<p>The translation would be cinnabar mole... just kidding of course.  Both languages have many sayings and phrases that do not exist in the other language, and cannot be directly translated to an equivalent term.  White moonlight is one of these phrases with no equivalent.</p>
<p>That said, the term is easily understood by those unfamiliar with chinese if you state it in simple terms.  99% of the time this is used to refer to an &quot;unforgettable first love&quot; so that is how I would translate it.  If the context is slightly different, then I would tweak the english translation to convey the intent of the original.  Another very familiar thing to do when going between chinese and english :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-13T05:42:40.927Z
2023-03-13T05:42:40.927Z
zagrycha
<p>Paraphrase(<a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E6%9C%88%E5%85%89/22866695" rel="nofollow noreferrer">From Baidu Baike</a>):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;White Moonlight&quot; usually refers to a person or thing that is elusive in the heart, has always been loved, but cannot be touched.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Source(<a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E6%9C%88%E5%85%89/22866695" rel="nofollow noreferrer">From Baidu Baike</a>):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The word &quot;White Moonlight&quot; first came from Zhang Ailing's novel &quot;Red Rose and White Rose&quot;: &quot;Maybe every man has had two such women, at least two. Marry a red rose, and over time, the red one has changed into a wall.  If you marry a white rose, the white one is a grain of rice sticky on your clothes, but the red one is a cinnabar mole on your heart.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<translation>
How to translate "白月光"(White Moonlight) into English?
# How to translate "白月光"(White Moonlight) into English?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-03-13)

Paraphrase([From Baidu Baike](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E6%9C%88%E5%85%89/22866695)):

> "White Moonlight" usually refers to a person or thing that is elusive in the heart, has always been loved, but cannot be touched.

Source([From Baidu Baike](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E6%9C%88%E5%85%89/22866695)):

> The word "White Moonlight" first came from Zhang Ailing's novel "Red Rose and White Rose": "Maybe every man has had two such women, at least two. Marry a red rose, and over time, the red one has changed into a wall. If you marry a white rose, the white one is a grain of rice sticky on your clothes, but the red one is a cinnabar mole on your heart."

**Tags:** translation

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-03-13. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

The translation would be cinnabar mole... just kidding of course. Both languages have many sayings and phrases that do not exist in the other language, and cannot be directly translated to an equivalent term. White moonlight is one of these phrases with no equivalent.

That said, the term is easily understood by those unfamiliar with chinese if you state it in simple terms. 99% of the time this is used to refer to an "unforgettable first love" so that is how I would translate it. If the context is slightly different, then I would tweak the english translation to convey the intent of the original. Another very familiar thing to do when going between chinese and english :)


---

