"Gong Xi Gong Xi" () is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

song and a

Chinese Lunar New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () as ...

standard. Other English titles for the song include "Congratulations" and "Happiness To You".

History

The music and words of the song are both by

Chen Gexin Chen Gexin (; September 19, 1914 — January 25, 1961) was a Chinese popular music songwriter. He also used the pen names Lín Méi () and Qìng Yú (). Chen Genxin was beaten to death in his sleep during the Rightist movement. Biography Chen ...

(under the pen name Qing Yu). It was written in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in 1945 to celebrate the defeat of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and liberation of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at the end of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

(

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). The final lines of this song replicate the typical beat of the Chinese drum. An early popular recording of the song was by

Yao Lee Yao Lee (; 10 September 1922 – 19 July 2019), also credited as Yao Li, Yiu Lei and Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer active from the 1930s to the 1970s. She was the sister of Yao Min, also a famous singer and songwriter. She was considered one o ...

and her brother

Yao Min Yao Min (, born 姚民 ''Yáo Mín''; November 1917 – 30 March 1967) was a Chinese popular music songwriter and singer and brother of Yao Lee. He was arguably one of the most prolific songwriters of the shidaiqu era in 1930s and 1940s Shanghai t ...

. Because its Mandarin title is also a common Lunar New Year greeting and the song celebrates the arrival of spring, it quickly became associated almost exclusively with New Year celebrations and remains a part of the season's musical canon. Contemporary versions of the song frequently appear on Chinese New Year musical collection

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, sometimes as electronic dance music performances and occasionally also feature lyrics in

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...

and even English. A more modern rendition of the song appeared on the 2002

China Dolls China Dolls (; ; ) are a famous pop music singing duo from Thailand. The group is composed of Pailin "Hwa Hwa" Rattanasangsatian and Supachaya "Bell" Lattisophonkul. Career The duo has released several albums since their formation in 1999 a ...

album 多一點點 – 小調大風行. This song was included in the

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band that was founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as classical, latin, traditional pop, and jazz. The co-lead v ...

Christmas album ''

Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is usua ...

'' released in 2010, under the title "Congratulations - A Happy New Year Song" with vocals by

China Forbes China Forbes (born April 29, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter who has been the lead singer of the band Pink Martini since 1995. Life and career The daughter of Peggy (née Woodford) and Donald Cameron Forbes, China Forbes was born and ...

and Timothy Yuji Nishimoto. Khởi My sung a Vietnamese adaptation called ''Chúc Tết''.

Lyrics

References

External links

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcMGcT6gByM A rendition of the song in YouTube Chinese songs Chinese patriotic songs Mandarin-language songs 1945 songs 1945 compositions {{China-music-stub

History

Lyrics

See also

References

External links