Ai Jing (; born 10 September 1969
) is a
mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...
singer and painter. China's ''Northeast News'' called her "China's most talented female folk rock singer."
Ai was born into a musical family in
Shenyang
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...
,
Liaoning
Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...
: her father played several instruments, and her mother was a ''
Pingju'' singer.
[ that has been compared to ]Cui Jian
Cui Jian ( zh, c=崔健, p=Cuī Jiàn, ; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (), he pioneered Chinese rock music. For this distinction Cui Jian is often l ...
's " Nothing to My Name" in terms of its social impact,Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
, and how she eagerly awaits the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China so she can visit him.[ After "My 1997", she performed throughout ]East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
for several years. The music video for her 1993 "Wandering Swallow" () won the Chunlan Cup MTV Convention.[
Nimrod Baranovitch describes Ai as one of China's first "independent, free, active, dynamic, perhaps even rebellious" female pop stars".][ Much of her music defied stylistic rules and incorporated Western folk and rock styles.][Baranovitch 2003, 165–6.] But after her early albums, Baranovitch claims, Ai's popularity decreased as her themes became more "personal and nonconformist",[Baranovitch 2003, p. 169.] and she faced "antagonism" from men within the music industry because she did not sexually objectify herself and because her introduction of new musical styles challenged the male-dominated industry.[
Ai moved to ]New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
in 1997, and since then has mostly lived in the United States, although she recorded her 2003 album ''Is it a Dream?'' () in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
.[ She has also acted in three][ films: '' Five Girls and a Rope'' (五个女子和一根绳子; 1991), '' Beijing Bastards'' (北京杂种; 1993), and '' From the Queen to the Chief Executive'' (等候董建华发落; 2000).][
]
Discography
References