Song Zuying (; born August 13, 1966) is a Chinese classical/folk singer.

Early life

Song was born in

Guzhang County Guzhang County () is a county of Hunan Province, China. The county is the 2nd least populous administrative unit of the counties or county-level cities (after Shaoshan City) in the province, it is under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous ...

, part of

Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Tujia: Xianxxix bifzivkar befkar zifzifzoux; Miao: Xangdxid tutjadcul maolcul zibzhibzhoud) is an autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China. It is located in northwestern Hunan provin ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

. She is of

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

ethnicity, and studied at the Department of Music and Dancing at the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing, after which she studied at the China Music College. Her father died when she was 12, and she is the oldest daughter. In 1991, she joined the Chinese

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Song and Dance Troupe as a national first-class singer.

Political activities

Song joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

in 1999 when it was led by Party General Secretary

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

, with whom she is rumoured to have had an affair. Zeng Qinghuai, brother of

Zeng Qinghong Zeng Qinghong (born 30 July 1939) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China's highest leadership council, and top-ranked member of the Secretariat of the Central ...

, a key political advisor to Jiang Zemin, is also believed to have been her "key patron". She rose quickly to become a deputy representative at the 9th

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

from 1998 to 2003, and a member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

, from 2003 on. She is a standing member of the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

, an executive member of

All-China Women's Federation The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF; ) is a women's rights people's organization established in China on 24 March 1949. It was originally called the All-China Democratic Women's Foundation, and was renamed the All-China Women's Federation in ...

, a member of

China Federation of Literary and Art Circles China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (''CFLAC'' ), established in July 1949, is a Chinese people's organization composed of nationwide associations of writers and artists. CFLAC is one of the founders of CPPCC ( Chinese People's Political Co ...

and the agent of China Musician Association. She is also an ambassador to the Chinese

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Military

As of 2009, she is a non-combatant Rear Admiral in the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...

Investigation for corruption

In January 2018 it was reported that Song was under investigation for corruption as part of Party General Secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

's anti-corruption campaign in connection to an alleged misuse of public funds in the financing of her personal musical concerts in 2002, 2003, and in 2006. During this time, other former

loyalists were targeted by investigations, including her former patron Zeng Qinghuai, and Song's brother, Song Zuyu. In February 2018 Song's name was removed from the list of attendees of the CPPCC.

Discography

* Song Zuying & China Philharmonic Orchestra: ''Epics Of Love - An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poetry'' (Stockfisch, 2015)

Filmography

*'' Wan-chun'' (1990)

References

External links

Famous Chinese Folk Singer - Song Zuying

宋祖英尬雙周巨蛋夜瘋狂 2011年05月09日
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Zuying 1966 births Living people Chinese women singers Chinese folk singers Chinese sopranos People from Xiangxi Minzu University of China alumni Singers from Hunan Stockfisch Records artists Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Delegates to the 9th National People's Congress