were displayed in front of Xiao-Bai, and reminded her this moment. So, she sung the song to fulfill Xu Xuan's wish.

Although this song was meant to tell Xiao-Bai to stop being bothered by her past, Xiao-Bai still decided to consume her last magic and human form to save Xu Xuan's soul.

Yin Lin's Version
This song also has a single verison with instrumental accompaniment recorded by Chinese singer, Yin Lin for the White Snake soundtrack.

Lyrics' Origin and Meanings
The lyrics are written in Classical Chinese and originates from several Chinese poems. The film maker edited the lines from those poems into lyrics for this song. The original poem sources are:

"君不见东流水，一去无穷已" came from the poem compendium "行路难五首" (published around 1150 AD) but the poet lived prior to 741 AD.

"君不见城上日，今暝没尽去，明朝复更出" came from the poem compendium "拟行路难" (unknown publication date) but the poet lived prior to 466 AD.

“来时无迹去无踪，去与来时事一同;何须更间浮生事，只此浮生是梦中. ” came from the recorded dialogue with a Buddhist monk 鸟窠道林禅师 who lived prior to 833 AD.

The first two poems provides visualization of life events compared to a flowing stream and the rising and setting of the sun. Third poem, which is actually a dialogue between the poet Bai Ju Yi (coincidentally, his last name Bai, means White) and a Buddhist monk. His question can be paraphrased as "I have come to you, my Buddhist master, to seek your wisdom. We live in a world of loss and suffering. Why is that so?"

The monk then replies with the quote which became part of the lyrics of this song. His reply can be understood as follows. "We all experience birth and death. We all come to this world with nothing and we leave with this world with nothing, so the net gain or net loss is also nothing. The concept of gain or loss is merely an illusion of the mind. People experience suffering because they fear loss, they are trying to hold on to something of value that they are doomed to lose when the leave this world. If you understood that life is like a dream and the moment one awaken, you are back where you started, then  why bother yourself  with chase after illusions." Thus, the monk's response laid the foundations of the song.

Trivia

 * This song is adapted from three different Chinese poems written in Northern and Southern dynasties (AD 386-589) and Tang dynasty (AD. 618-907).
 * In Chinese, "情" has two different meanings. It could mean "事情" (affair) or "感情" (affection, or love). Hence "何须问，浮生情？" has two different meanings:  "Why bother yourself with those earthly affairs?" or "Why bother yourself with those earthly affections?". In Xu Xuan's version, it means "earthly affairs" but in Xiao-Bai's Version, it means "earthly affections" (more specifically, her love for Xu Xuan).