Teresa Teng

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Teresa Teng

Chinese name 鄧麗君 (Traditional)
Chinese name 邓丽君 (Simplified)
Pinyin Dèng Lìjūn (Mandarin)
Jyutping dang6 lai6 gwan1 (Cantonese)
Birth name Teng Li-Chun
Ancestry Hebei
Origin Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born January 29, 1953(1953-01-29)
Yunlin, Taiwan
Died May 8, 1995 (aged 42)
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Resting place Chin Pao San
25°15′04″N 121°36′14″E / 25.251, 121.604
Other name(s) Teresa Tang, Teresa Deng
Occupation Singer
Genre(s) Mandopop, Cantopop, J-Pop
Instrument(s) Singing
Label(s) Polydor, PolyGram
Years active 1967 – 1995

Teresa Teng (January 29, 1953 – May 8, 1995) (traditional Chinese: 鄧麗君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn; simplified Chinese: 邓丽君), sometimes spelled as Teresa Tang or Teresa Deng, was an influential C-pop singer from Yunlin County, Taiwan. She enjoyed immense popularity amongst all Chinese-speaking communities and in East Asia, particularly in Japan, for around 30 years. Teng was known for her folk songs and romantic ballads.

She recorded many notable songs, including "When Will You Return?" (simplified Chinese: 何日君再来; pinyin: Hé Rì Jūn Zài Lái). In addition to her Mandarin repertoire, she also recorded songs in Taiwanese, Cantonese, Japanese, Indonesian, and English.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Teresa Teng was born in a village in Yunlin County, Taiwan, to a mainland Chinese family originating from Hebei province. She was educated at Ginling Girls' High School.

As a young child, Teresa won many awards for her singing at talent competitions. Her first major award was in 1964 when she sang "Visiting Yingtai" from Shaw Brothers' Huangmei opera movie, "The Love Eterne" (梁山伯与祝英台), at an event hosted by China Radio Station (Taiwan). Her singing proved successful and helped her family through the tough times of Taiwan's developing economy in the 1960s. To support her father, Teresa quit high school to pursue singing professionally.

She rose to fame in 1968 after giving a performance on a popular music programme in Taiwan, and released several albums within the next few years under the Life Records label. In 1973, she attempted to crack the Japanese market by signing with Polydor Japan records label, and taking part in Japan's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a year-round singing match of the most successful artists of that year, and won the prize for "Best New Singing Star".[1]

In 1974, with the song "Airport" (空港), she conquered Japan, where she remained a leading star despite a short exile in 1979 when she was deported for having entered on a fake Indonesian passport, bought for $20,000, a subterfuge rendered necessary by a break in relations between Taiwan and Japan on China's entry to the UN Security Council. Singing by now in Cantonese, Japanese and English as well as her native Mandarin, Teng was soon popular as far as Malaysia and Indonesia.

In 1983, she released her most-acclaimed album Light Exquisite Feeling (淡淡幽情). This album comprised 12 Ci poems from both the Tang and Song dynasties, set to a blend of modern Western and traditional Chinese music written by various composers, several of whom were involved in many of Teresa's previous albums. The most famous song from the album is "Wishing We Last Forever" (但愿人长久), best known to the current generation through the cover version by Faye Wong.

Teresa Teng's music is still well known today, throughout Asia and beyond. She was so popular that her music was banned for several years in Mainland China in the early 1980s for being too "bourgeois".[2] Even though she had hoped to hold a concert in Tiananmen Square and was even publicly invited by the Chinese government, she would never have the opportunity to perform in China.[3] She performed in Paris during the 1989 Tiananmen student uprising, singing for the students and proclaiming her support for them and for democracy. On May 27th, 1989, over 300,000 people gathered at the Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong for a gathering called "Democratic songs dedicated for China" (民主歌聲獻中華), where she performed the song "My home is on the other side of the mountain."[4]

She sang many Japanese songs, including her own originals such as "Airport" (空港) and "I Only Care About You" (時の流れに身をまかせ or 我只在乎你), as well as some in tribute to original artists like Southern All Stars, most of which were re-written with Chinese lyrics.

[edit] Death and commemorations

The wax figure of Teresa Teng at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
The wax figure of Teresa Teng at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong

Long time asthmatic, Teng died from a severe asthma attack while on holiday in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the age of 42 (43 by Chinese reckoning) on May 8, 1995. She was given a state funeral at home in Taiwan, with the Republic of China flag draped over her coffin and the ROC President Lee Teng-hui, Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bien, and many other notable politicians in attendance.

She was buried in a mountainside tomb at Chin Pao San (金寶山; Jinbaoshan, literally Golden Treasure Mountain), a cemetery near Jinshan, Taipei County in Taiwan. A memorial was built at the tomb with a statue of Teng and her stage clothes on display, with her music playing in the background. There is also a large electronic piano keyboard that visitors can play by stepping on the keys. The tomb is well visited by her fans, a notable departure from traditional Chinese culture shunning visits to burial sites.[5]

A house she bought in 1986 in Hong Kong at No. 18 Carmel Street also become a site of pilgrimage for her fans soon after her death. Plans to sell the home to finance a museum in Shanghai were made known in 2002,[6] and subsequently sold for HK 32 million. It closed on what would have been her 51st birthday on January 29, 2004.[7]

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of her death, Teresa Teng Culture and Education Foundation launched a campaign entitled "Feel Teresa Teng". In addition to organizing an anniversary concert in Hong Kong and Taiwan, music fans paid homage at her shrine at Chin Pao San Cemetery. Additionally, some of her dresses, jewelry and personal items were placed on exhibition at Yuzi Paradise, an art park outside Guilin, China.[8]

In May 2002, the wax figure of Teng was unveiled at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

[edit] Influence on popular culture

  • Her songs were so popular in Chinese Karaoke bars that they bypassed mainland censorship, and it was said that "by day, Deng Xiaoping rules China, but by night, Deng Lijun rules." (This is very likely an unfounded claim, for there were not Karaoke bars in China when her songs were banned (early 1980s), and when there were the bars, she was no longer censored.)[9]
  • Teng's songs have been sung by other singers, most notably Faye Wong who released a tribute album (Decadent Sounds of Faye) consisting entirely of cover songs originally sung by Teresa Teng. Timi Zhuo is also known for singing her songs, and has been called her "second generation" because they both share the same soft voice and a similar singing style.[citation needed]
  • In the 1996 Hong Kong film Comrades: Almost a Love Story (甜蜜蜜 - Tiánmìmì), directed by Peter Chan, the life and death of Teresa Teng is featured as a subplot to the main story.
  • Her songs are played in various films, e.g. Rush Hour 2, Prison On Fire.
  • In 2007, TV Asahi produced a tanpatsu (単発, TV movie), entitled Teresa Teng Monogatari (テレサ・テン物語)[10] to commemorate the 13th anniversary of her death. Actress Yoshino Kimura starred as Teresa Teng

[edit] Major song awards she received in Japan

Teresa Teng received the following major song awards in Japan. [11]

  • The Japan Record Awards (日本レコード大賞, Nihon Rekōdo Taishō)

Awarded each year are: Grand Prix (1), Best Song Award (1), Best New Singer Award (1), Gold Awards (10), New Singers Award (5), and more than 20 other awards.

Teresa Teng won the New Singers Award (新人賞) for her 「空港」（Kūkō) in 1974, and the Gold Award (金賞) in 1986 for her 「時の流れに身をまかせ」 (Toki no Nagare ni Mi o Makase). In 1995, she was awarded the Special Merit Award (特別功労賞）.

  • All-Japan Cable Radio Awards (全日本有線放送大賞, Zen-Nihon Yūsen Hōsō Taishō)

Awarded each year are: Grand Prix (1) and about 15 other awards.

Teresa Teng won the Grand Prix （グランプリ）three times, as follows: for her 「つぐない」 (Tsugunai) in 1984, 「愛人」(Aijin) in 1985, and 「時の流れに身をまかせ」(Toki no Nagare ni Mi o Makase) in 1986. This was the first time that any singer had won the Grand Prix for three years in a row.

In 1987, she won the Outstanding Star Award (優秀スター賞) for her 「別れの予感」(Wakare no Yokan).

  • Japan Cable Radio Awards (日本有線大賞, Nihon Yūsen Taishō)

Awards Teresa Teng received were as follows:

1984: the Grand Prix （大賞）, the Best Hit Award, and the Cable Radio Music Award -- for 「つぐない」 (Tsugunai) .

1985: the Grand Prix, the Best Hit Award, and the Cable Radio Music Award -- for 「愛人」(Aijin) .

1986: the Grand Prix, the Best Hit Award, and the Cable Radio Music Award -- for 「時の流れに身をまかせ」(Toki no Nagare ni Mi o Makase) .

Again, this was the first time that any singer had won the Grand Prix for three years in a row.

1987 and 1988: the Cable Radio Music Award for her 「別れの予感」(Wakare no Yokan).

1995: She was awarded the Cable Radio Special Merit Award (有線功労賞) for having won the Grand Prix three years in a row,

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Pop diva Teresa Teng lives on in Chinese hearts", China Daily, 2005-05-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-23. 
  2. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4DD153CF93AA25751C0A967958260
  3. ^ Zhao, Lei. "Why Teresa Teng Could Not Visit Mainland China", Southern Weekend (via Sina.com), August 3, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-23. 
  4. ^ Video at YouTube.com
  5. ^ Teresa Teng's grave. North Coast & Guanyinshang official website. Retrieved 2 Jan 2007.
  6. ^ Taiwanese diva's home 'for sale'. BBC news, 29 July 2002. Retrieved 2 Jan 2007.
  7. ^ A Retrospective Look at 2004. HKVP Radio, Dec 2004. Retrieved 2 Jan 2007.
  8. ^ "Teresa Teng in loving memory forever", China Daily, 2005-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-03-23. 
  9. ^ Reed, Barbara Edith. Davison, Gary Marvin. 1998. Culture and Customs of Taiwan, Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313302987
  10. ^ テレビ朝日｜スペシャルドラマ テレサ・テン物語
  11. ^ " テレサ・テン　データべース (Teresa Teng Database)" , Retrieved 14 Dec 2007.

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
George Lam		 Golden Needle Award of RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award
1995		 Succeeded by
Alan Tam