![ZhouXuan1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/ZhouXuan1.jpg)
"When Will You Return?" () is a Chinese song first sung by
Zhou Xuan in 1937, but also well known as a song by
Teresa Teng
Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...
. It has also been variously translated as "When Will the Gentleman Come Back Again?" or "When Will You Come Back Again?" The lyrics were written by Huang Jiamo () set to a tune composed by
Liu Xue'an.
Background
Composition
According to Liu Xue'an's son, the tune was written by his father at an undergraduate party at the Shanghai Music Conservatory, during which an impromptu song-composition competition was suggested. Liu wrote the melody quickly, played it as a tango song and won the approval of other students. The director Fang Peilin (d. 1949?) liked the tune, and asked Bei Lin (later identified as Huang Jiamo) to write the lyrics to be used for his new film.
Controversy
The song was highly popular as well as controversial. The controversy arose due to the various interpretations and political readings of its supposed "hidden" meaning. The lyrics were interpreted as either anti-Japanese, treasonous, or pornographic. After 1949 the song was banned by the People's Republic of China because it was seen as bourgeois and decadent.
The writer Liu was criticized and suffered during the
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...
in 1957 and during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
in the 1960s. He offered a public self-criticism in 1980 before he was rehabilitated, but criticism of the song continued in mainland China for some time as an example of "
Yellow Music
Yellow Music is a genre of popular music. The term has been used in China and Vietnam to describe types of music that have separate origins.
China
Yellow Music () or Yellow Songs () was a label used to describe early generations of Chinese popu ...
", a product of decadent and immoral society.
This song was also banned during the martial law era in Taiwan because the title would be interpreted as "When will the Red Army/ Japanese Army return" (何日軍再來, which 軍 has the same pronunciation as 君, and refers to either the
Japanese Army or the
People's Liberation Army), or "Celebrating the Japanese Army return" (賀日軍再來, which 賀 has the similar pronunciation as 何) by the
Taiwan Garrison Command
The Taiwan Garrison Command () was a secret police/national security body which existed under the Republic of China Armed Forces on Taiwan. The agency was established at the end of World War II, and operated throughout the Cold War. It was d ...
.
Zhou Xuan's original version
The song was originally sung by Zhou Xuan and first appeared as an accompaniment to the film ''Three Stars by the Moon'' (), a 1937 film directed by Fang Peilin and produced by the Yihua film company. The film was one of the last silent movies made in China, and the only silent movie Zhou Xuan starred in. The songs in the film were probably played to the audience on a gramophone synchronized with the action.
Teresa Teng's version
The song became heavily associated with
Teresa Teng
Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...
through her version, first released on her 1978 "A Love Letter" album, so much that she has supplanted Zhou Xuan as "the primary singer identified with this song". In
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
too, Teng became prominent via the song.
Geremie R. Barmé, author of ''In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture'', described the song as a "nostalgic ode". Barmé said that some individuals on the Mainland condemned the song, describing it as "traitorous" and "obscene".
Memorials for Teng have included performances of "When Will You Return?"
Other versions
Zhou's colleague, actress
Li Lili
Li Lili (; 2 June 1915 – 7 August 2005) was a Chinese film actress and singer. Her films '' Playthings'', '' The Great Road'' and ''Storm on the Border'' were blockbusters of the 1930s and 1940s.Elaine DuanTop 10 legendary Chinese women in th ...
performed the song in
Cai Chusheng
Cai Chusheng (January 12, 1906 – July 15, 1968) was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era, and was the first Chinese director to win an international film award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Best known for his progres ...
's film ''Orphan Island Paradise'' 孤島天堂 (1939).
The song was translated into Japanese and sung by
Hamako Watanabe
was the stage name of a Japanese popular singer, who was active during the Shōwa period of Japan, before, during and after World War II. Her real name was Hamako Kato.
Early career
Watanabe was born and raised in Yokohama, and claimed that her ...
(1940), and was re-released by
Li Xianglan the following year; Li (aka Yamaguchi Yoshiko) was fluent in both Chinese and Japanese, and also performed Chinese versions.
The song has been recorded by
Judy Ongg
Judy Ongg (; born 24 January 1950) is a Taiwanese-Japanese singer, actress, author, and woodblock-print artist. Born in Taipei, she graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, and after which, she became a naturalized Japanese citizen. H ...
,
[ Fei Yu-ching, ]Lisa Ono
Lisa Ono (小野リサ; born 29 July 1962) is a Brazilian Japanese bossa nova singer.
Life
Lisa Ono was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1962 but moved with her family to Tokyo at the age of 10. From that time on she spent half of every year in ...
, Claire Kuo
Claire Kuo (born Kuo Po-yu on 5 August 1980) is a Taiwanese singer and television host.
The daughter of a restaurant owner, Kuo graduated from Shih Hsin University and was a competitive cheerleader. She performed her final routine in Novembe ...
and many others.
Mitsuki Takahata
is a Japanese actress and singer who is represented by the talent agency Horipro. She attended Hosei University as an undergraduate student
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate ...
sang it as the title track to the film ''Itsu mata kimi to'' (2017).
A rendition entitled “Waiting for Your Return” by Jasmine Chen and arranged by Christopher Tin
Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer of art music, often composed for film and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He has won two Grammy Aw ...
played during the opening credit of the film ''Crazy Rich Asians
''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on h ...
'' (2018).
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
1937 songs
Teresa Teng songs