Hunan's Best — Champions and Gold Medalists, Star Profiles (Part 2)
Hunan Sounds and Chu Rhythms, Artistic Vanguard: Li Jinhui, one of the founders of Chinese pop music. Li Jinhui (1891–1967), a native of Xiangtan and one of the "Eight Outstanding Li Brothers," was a pioneer of Chinese popular music. In 1927 he founded the Chinese Song and Dance School and later the Chinese Song and Dance Troupe.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section II
Xiang Voices and Chu Rhythms, Vanguard of the Art World
One of the Founders of Chinese Pop Music—Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui (1891–1967), a native of Xiangtan and one of the "Eight Outstanding Li Brothers," was the founder of Chinese pop music. In 1927, he founded the "Chinese Song and Dance School" and later formed the "Chinese Song and Dance Troupe." In his youth, Li Jinhui was devoted to the new music movement and advocated that the new music movement and the new literature movement advance hand in hand. He created a large number of children's operas, song-and-dance pieces, and songs, such as "The Sparrow and the Child," "The Grape Fairy," "The Fairy Sister," "Poor Qiuxiang," and "Night of the Bright Moon." These songs spread extremely widely, not only sweeping the Chinese mainland but also reaching Hong Kong and various parts of Southeast Asia. After his children's song-and-dance works, Li Jinhui turned to creating pop music. "Drizzle" and "Sister, I Love You" were his early pop music works, marking the birth of Chinese pop songs. From 1931 to 1936, he was also engaged in ballroom music, jazzing up folk melodies. His successful experience in integrating foreign forms with national traditions in his handling of pop music is worthy of reference by later generations.
Lyricist of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China—Tian Han
Tian Han (1898–1968), a native of Changsha, Hunan, was the founder of modern Chinese drama. He studied in Japan in his early years and began theatrical activities in 1920, writing many famous stage plays and successfully adapting several traditional operas. He was also the lyricist of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, "March of the Volunteers." He wrote more than 100 stage plays, operas, traditional operas, and film scripts, mainly including: "One Night at the Café," "Night of Catching the Tiger," "The Death of a Famous Actor," "Chaotic Bells," "Storm on the Yangtze River," "Women's March," "Guan Hanqing," "Princess Wencheng," and "The White Snake."
China's First Composer to Win the International Oscar for Best Original Score—Tan Dun
Tan Dun, born in 1958, is a native of Changsha, Hunan, and a famous composer currently residing in New York, USA. He has won China's national-level creative awards many times, and his orchestral work "On Taoism" was selected as a "Classic of 20th-Century Chinese Music." In 1988, he held a concert of his own works in the United States, the first concert held by a Chinese musician in the United States. In 2000, in the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Tan Dun had Yo-Yo Ma play the cello to produce the sound of the erhu, and in "Symphony 1997: Heaven, Earth, Mankind," the sound of the cello could only be described as "jaw-dropping." This made him the first Chinese person in Oscar history to win the Best Original Score award. What first made him internationally famous was creating music using "pottery" and "paper." In addition, "stone" and "water" are also carriers he very much likes to use in music. His famous experimental works such as "Pottery Music," "Water Music," and "Paper Music" attracted the attention of the international music world.
King of Hunan Folk Songs—Bai Chengren
Bai Chengren, born in 1932, is a native of Chengdu, Sichuan, and a national first-class composer. He graduated in 1955 from the Vocal Music Department of the Northeast Music College. After 1963, he successively served as a performer, composer, and head of the Hunan Provincial Song and Dance Troupe, and as a standing director of the fourth Chinese Musicians Association and vice chairman of its Hunan branch. He was long engaged in collecting and creating Hunan ethnic and folk music, and created more than 1,000 musical works in his lifetime. He is known as the "King of Hunan Folk Songs" and discovered and trained a group of Hunan-born singers, including He Jiguang, Song Zuying, and Wu Bixia. His works include the songs "Carrying Tea on a Shoulder Pole to Beijing," "Land of Fish and Rice by Dongting Lake," and "Miao Ridge Connects to Beijing," as well as the opera music "Lamp Flower."
A Unique Treasure of Chinese Music—He Jiguang
He Jiguang (1939–2002), a native of Guzhang County. In 1962, he was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He organically integrated Western scientific vocal theory into Hunan high-pitched singing, learning and mastering a "bel canto" with ethnic characteristics. His singing was beautiful, bold, and unrestrained, with effortless switching between true and falsetto voice. In 1964, at the Fifth "Shanghai Spring" Music Festival, his performances of "Carrying Tea on a Shoulder Pole to Beijing" and "Land of Fish and Rice by Dongting Lake" caused a sensation in the music world and swept the country. In 1983, he went with a performing arts troupe of the Ministry of Culture to perform in Hong Kong, singing several songs on stage and causing a sensation on the island. Newspapers published articles exclaiming: "He Jiguang is a unique treasure of Chinese music." He Jiguang struggled in the music world for more than 40 years, participated in more than 3,000 performances of various kinds, sang more than 1,000 songs, and had nearly 200 songs recorded on records and tapes distributed throughout the country.
China's First Pop Singing Artist—Li Guyi
Li Guyi, born in 1944, is of Hengyang origin and a famous Chinese singing artist, enjoying the reputation of "the first person of pop singing" and "the mother of China's new folk songs." In 1979, the film "Little Flower" was released, and its interlude song "Sister, Looking for Brother, Tears Flow" was sung by Li Guyi. She boldly attempted to apply the soft voice and breathy singing techniques once used in Western opera and Chinese classical opera to modern songs, which made Li Guyi rise to fame. In 1980, the song "Nostalgia" won the support of the broad masses, and in 1983 she performed it at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. As the first pop singer in mainland China and a witness and personal participant in the growth of Chinese pop music from weak to strong, she successfully combined and transformed Western modern music concepts with traditional Chinese folk songs. Her "breathy singing" technique and singing style pioneered a generation of singing style.
China's Most Renowned Soprano—Song Zuying
Song Zuying, born in 1966, is a native of Xiangxi and one of China's most renowned sopranos today. Over more than ten years of performing Chinese ethnic vocal music, she has created and performed nearly a thousand Chinese ethnic songs and a large number of Chinese and foreign art songs and opera arias. Her MTV works "The Eighteen-Bend Waterway Leads to My Home," "Spicy Girl," and "Good Days" won first prize in the national "Starlight Award" and the MTV Gold Award respectively. Her performances of "Hero" and "Soldiers from East, West, South, and North" won the "Five-One Project Award" issued by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. "Good Days" and "Give Your Love" won the gold award at the Fifth China Music Television Awards and also won the Best Performance Award. At the 16th National Television "Golden Eagle" Awards, her performed work "Spicy Girl" won the Best Song Award. She also won the title of one of the "Top Ten Stars Most Loved by Soldiers" at the first "Great Red Eagle" Cup in 1998. Over the years, in various professional music competitions and public opinion polls in China, she has won numerous highest honor awards. For 21 consecutive years, Song Zuying has been a perennial fixture at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Her mainstream songs have distinctive characteristics, sincere emotion, and excellent expressiveness, and have received unanimous praise from all walks of life.
China's First Person of New Folk Songs—Tang Can
Tang Can, a native of Zhuzhou, graduated from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. She became famous with the song "Blessing the Motherland" and is known as China's first person of new folk songs, and was ranked among the "Four Little Folk Song Queens" in the industry. Her singing has a touch of spirit, and her pure, clear, and uniquely charming voice leaves a deep impression. In June 2000, Tang Can's "Happiness for Ten Thousand Years" was broadcast on CCTV's "Song of the Week" program and received widespread praise. This new singing method, which draws on popular singing to interpret folk songs with a fashionable and modern new form of expression, was praised by the industry as an excellent work of new exploration and new contribution to new folk songs, and Tang Can was also called by the media the "leader of new folk songs." She has also sung classic songs such as "A Good Start," "Ten Thousand Lights," "Dreams Come True," and "Red Red Days."
Related Records
Hunan Gymnastics
In 2008, Li Xiaopeng's successful vault in the men's gymnastics team final at the Beijing Olympics allowed the Hunan gymnastics team, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, to finally once again ascend the highest Olympic podium after an 8-year absence. Gymnastics has become the brightest calling card of Hunan competitive sports, flourishing for 50 years.
From the team's founding in 1957 to 2008, Hunan gymnastics achieved outstanding results, winning a total of 306 gold medals in international and domestic competitions, including 5 Olympic gold medals, 21 World Championships and World Cup Finals gold medals, 24 Asian Games gold medals, and 17 National Games gold medals. Hunan's first Olympic gold medal in history was won by Lu Li on the uneven bars at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Hunan gymnastics was even more astonishing: four gymnastics stars—Li Xiaopeng, Liu Xuan, Ling Jie, and Yang Yun—won 5 gold, 1 silver, and 5 bronze medals, at the height of their glory. In addition, Hunan gymnastics has successively trained 10 internationally ranked master athletes, 71 master athletes, 12 national-level coaches, and 11 international-level referees, making outstanding contributions to the development of Hunan competitive sports and Chinese gymnastics.
Only world-class coaches can produce first-class athletes. Over 50 years, it is precisely because batch after batch of high-quality, high-level outstanding coaches have been keen on reform, explored painstakingly, and pursued unremittingly that Hunan gymnastics has become famous throughout the world and attracted global attention.
The provincial team coaches are mainly young coaches, mostly between 20 and 40 years old. In order to comprehensively improve the quality of coaches throughout the province, including amateur training, the Provincial Gymnastics Center has formulated various training plans and adopted reform measures of "going out and inviting in." "Going out" means going out of Hunan, sending more young coaches to the national team for training; and going abroad, to international competitions for exchange, observation, and study, to gain an in-depth understanding of the world's advanced training concepts and methods. "Inviting in" means inviting experienced veteran coaches and referees to give lectures, inviting national team and foreign outstanding coaches to Hunan to give lectures, comprehensively improving the teaching level of the province's coaches, or introducing high-level, highly educated gymnastics talent from home and abroad, so that the structure of Hunan Province's gymnastics coaching team is further rationalized.
As early as the 1980s, Hunan Province took the lead in establishing a gymnastics training center nationwide and formed a "one-stop" training system combining professional and amateur training, with a four-level training network linked layer by layer, thus forging the brilliance of Hunan gymnastics. In recent years, our province has continuously strengthened the construction of quality projects and optimized the "one-stop" training system, successively establishing four provincial gymnastics reserve talent bases in Changsha, Zhuzhou, Hengyang, and Yongshun, as well as two candidate reserve talent bases in Changde and Zhijiang. At present, 11 cities and prefectures across the province carry out amateur gymnastics training.
Competition in sports is cruel, and any sport has its own course of rise and decline. After going from the peak to a period of quiet, Hunan gymnastics finally revived its glory once again at the Beijing Olympics. Over 50 years, Hunan gymnastics people, with persistent pursuit, hard sweat, and proud achievements, have shown the world the champion's demeanor of "tenacious struggle and continuous innovation" and interpreted the Hunan spirit of "daring to be first and striving without end."
Dream-Making Coach Zhou Xiaolin
Zhou Xiaolin is a pioneering coach who has won the nation's highest sports honor medal and the World Champion Enlightenment Award. She likens herself to a "dream maker." Over a coaching career of nearly 40 years, she has helped countless children "make dreams," encouraging them to seek their dreams in the wondrous kingdom of gymnastics and to pluck the most beautiful gem from the gymnastics crown. Since the founding of New China, of the only three Olympic champions in Chinese women's gymnastics, apart from Ma Yanhong of Beijing, both Lu Li, the uneven bars champion at the Barcelona Olympics, and Liu Xuan, the balance beam champion at the Sydney Olympics, were nurtured by her at the grassroots level. Chen Cuiting, the "Gymnastics Queen of Asia," as well as Ma Ying, Chen Mi and other famous athletes, were also selected, trained and sent onward by her own hands.
At the age of 13, Zhou Xiaolin entered the provincial gymnastics team, dreaming of becoming a world champion. But an accidental injury shattered her dream. In 1971, forced to retire, she became a talent-scouting grassroots coach, beginning her journey of helping children with gymnastics talent "make dreams."
For decades, every year she would ride her bicycle through the streets and alleys, covering more than 200 kindergartens and primary schools in Changsha, not even sparing various children's dance training classes, striving to screen children of the right age across the widest possible range.
In April 1983, Zhou Xiaolin wrote dozens of recruitment notices in brush calligraphy and posted them on busy thoroughfares. A "little tot" came bouncing along, led by her mother. She was small in build, with well-proportioned hands and feet, and a spark of intelligence in her little eyes—very clever, poised and lively. Zhou Xiaolin's eyes lit up: "This is gymnastics material!" This "little tot" was Lu Li, who would achieve Hunan Province's breakthrough from zero to one in Olympic gold medals.
The discovery of Liu Xuan was even more legendary. Zhou Xiaolin recalls that she had gone to the Changsha Children's Palace to scout talent and saw a little girl on a swing who was especially bold and swung with particular lightness. Upon asking, she learned the girl was in a toddler fitness gymnastics class. Zhou Xiaolin taught her some moves on the spot, and she performed them all with great coordination, confirming she was a good prospect. And so Liu Xuan was selected into the provincial gymnastics school.
Selecting prospects was only the first step; nurturing them was the key. In daily training, Zhou Xiaolin not only demanded strict discipline but also loved them with a mother's heart, treating her students as her own children.
Five-year-old Lu Li lived far away, and after every training session, Lu Li's father would always take more than an hour to come pick her up. During that time, Zhou Xiaolin would always keep her company, telling stories, playing games, or fixing her something to eat, driving away her loneliness. One day Lu Li suddenly didn't come, which worried Zhou Xiaolin terribly. It turned out that Lu Li's father wanted to back out. Zhou Xiaolin hurried to work on him, and she also encouraged Lu Li. Later, Lu Li pestered her father relentlessly, and her parents, unable to resist her, had no choice but to send her back to training.
Zhou Xiaolin simply took Lu Li into her own home, cycling to pick her up and drop her off at school every day. From then on, little Lu Li called Zhou Xiaolin "Mom." In 1992, when Lu Li won the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona, she said in an interview at the award ceremony: "I loved gymnastics from childhood, but my family was very poor. It was my grassroots coach, Teacher Zhou Xiaolin, who took me into her home and kept my gymnastics life going. Thank you, Mom Zhou."
Now, at 60, Zhou Xiaolin still shoulders the important task of guiding talent selection and training at six amateur gymnastics training bases across the province, traveling to kindergartens and primary schools in every city and prefecture of the province, continuing to weave more and more beautiful "dreams" for Hunan gymnastics.
Hunan Sports Talents
Lu Li (female): Women's uneven bars champion in gymnastics at the 25th Barcelona Olympic Games, August 1992.
Xiong Ni: Men's 3m springboard champion at the 26th Olympic Games in 1996; men's 3m springboard individual and synchronized champion at the 27th Sydney Olympic Games in 2000; won a total of 13 world championships.
Li Xiaopeng: Men's team champion at the 33rd World Gymnastics Championships in Switzerland, September 1997; men's floor exercise and parallel bars champion at the World Cup Gymnastics Series Finals in Japan, May 1998; men's team and vault champion at the 34th World Gymnastics Championships in Tianjin, China, October 1999; men's team and parallel bars champion at the 27th Sydney Olympic Games, September 2000.
Yang Xia (female): Women's weightlifting 53kg champion at the 27th Sydney Olympic Games, September 2000.
Liu Xuan (female): Balance beam champion at the World Cup Gymnastics Series Finals in Japan, May 1998; balance beam champion at the 27th Sydney Olympic Games, September 2000.
Gong Zhichao (female): Mixed team champion at the 5th Sudirman Cup World Badminton Championships, May 1997; team champion at the Uber Cup World Women's Badminton Team Championships, May 1998; mixed team champion at the Sudirman Cup World Badminton Championships, May 1999; women's singles champion in badminton at the 27th Sydney Olympic Games, September 2000.
Li Fang (female): Women's doubles champion at the 1st World Badminton Championships in Thailand, November 1978.
Tang Jiuhong (female): Women's team champion at the 13th World Badminton Championships in Japan, June 1990; women's singles champion at the 7th World Badminton Championships in 1991; women's team champion at the 14th Badminton Championships in Malaysia, May 1992; women's singles champion at the 1992 World Cup.
Gong Ruina (female): Team champion at the Uber Cup World Women's Badminton Team Championships in 2000; women's singles champion at the 12th World Badminton Championships in 2001.
Huang Sui (female): Mixed team champion at the 7th Sudirman Cup World Badminton Championships in 2001; women's doubles champion at the 12th World Badminton Championships.
Peng Yuanchun (female): Women's team and mixed team champion at the 3rd World Cup Diving Competition, April 1983.
Li Jing: Competed in the 25th, 26th and 27th World Gymnastics Championships, the 8th World Cup Gymnastics Competition, and the 1st World Gymnastics Individual Championships, winning a total of 6 world championships.
Ling Jie (female): Balance beam champion at the 34th World Gymnastics Championships in Tianjin, China, October 1999.
Wang Xiaoyan (female): Women's trap team champion at the World Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships in Italy, September 1985.
Yin Weiping (female): Women's trap team champion at the World Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships in Australia, November 1991; women's trap team champion at the World Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships in Barcelona, June 1993.
Liao Haiyan (female): Women's skeet team champion at the 47th World Shooting Championships in Barcelona, July 1998.
Zeng Xingling (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 60kg class at the 1st World Women's Weightlifting Championships in the United States, November 1987.
Wu Xiangmei (female): World champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 44kg class at the 4th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Yugoslavia, May 1990.
Liao Suping (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 52kg class at the 4th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Yugoslavia, May 1990; clean and jerk champion in the 48kg class at the 5th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Germany, September 1991.
Zou Fei'e (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 59kg class at the 8th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Turkey, November 1994.
Li Fengying (female): Snatch champion in the 54kg class at the 8th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Turkey, November 1994.
Li Yan (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, total and team for the 76kg class at the 10th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Poland, May 1996.
Li Yunli (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 48kg class at the 12th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Finland, November 1998.
Peng Song: Team champion at the 67th World Men's Weightlifting Championships in Guangzhou, China, November 1995.
Le Maosheng: Champion in the clean and jerk and total for the 62kg class at the 70th World Men's Weightlifting Championships in Athens, Greece, November 1999.
Wang Mingjuan (female): Champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 48kg class at the World Junior Women's Weightlifting Championships in Nepal in 2002; champion in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total for the 48kg class at the 15th World Women's Weightlifting Championships in Poland, November of the same year.
Chen Chufu: Snatch champion in the 69kg class at the World Men's Weightlifting Championships in Poland, November 2002.
Zeng Hubin: Champion in the FSR-3.5 class at the 7th World Model Shipbuilding (Endurance) Championships in Austria, 1990.
Ouyang Xiangyang: Champion in the F3-V class at the 7th World Model Shipbuilding (Powerboat) Championships in 1991; world champion in both the F3-V and F3-E classes at the 10th World Model Shipbuilding (Powerboat) Championships in 1997.
Fu Zubin: Men's 50m apnea fin swimming champion at the 6th World Fin Swimming Championships in 1992; champion in the men's 50m apnea fin swimming, 4×100m fin swimming relay and team events at the 7th World Fin Swimming Championships in 1994.
Zhou Yanhui (female): Champion of the women's 4×100m finswimming relay at the 8th World Finswimming Championships in Hungary in August 1996; champion of the women's 4×100m finswimming relay at the 9th World Finswimming Championships in Colombia in September 1998.
Yang Jinqiang: Champion of the men's sanda 70kg category at the 4th World Wushu Championships in Italy in November 1997.
Top Ten Hunan Women Shining on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala
As an indispensable feast for Chinese people on Chinese New Year's Eve, the "CCTV Spring Festival Gala" has been held for more than twenty years. Since the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1983, the performances of female singers of "Hunan origin," with both voice and presence, have made them the "powerful Hunan force" of the gala. "Hunan women are full of tenderness, and tender are the women of Hunan"—this has been widely acknowledged by Chinese people since ancient times. Yet the saying that "Hunan women are good at singing" has also gradually gained public acceptance with the passage of time. The voices of Hunan girls are all distinctive: simple yet passionate, soft yet powerful, with bright and transparent high notes and solid, full mid-to-low notes, full of charm and endlessly memorable.
Li Guy: Representative songs: "Nostalgia" and "Unforgettable Tonight"
Place of origin: Hengyang, Hunan
Li Guy's rendition of "Nostalgia" became the best golden song of the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala and moved hundreds of millions of people. With this song, Li Guy also became the first person of Chinese mainland pop singing in the 1980s. Now, having achieved fame and success, Li Guy has long become a talent scout who has nurtured countless singers, yet this talent scout remains tireless, busily singing at major galas.
Song Zuying: Representative songs: "Little Back Basket," "Spicy Girl," and "Soldier Brother"
Place of origin: Guzhang, Xiangxi, Hunan
Song Zuying is the most renowned soprano in China today. With the song "Little Back Basket," she instantly became the "singer most anticipated at the Spring Festival Gala" in the minds of netizens. Beautiful, kind, and deeply affectionate, Song Zuying has also become the "most beautiful dream lover" in the hearts of officers and soldiers. Song Zuying's "ace smile" has also become one of the best calling cards for Chinese performing arts to conquer the world.
Zhang Ye: Representative songs: "Entering the New Era" and "Everything Goes as You Wish"
Place of origin: Changsha, Hunan
Zhang Ye is a soprano of real strength and also a sweet "golden lark of folk songs." In 1998, her song "Entering the New Era" resounded across the motherland, and with her singing she expressed her love for the nation and the motherland. Zhang Ye has never been careless when choosing songs. Therefore, her most widely circulated songs are often touching classic folk songs, and have also become one of the must-choose songs for art students taking exams.
Tang Can: Representative songs: "Blessing the Motherland" and "Happiness for Ten Thousand Years"
Place of origin: Zhuzhou, Hunan
Known as "the first person of China's new folk music," Tang Can, with her spirited appearance, pure, clear, and uniquely charming voice, and highly modern styling, has now led trends in musical theater, the fashion world, and the entertainment industry, and has traveled to Athens, Greece, to hold a solo concert. Tang Can, appearing with "fashionable folk music," has irresistible charm, fully displaying the elegance of the "Hunan force."
Chen Sisi: Representative songs: "My Sweetheart Goes South" and "Favorable Weather"
Place of origin: Changde, Hunan
Back then, the song "My Sweetheart Goes South" truly made many people remember this sweet "Hunan girl." Now, Chen Sisi has long become a powerful singer in China's folk music scene. Her songs have blazed a new path for Chinese national pop music—sweet and pure, with a kind of watery brightness—and she is known in the music world as the "Chinese Girl." She is beautiful and her songs are sweet, and she has great audience appeal; wherever she goes, she attracts countless flowers, applause, and cheers.
Wang Lida: Representative songs: "Kissing the Motherland" and "500 Miles"
Place of origin: Zhuzhou, Hunan
Wang Lida has been an outstanding figure in China's folk music scene in recent years. And the song "Kissing the Motherland," popularized by Wang Lida, has long become a must-sing piece for many vocal music enthusiasts. She has great tension and a wide vocal range, making her very well suited to high notes. Since childhood she has had an exceptionally strong thirst for knowledge, and it is precisely this unremitting pursuit that has made Wang Lida who she is today.
Lei Jia: Representative songs: "Water Girl" and "Reed Flowers"
Place of origin: Yiyang, Hunan
In recent years, Lei Jia can be seen as the performer of ending theme songs for many popular films and TV dramas. Her clear singing has indeed allowed people to witness the truth that "talents emerge in every generation." Committed to participating in large-scale public welfare activities such as the "Mountain Flower Project" educational assistance action and the "Love of the Earth—Mother Water Cellar" project, she is recognized and loved by a broad audience.
Yi Miaoying: Representative songs: "Good Daughter" and "The Moon Flowers Bloom"
Place of origin: Hengyang, Hunan
Yi Miaoying grew up in a Yao township known for singing and dancing, and has an excellent voice. After graduating from Minzu University of China, she was specially recruited into the Air Force Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, where she serves as a solo singer. She has received much praise from all sectors of society, and the media unanimously call her "the golden phoenix flying out of the Yao ethnic group," while soldiers affectionately call her "the moon flower in the military." People say that once her sweet and mellow singing reaches the ear, it always stirs wave after wave in the listener's heart, making it hard to forget.
Liu Yizhen: Representative songs: "Honoring Parents" and "Soldier Sister"
Place of origin: Chenzhou, Hunan
The song "Honoring Parents," tenderly performed by Liu Yizhen, has become an inner work for many children. During the emotionally rich Spring Festival period, this song is most able to touch people's hearts. The outstanding natural endowments of the land of Sanxiang gave this Hunan girl Liu Yizhen a beautiful appearance and a clear voice, while the solemnity of the green military camp gave her the firm backbone of a soldier. Through years of exploration and effort, Liu Yizhen has formed a grand, simple, and mainstream singing style, standing out uniquely in the music world. With her profound artistic attainments and expressiveness, she is praised by industry insiders and a broad audience as a "voice of nature."
Chen Rong: Representative songs: "Red Leaves Send Feelings" and "Blessing You"
Place of origin: Lengshuijiang, Hunan
Chen Rong, who studied Hunan flower-drum opera in her early years, carries the distinctive vocal style of Hunan flower-drum opera in her singing. Her voice has true feeling within its high resonance and deep affection within its delicacy. It is precisely this unique "charm of Hunan women" that reveals the true essence of Huxiang culture.
Li Jinhui, Father of Chinese Pop Music
Wang Renmei, Nie Er, Zhou Xuan... these towering figures of the music world from the last century are still often mentioned and praised even now. Yet the mentor who brought them glory and halo has gradually been forgotten. Perhaps after hearing melodies like "Drizzle," people cannot help but fondly remember the father of Chinese pop music who disappeared in that era—Li Jinhui.
Li Jinhui (1891-1967), composer, father of Chinese pop music. A native of Xiangtan, Hunan, he came into extensive contact with folk music in his early years and learned to play various traditional Chinese instruments. The folk music of his hometown and the theatrical music popular there, such as Xiang opera, flower-drum opera, and Han opera, influenced him deeply. His compositions such as "Peach Blossom River," "Special Express," "Deep Night," "Little Jasmine," "Roses Bloom Everywhere," and "Sister, I Love You" were among China's earliest popular songs. His collection of popular songs, "100 Family Love Songs," was published by Shanghai Wenming Book Company in 16 volumes and had an enormous impact in China at the time.
Li Jinhui was also the father of Chinese children's song-and-dance drama. His song-and-dance dramas such as "The Sparrow and the Child," "The Grape Fairy," "The Fairy Sister," and "The Little Lamb Saves Its Mother," as well as children's song-and-dance performance pieces such as "Good Friends Have Come," "Three Little Treasures," "Who Will Play with Me," and "Poor Qiuxiang," left indelible impressions on the children of that time. The scene of playwright Wu Zuguang's six-year-old sister Wu Le, "wearing a black long-skirt dancing dress and a pair of black silk wings," participating in Li Jinhui's "Moonlit Night" at the Kongde School in Beijing is still remembered today. And his "Little Painter," written and composed in 1928, is considered the origin of 20th-century Chinese opera.
Afterward, Li Jinhui founded China's first school for training song-and-dance talent—the "Chinese Song and Dance Specialized School." He later formed the "Chinese Song and Dance Troupe." In 1929 he organized the "Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe" and toured throughout the country. Between 1931 and 1936, Li Jinhui also scored more than a dozen films, including "Fairy of the World," most of whose interlude songs were popular songs. At the same time, he also engaged in dance hall music, jazzing up folk melodies. Record companies such as Pathé and Victor at the time recorded and published his popular songs in large quantities.
Li Jinhui's popular music compositions established the basic style of Chinese pop music, namely the combination of folk melodies with Western dance music rhythms. At the time, these were mainly tango, foxtrot, and the like. The instrumentation also imitated the style of American jazz. His successful experience in handling the relationship between foreign forms and national traditions in popular music is worth learning from by later generations. After 1949, his representative works such as "Drizzle," "Peach Blossoms Red," and "Special Express" earned him the status and relatively high evaluation he deserved. Among them, "Drizzle" was China's first popular song.
Li Jinhui's talent was not only displayed in music; he also compiled various textbooks and edited many newspapers and periodicals. From 1920 to 1927, he served in Shanghai as director of the National Language Literature Department of the Zhonghua Book Company Editorial Office and principal of the National Language Specialized School, making outstanding contributions to the promotion of the national language. Throughout his life he had a special affection for children's education. In addition to creating children's song-and-dance dramas and children's songs, he also founded and edited children's publications such as "Little Brother," "Little Sister," and "New Youth."