Every Everlasting Song Brings Hopes in the Age of Perplexity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Every Everlasting Song Brings Hopes in the Age of Perplexity Chen Gexin has written many popular and melodic songs. Rose, Rose, I Love You, Gong Xi Gong Xi, Shanghai Nights and many others have enjoyed overwhelming popularity in Chinese communities and greatly impacted the development of Chinese pop music. The songwriter has spent lifelong effort to create songs for the hardworking ordinary people; though life is bitter, bringing them hopes. Brave many hardships, Through countless tests Every heart is longing, For the joys of spring --- Gong Xi Gong Xi While his songs earn him the epithet “Immortal Songwriter”, ironically, his own life is a sad song of a genius in a chaotic time. He had been imprisoned by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Chinese Resistance War against Japan; held in detention by the Chinese government after the war; and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he was labeled a rightist and sent to “reform through labour”; suffering because of the songs he had composed. Based on real-life events All My life I Shall Remember features popular artiste Jason Chan. Besides the live band, renowned pianist and performer Phoebus Chan will be playing Chen Gexin’s everlasting tunes. The production team has spent four years for the collection of information for the play. They interviewed famous pianist and co-composer of violin concerto Butterfly Lovers Chen Gang, who is the Music Director of the play and will reconstruct the touching life of his late father Chen Gexin on the stage. Venue Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theatre Date and Time 12, 18-19, 25-26/10/2019 8pm 13, 19-20^, 26-27/10/2019 3pm ^This is an Accessible Performance with Audio Description (Cantonese) and Theatrical Interpretation Price $300, $240, $180 Programme Detail http://www.chungying.com/drama/details/128 Internet Booking https://ticket.urbtix.hk/internet/en_US/eventDetail/38005 Programme Enquiries 8106 8338 In Cantonese Suitable for ages 6 or above Chung Ying Theatre Company reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary. HKU Space Alumni can enjoy a 10% discount by quoting the exclusive promotion code CYT10EMJ at Urbtix outlets or by online purchase. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Westernisation, Ideology and National Identity in 20Th-Century Chinese Music
Westernisation, Ideology and National Identity in 20th-Century Chinese Music Yiwen Ouyang PhD Thesis Royal Holloway, University of London DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Yiwen Ouyang, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: 19 May 2012 I To my newly born baby II ABSTRACT The twentieth century saw the spread of Western art music across the world as Western ideology and values acquired increasing dominance in the global order. How did this process occur in China, what complexities does it display and what are its distinctive features? This thesis aims to provide a detailed and coherent understanding of the Westernisation of Chinese music in the 20th century, focusing on the ever-changing relationship between music and social ideology and the rise and evolution of national identity as expressed in music. This thesis views these issues through three crucial stages: the early period of the 20th century which witnessed the transition of Chinese society from an empire to a republic and included China’s early modernisation; the era from the 1930s to 1940s comprising the Japanese intrusion and the rising of the Communist power; and the decades of economic and social reform from 1978 onwards. The thesis intertwines the concrete analysis of particular pieces of music with social context and demonstrates previously overlooked relationships between these stages. It also seeks to illustrate in the context of the appropriation of Western art music how certain concepts acquired new meanings in their translation from the European to the Chinese context, for example modernity, Marxism, colonialism, nationalism, tradition, liberalism, and so on.
[Show full text]
2018 年度报告2018 Annual Report
1 | P a g e 2018 年度报告 2018 Annual Report CONFUCIUS.SDSU.EDU 2 | P a g e 圣地亚哥州立大学孔子学院 2018 年度报告 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE AT SDSU 2018 REPORTS 月份日期及活动 MONTH DATE & ACTIVITY 一月 20 2018 一月份教师培训 CISDSU Hosts 2018 January Teachers Training January 30 孔子六艺亮相圣地亚哥 NEW 8 早间新闻栏目 Six Arts Featured at San Diego NEWS 8 二月 3 六艺喜迎狗年圣大孔院新春表演一炮而红 Chinese New Year Celebration at Balboa Park February 6 2018 圣地亚哥州立大学出国留学项目推介会 2018 SDSU Spring Study Abroad Fair 8 人大附中艺术团走进孔子课堂开普敦高中用完灭的演出欢度春节 RDFZ Art Troupe at El Capitan High School, a Spectacular Performance for the Chinese New Year 圣大孔院参加孔子课堂爱德小学新年庆祝活动 CISDUS Participates in Adobe Bluffs elementary school Chinese New Year Celebration 9 孔子课堂巴纳德小学全体师生展示“六艺”欢度春节 Barnard Chinese New Year Celebration Featuring “Six Arts” Performance 人大附中艺术团在米逊湾高中举办“欢乐春节”演出 RDFZ Arts Troupe Performs at Mission Bay High School 2018 巴纳德社区新年庆祝 10 2018 Barnard Chinese Community Celebration 圣大孔院出席狗年新年团拜 Year of the Dog Celebration Banquet CONFUCIUS.SDSU.EDU 3 | P a g e 12 圣大孔院应邀出席洛杉矶总领馆新年招待会 Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles Chinese Lunar New Year Reception 13 山丹丹花开 La Jolla Country Day 学校 La Jolla Country Day School Celebrates Chinese New Year with Guzheng Performance SDSU 舞狮表演庆新春 SDSU Lunar New Year Lion Dance 15 圣大孔院参加圣大中国学生学者联合会春晚 SDSU CSSA Chinese New Year Celebration 小小文化周送福到各州 The Cultural Week in Pacific Beach Middle School 边陲小镇吹起的中国风 “Chinese Style” Blasts in the town of Banning 16 河景国际小学庆祝春节 Riverview International Academy Chinese New Year Celebration 17 一场特殊的音乐会 Chasing My Dream in the Invisible World: A Piano Concert by Xiangjun Wang 18 大年初三海洋世界上演“六艺”圣大孔院师生表演红火全场 CISDSU Celebrates Chinese New Year with Six Arts at SeaWorld 20 圣大孔院助力第十二届心手相连慈善文艺晚会 CISDSU Assist The 12th Annual Hear-to-Hear Hand-in-Hand Charity Series 22 盲人大学生王香君访问 E3 城市高中 Visually Impaired Student Xiangjun Wang Visits E3 Civic High School 23 圣大孔院与中华历史博物馆合办钱思亮先生回顾展 CISDSU Co-Hosts the Life & Deeds of Dr.
[Show full text]
Zhujiang Lei Tears of the Pearl River [Dawn Must Come] Hong Kong, 1950, 109’, B+W, Cantonese
A CRITICAL FILMOGRAPHY OF HONG KONG CINEMA JOELLE COLLIER, EDITOR FORTHCOMING FROM CABOOSE © CABOOSE 2009. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. Zhujiang lei Tears of the Pearl River [Dawn Must Come] Hong Kong, 1950, 109’, b+w, Cantonese Dir Wang Weiyi (b. 1912) Scr Chen Canyun Cinematog Lo Kwan‐hung Ed Cai Chang Art Dir Huang Chong Mus Chen Gexin Prod Cai Chusheng Act Cheung Ying (Landlord), Li Qing (Big Bull), Wong Sun, Sek Kin, To Sam‐ku, Ma Mang‐ ping, Chow Chi‐sing Although it was recovering strongly after the Second World War, Hong Kong Cantonese cinema had by the end of the 1940s fallen into a state of critical disrepute, its products disparaged and looked down upon by more highbrow critics. One of the genres dominant at the time was the old‐school fantasy martial arts serial, recycled from silent Shanghai cinema. Many of the filmmakers behind these productions were veterans of the old Shanghai film industry now working in exile in Hong Kongʹs Cantonese cinema as the Mainland became embroiled in civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Tears of the Pearl River was a production of another group of Shanghai exiles—leftist filmmakers connected to the CCP who had come to Hong Kong with a mission of ‘cleansing’ Cantonese cinema of corruptive influences and tendencies and leading it to greater artistic heights by making films that probed into social questions and conveyed nationalist awareness. The producer of Tears was Cai Chusheng, a famous director in his own right, best known for Song of the Fishermen, a prize‐winning entry at the 1935 Moscow Film Festival, and the director was Wang Weiyi, a newly emergent director from Shanghai who would actually gain greater recognition on the strength of his work in Tears.
[Show full text]
Music for a National Defense”: Making Martial Music During the Anti-Japanese War
“Music for a National Defense”: Making Martial Music during the Anti-Japanese War Joshua H. Howard, University of Mississippi Abstract This article examines the popularization of “mass songs” among Chinese Communist troops during the Anti-Japanese War by highlighting the urban origins of the National Salvation Song Movement and the key role it played in bringing songs to the war front. The diffusion of a new genre of march songs pioneered by Nie Er was facilitated by compositional devices that reinforced the ideological message of the lyrics, and by the National Salvation Song Movement. By the mid-1930s, this grassroots movement, led by Liu Liangmo, converged with the tail end of the proletarian arts movement that sought to popularize mass art and create a “music for national defense.” Once the war broke out, both Nationalists and Communists provided organizational support for the song movement by sponsoring war zone service corps and mobile theatrical troupes that served as conduits for musicians to propagate their art in the hinterland. By the late 1930s, as the United Front unraveled, a majority of musicians involved in the National Salvation Song Movement moved to the Communist base areas. Their work for the New Fourth Route and Eighth Route Armies, along with Communist propaganda organizations, enabled their songs to spread throughout the ranks. Keywords: Anti-Japanese War, Li Jinhui, Liu Liangmo, Lü Ji, Mai Xin, mass song, National Salvation Song Movement, New Fourth Army, Nie Er, United Front, Xian Xinghai Reflecting on his country’s defeat in World War II, a Japanese interviewed in Taibei attributed China’s victory neither to superior weaponry nor to battle tactics but to the fact that it had “relied on War of Resistance songs (kangzhan gequ) to arouse tremendous popular sentiment” (Chen F.
[Show full text]
Understanding How Western-Trained Music Therapists Incorporate Chinese Culture in Their Practice in China: an Ethnographic Study
UNDERSTANDING HOW WESTERN-TRAINED MUSIC THERAPISTS INCORPORATE CHINESE CULTURE IN THEIR PRACTICE IN CHINA: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY A Thesis by JESSICA MARIE DONLEY Submitted to the Graduate School at Appalachian State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC THERAPY December 2017 Hayes School of Music UNDERSTANDING HOW WESTERN-TRAINED MUSIC THERAPISTS INCORPORATE CHINESE CULTURE IN THEIR PRACTICE IN CHINA: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY A Thesis by JESSICA MARIE DONLEY APPROVED BY: _________________________________ Melody Schwantes Reid, PhD, MT-BC Chairperson, Thesis Committee _________________________________ Cathy H. McKinney, Ph.D., MT-BC Member, Thesis Committee _________________________________ Alecia Youngblood-Jackson, Ph.D. Member, Thesis Committee _________________________________ James Douthit, D.M.A. Dean, Hayes School of Music _________________________________ Max C. Poole, Ph.D. Dean, Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies Copyright by Jessica Donley 2017 All Rights Reserved Abstract UNDERSTANDING HOW WESTERN-TRAINED MUSIC THERAPISTS INCORPORATE CHINESE CULTURE IN THEIR PRACTICE IN CHINA: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY Jessica Marie Donley, MT-BC B.M., University of Louisiana at Monroe M.M.T, Appalachian State University Chairperson: Melody Schwantes Reid, PhD, MT-BC Few studies highlight the implications of music therapy practice with Chinese people. Although music therapists work with Chinese people in the United States, Canada, Australia, and China, little is known about how these music therapists incorporate Chinese culture in their practice in order to provide culturally-responsive music therapy. This ethnographic research study aimed to understand how Western-trained music therapists incorporated Chinese culture in their practice in China. The researcher observed music therapy sessions of two Western-trained music therapists in a neurologic rehabilitation and mental rehabilitation department in a hospital setting in China.
[Show full text]
Charlie Chan: the Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History New York: W
FosteringC BusinessHINA and Cultural HarmonyINSIGHT between China and the U.S. VOL. 10 NO. 3 www.chinainsight.info MARCH 2011 Chinese Heritage Foundation Embrace China Friends celebrates Chinese New Year clock, and sat in rapt attention as Stephen Mao described the hungry beast that was let out of its jail on every New Year’s Eve to devour everyone in sight. Thus was born the Celebrations custom of congratulating everyone, ‘gong xi, gong xi’, on New Year’s Day: for hav- ing survived the beast! With their fists thus cupped in the traditional Chinese manner, the children then lined up to offer Stephen and Ming Tchou ‘gong xi’. In return they each received a hong bao stuffed with a lucky penny. Now no harm will come their way until the next New Year’s Eve. The Calligraphy Team then headed across town to Midtown Global Market on February 4 to anchor its Chinese New Year celebration. Many young families, often First Graders at Normandale French Immersion School wishing everyone ‘gong xi, gong xi’ with grandparents in tow, came to have their olunteers of the Calligraphy presented four talks on Chinese New Year names translated or their fortunes told. How Team of Chinese Heritage traditions and myths to over 200 first graders should the fortuneteller answer an earnest Book Review Foundation Friends were busy in Edina schools, including the Normandale golden-haired little boy’s query on whom this year, answering calls for French Immersion School. he would marry? Or what to say when V his parents drew a josh stick that painted their expertise from around the metropoli- These vivacious kids clamored to name tan area.
[Show full text]
The Accordion in Twentieth-Century China A
AN UNTOLD STORY: THE ACCORDION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHINA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC AUGUST 2004 By Yin YeeKwan Thesis Committee: Frederick Lau, Chairperson Ricardo D. Trimillos Fred Blake ©Copyright2004 by YinYeeKwan iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My 2002 and 2003 fieldwork in the People's Republic ofChina was funded by The Arts and Sciences Grant from the University ofHawai'i at Manoa (UHM). I am grateful for the generous support. I am also greatly indebted to the accordionists and others I interviewed during this past year in Hong Kong, China, Phoenix City, and Hawai'i: Christie Adams, Chau Puyin, Carmel Lee Kama, 1 Lee Chee Wah, Li Cong, Ren Shirong, Sito Chaohan, Shi Zhenming, Tian Liantao, Wang Biyun, Wang Shusheng, Wang Xiaoping, Yang Wentao, Zhang Gaoping, and Zhang Ziqiang. Their help made it possible to finish this thesis. The directors ofthe accordion factories in China, Wang Tongfang and Wu Rende, also provided significant help. Writing a thesis is not the work ofonly one person. Without the help offriends during the past years, I could not have obtained those materials that were invaluable for writings ofthis thesis. I would like to acknowledge their help here: Chen Linqun, Chen Yingshi, Cheng Wai Tao, Luo Minghui, Wong Chi Chiu, Wang Jianxin, Yang Minkang, and Zhang Zhentao. Two others, Lee Chinghuei and Kaoru provided me with accordion materials from Japan. I am grateful for the guidance and advice ofmy committee members: Professors Frederick Lau, Ricardo D.
[Show full text]
Afterlives of Chinese Communism: Political Concepts from Mao to Xi
AFTERLIVES OF CHINESE COMMUNISM AFTERLIVES OF CHINESE COMMUNISM POLITICAL CONCEPTS FROM MAO TO XI Edited by Christian Sorace, Ivan Franceschini, and Nicholas Loubere First published 2019 by ANU Press and Verso Books The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (hardback): 9781788734790 ISBN (paperback): 9781788734769 ISBN (online): 9781760462499 WorldCat (print): 1085370489 WorldCat (online): 1085370850 DOI: 10.22459/ACC.2019 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Note on Visual Material All images in this publication have been fully accredited. As this is a non-commercial publication, certain images have been used under a Creative Commons licence. These images have been sourced from Flickr, Wikipedia Commons and the copyright owner of each original picture is acknowledged and indicated in the source information. Design concept and typesetting by Tommaso Facchin; Illustrations by Marc Verdugo Lopez. Cover design by No Ideas. Cover artwork by Marc Verdugo Lopez. Proofreading by Sharon Strange and Evyn Chesneau Papworth. This edition © 2019 ANU Press and Verso Books Table of Contents Introduction - Christian SORACE, Ivan FRANCESCHINI, and Nicholas LOUBERE 1 1. Aesthetics - Christian SORACE 11 2. Blood Lineage - YI Xiaocuo 17 3. Class Feeling - Haiyan LEE 23 4. Class Struggle - Alessandro RUSSO 29 5. Collectivism - GAO Mobo 37 6. Contradiction - Carlos ROJAS 43 7. Culture - DAI Jinhua 49 8. Cultural Revolution - Patricia M.
[Show full text]
China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception
0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE Revised Pages China and the West Revised Pages Wanguo Quantu [A Map of the Myriad Countries of the World] was made in the 1620s by Guilio Aleni, whose Chinese name 艾儒略 appears in the last column of the text (first on the left) above the Jesuit symbol IHS. Aleni’s map was based on Matteo Ricci’s earlier map of 1602. Revised Pages China and the West Music, Representation, and Reception Edited by Hon- Lun Yang and Michael Saffle University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2017 by Hon- Lun Yang and Michael Saffle All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2020 2019 2018 2017 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Yang, Hon- Lun, editor. | Saffle, Michael, 1946– editor. Title: China and the West : music, representation, and reception / edited by Hon- Lun Yang and Michael Saffle. Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016045491| ISBN 9780472130313 (hardcover : alk.
[Show full text]
The Dreaming Mind and the End of the Ming World
The Dreaming Mind and the End of the Ming World The Dreaming Mind and the End of the Ming World • Lynn A. Struve University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu © 2019 University of Hawai‘i Press This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means that it may be freely downloaded and shared in digital format for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. Commercial uses and the publication of any derivative works require permission from the publisher. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The Creative Commons license described above does not apply to any material that is separately copyrighted. The open-access version of this book was made possible in part by an award from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation. Cover art: Woodblock illustration by Chen Hongshou from the 1639 edition of Story of the Western Wing. Student Zhang lies asleep in an inn, reclining against a bed frame. His anxious dream of Oriole in the wilds, being confronted by a military commander, completely fills the balloon to the right. In memory of Professor Liu Wenying (1939–2005), an open-minded, visionary scholar and open-hearted, generous man Contents Acknowledgments • ix Introduction • 1 Chapter 1 Continuities in the Dream Lives of Ming Intellectuals • 15 Chapter 2 Sources of Special Dream Salience in Late Ming • 81 Chapter 3 Crisis Dreaming • 165 Chapter 4 Dream-Coping in the Aftermath • 199 Epilogue: Beyond the Arc • 243 Works Cited • 259 Glossary-Index • 305 vii Acknowledgments I AM MOST GRATEFUL, as ever, to Diana Wenling Liu, head of the East Asian Col- lection at Indiana University, who, over many years, has never failed to cheerfully, courteously, and diligently respond to my innumerable requests for problematic materials, puzzlements over illegible or unfindable characters, frustrations with dig- ital databases, communications with publishers and repositories in China, etcetera ad infinitum.
[Show full text]
Fusion Process in the Instrumental Works by Chen Yi Xin Guo
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2002 Chinese Musical Language Interpreted by Western Idioms: Fusion Process in the Instrumental Works by Chen Yi Xin Guo Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHINESE MUSICAL LANGUAGE INTERPRETED BY WESTERN IDIOMS: FUSION PROCESS IN THE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS BY CHEN YI By XIN GUO A Dissertation submitted to the School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2002 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Xin Guo defended on November 6, 2002. James Mathes Professor Directing Dissertation Andrew Killick Outside Committee Member Jane Piper Clendinning Committee Member Peter Spencer Committee Member Approved: Seth Beckman, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies, School of Music ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to many people who have helped me in one way or another during my research and writing of this dissertation. Dr. Chen Yi’s music inspired me to choose the topic of this project; she provided all the scores, the recordings, and her reference materials for me and responded to my questions in a timely manner during my research. Dr. Richard Bass guided me throughout my master’s thesis, an early stage of this project. His keen insight and rigorous thought influenced my thinking tremendously. Dr. Harris Fairbanks spent countless hours proofreading both my thesis and dissertation. His encouragement and unwavering support helped me enormously and for this I am deeply indebted to him.
[Show full text]
A Chinese Song for Passover
A Chinese Song for Passover Shanghai, a cosmopolitan port city since the 19th century, became a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s. Among the thousands of refugees who poured into the city were dozens of Jewish musicians and composers. During their time in Shanghai, these musicians played in clubs and orchestras and taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, leaving an inedible mark on the popular music of the Chinese-speaking world. One of these refugees was Wolfgang Fraenkel, a German Jewish composer who escaped a concentration camp and arrived in Shanghai in 1939. Fraenkel became a mentor to many Chinese composers, including Chen Gexin. Chen, who was jailed for patriotic song-writing during the Japanese occupation, is the composer of Rose, Rose, I Love You, the most internationally successful Chinese song of all time. But he is best known for a song he wrote at the end World War II, Gongxi Gongxi (Congratulations). The song celebrates the end of the occupation in metaphorical terms, with lyrics describing the ‘good news’ of the end of a long winter and the beginning of spring. In the tumultuous Mainland China of the 1950s, suspicion of Western-influenced music and Chen’s international success led to his interment and death in a labor camp at the age of 47. Chen’s Gongxi Gongxi was largely forgotten in China. But Chinese refugees who emigrated to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other destinations following the Communist victory took the song with them. Gongxi Gongxi’s ‘coming of spring’ theme led to its adoption as a song for the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year.
[Show full text]