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艺术可以接地气，但请不要接地府

It is the comment made by a Chinese netizen on the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics 2020.

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Art can hold reach the general public, but please don’t reach the hell.

接地气 v. hold the common touch (the ability of an important or rich person to communicate well with and understand ordinary people)

地府 n. hell in Chinese folk religion

This sentence means that the art performance at the opening ceremony is gloomy and reminds the audience of hell. Normally, people don’t pair 地府 with 接. Since the front part of the sentence says 接地气, 接地府 is used here for better sentence structure.

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    Excellent translation that preserves the wordplay! (地气-地府 -> reach ...)
    – user26742873
    Jul 29, 2021 at 3:35
  • I read another news that 张艺谋夫妻购买定制豪车，与工作人员合影接地气, does that mean the couple is showing charm to the general public?
    – NanningYouth
    Jul 29, 2021 at 14:35
  • Yes. Couple Zhang Yimou and his spouse showed charm to the general public, since they got in the group photo with the staff, rather than the customized luxury car purchase.
    – Bósài
    Jul 29, 2021 at 19:29
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This is a widely-used catchword in Chinese websites, which, in short, means that "Art should be down to earth, but shouldn't be down to hell". The sender uses this phrase to express in a appreciative and humorous way that he/she thinks the poster's video is well-made and curious.

Similar phrases and reference(in Chinese):

艺术可以冷门，但不能邪门 https://jikipedia.com/definition/774441053?action=lite-card

艺术可以上殿堂，不要上灵堂 https://jikipedia.com/definition/572685519?action=lite-card

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Have a look here, about an an art project for the Tokyo Olympics.

名叫“MASAYUME”

7月16日，日本东京都内国立竞技场附近的代代木公园，突然升起了巨大的人脸气球。
On July 16, a huge face balloon suddenly rose in DaiDaiKi park near the national arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Also here, an addition to the verse which is cute:

标题：艺术可以接地气，但请不要接地府， 艺术可以有灵魂，但是不能有鬼魂

More:

艺术可以有灵气，但是不能有灵异，
艺术是送给观众，而不是送走观众，
艺术来源于灵感，不能来源于灵堂，
艺术可以很冷门，但真不能太邪门。

哈哈哈，网上看到的

艺术可以接地气，但请不要接地府
Art can be down to earth, but shouldn't be underground (so put it up in the air)

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  • The remaining part is what I intended to post here too but failed to do, so would you give translation for it because it looks very interesting.
    – NanningYouth
    Jul 31, 2021 at 3:38
  • I don't think there is any hidden meaning in there, so it is just: Art can have soul, but it shouldn't have ghosts. The first part however, may be referring to Japan as hell. You know the pet hate of the Chinese is often the Japanese, due to history. Have to know more about who wrote this and why. Maybe there is an allusion there.
    – Pedroski
    Jul 31, 2021 at 5:26
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接地气 is something close to grass root or the ordinary people can easily understand. 接地府 close to the underground (something like the hell in western culture)

enter image description here

Edit: 地府 is different from the hell. Because their basic functions are not same.

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艺术可以接地气，但不可以接地府

The literally meaning is:

Art can touch the "earthly scent" (i.e. down to earth, close to the people), but cannot touch the "earthly authorities" (i.e. netherworld, hell).

It is indeed a widespread meme to describe the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It satirizes the performance below, which looks like a ghost.

ghost-like performance

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please view the 《西游记后传》 and you will know what is 地府

it means that art can be kind(close) to normal men but please do not be 接地府

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