Zhou Xuan (; born Su Pu (); August 1, 1920 – September 22, 1957), also romanized as Chow Hsuan, was an iconic Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's
Seven Great Singing Stars
The Seven Great Singing Stars () were seven singers of China in the 1940s.
Background
Several of the stars acted in films, and their music played a prominent role in developing Cinema of China, Chinese cinema. They dominated the Chinese pop musi ...
. She was the best known of the seven, nicknamed the "Golden Voice", and had a concurrent movie career until 1954. She recorded more than 200 songs and appeared in over 40 films in her career.
Early life
Zhou was born Su Pu (), but was separated from her natural parents at a young age and raised by adoptive parents. She spent her entire life searching for her biological parents but her parentage was never established until after her death.
According to later family research, a relative who was an
opium addict took her at the age of 3 to another city and sold her to a family named
Wang
Wang may refer to:
Names
* Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname
* Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname
* Titles in Chinese nobility
* A title in Korean nobility
* A title in Mongolian nobility
Places
* Wang River in Thai ...
, who named her Wang Xiaohong. She was later adopted by a family named
Zhou, changing her name to Zhou Xiaohong.
At the age of 13, she took Zhou Xuan as her stage name, 'Xuan' () meaning ''beautiful jade'' in Chinese.
Career
In 1932, Zhou began acting as a member of
Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui (; 5 September 1891 – 15 February 1967 although some sources suggest he died 1968) was a Chinese composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, Hunan, Qing China. He is often dubbed as the "Father of Chinese popular music".Aigomusic.A ...
's
Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe
The Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe (Chinese: 明月歌舞团; pinyin: Míngyuè Gēwǔtuán) was a group founded by Li Jinhui from the late 1920s through the 1930s. It is also translated as Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe.
Background
Du ...
. When she was 12, she won second prize in a singing contest 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 ...
and was given the nickname "Golden Voice" () for her effortless high-pitched melodies.
Zhou began her film career in 1935, and she achieved stardom in 1937 when director
Yuan Muzhi
Yuan Muzhi (; March 3, 1909 – January 30, 1978) was an actor and director from the Republic of China and later of the People's Republic of China.
Career
As an actor, Yuan became extremely popular and took on the nickname "man with a thousan ...
cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl in ''
Street Angel''. Zhou rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the
gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies.
Between 1946 and 1950, she often went to Hong Kong to make films such as "All-Consuming Love" (), "Hua wai liu ying" (), ''
Sorrows of the Forbidden City'', and "Rainbow Song" (). After introducing "Shanghai Nights" () in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. Zhou's first husband was the composer Yan Hua (, 1912–1992), who wrote and sometimes also performed songs with her.
Despite having made a total of 43 movies, her most well-known performance remained the 1937 film, ''
Street Angel''. This contained two theme songs: "Four Seasons Song" () and "
The Wandering Songstress
"Tianya genü" (), or "The Wandering Songstress", is one of two theme songs from the 1937 Chinese film '' Street Angel''; the other being the "Four Seasons Song" (). It was composed by He Luting based on an older Suzhou ballad, with lyrics by Ti ...
", which enjoyed long-lasting popularity.
Other well-known songs by Zhou Xuan include "
When Will You Return?
"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. It has also been variously translated as "When Will the Gentleman Come Back Again?" or "When Will You Come Back Again?" ...
", "Shanghai Nights" (title song from the film of the same name), "Yellow Leaves Dancing in the Autumn Wind" (), "Eternal Smile" (), "Hundred Flower Song" (), "Advice" (), "Where Can the Soul Mate be Found" (), and "Picking Betel Nuts" ().
Death
In 1957 she died 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 a
mental asylum
The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital.
The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...
at the age of 37 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 ...
. A possible cause of death may be
encephalitis following a
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
. Zhou's diary concluded that she suffered from
cerebritis
Cerebritis is the inflammation of the cerebrum, which performs a number of important functions, such as memory and speech. It is also defined as a purulent nonencapsulated parenchymal infection of brain which is characterized by nonspecific featu ...
.
Zhou Xuan was survived by two sons, Zhou Min and Zhou Wei, born of different fathers. Zhou Min was widely believed to be the son of the businessman Zhu Huaide, who left for Shanghai in 1950 after Zhou Xuan entrusted him with her savings and never returned; Zhou Min was born in that same year. According to her elder son Zhou Min's biography, her younger son, Zhou Wei, was the son of the art designer Tang Di (), while the biological father of Zhou Min himself was not revealed.
Zhou Wei currently lives in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
performing at times in the
TTC subways and participating in various musical projects, including teaching. He is a
flautist
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
. He has two daughters, both musicians. The elder of the two, Zhou Xiaoxuan, is a classical
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
trained at
Concordia University
Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
and now living in Beijing. The youngest, Amanda Zhou, is taking a similar path as an actress and has already worked on a few shows and films.
Cultural legacy
To this day, Zhou Xuan's songs still remain a staple in many Golden Oldies collections in
Mandarin popular music.
There have been two biographies written by Zhou Xuan's surviving family members. The book ''My Mother Zhou Xuan'' () was written by Zhou Wei and his wife Chang Jing (); while a later book, ''Zhou Xuan Diary'' (), was written by Zhou Min.
Television
An adaptation of the life of Zhou Xuan was produced in
TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
's ''
Song Bird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...
'' (1989), starring
Adia Chan
Nadia Chan (; born 21 January 1971) is a Hong Kong actress, singer, model, and spokesperson.
Life and career
Chan was born to Chinese Ethnic Indonesian parents. Chan's parents are Indonesian Chinese and her family moved to Hong Kong when she ...
as Zhou Xuan and
Leon Lai
Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...
as her lover. In this series, Xuan's songs were re-written in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
and sung by Chan. She sang duets with Lai in the program while under Crown Records ().
Deric Wan
Deric Wan Siu-lun (born 18 November 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and songwriter who has starred in numerous television series and released several studio albums. His representative works include a duet with Nadia Chan, a cover of the s ...
replaced Lai's vocals on the soundtrack album.
Another adaptation, based on Zhou Wei's biography, is the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
serial titled ''Zhou Xuan'' (), starring
Cecilia Cheung. This version of the story was accused by Zhou Wei as a false representation of Zhou Xuan and damaging to the reputation of the Zhou family.
Filmography
* (1935)
* ''
Street Angel'' (, 1937)
* (1940)
* (1940)
* ''
Dream of the Red Chamber
''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known fo ...
'' (, 1944)
* ''
Night Inn
''Night Inn'' () is a Chinese black-and-white film released in 1947, directed by Huang Zuolin and starring the popular Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan.
The film is based on the Chinese theatrical adaptation of Maxim Gorky's 1902 play '' The Lower Dep ...
'' (, 1947)
* ''An All-Consuming Love'' (, 1947)
* ''
Sorrows of the Forbidden City'' (, 1948)
* ''Orioles Banished from the Flowers'' (, 1948)
* ''Song of a Songstress'' (, 1948)
* ''Waste Not Our Youth'' , 1949)
* (1950)
See also
*
C-pop
C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music (), a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China,Hong Kong and Taiwan (the Greater China region). This also includes countries where Chinese languages are used by ...
, an overview of Chinese popular music
**
Mandopop
Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkie ...
, the Mandarin-language
subgenre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
**
Cantopop
Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...
, for
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
performed in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
*
Seven Great Singing Stars
The Seven Great Singing Stars () were seven singers of China in the 1940s.
Background
Several of the stars acted in films, and their music played a prominent role in developing Cinema of China, Chinese cinema. They dominated the Chinese pop musi ...
References
External links
Chinese Film Classics: Zhou XuanChinese Film Classics online course, Module 7: ''Street Angels'' (1937)- full film with English subtitles, and two video lectures about the film
*
*
Zhou Xuanat th
Chinese Movie Database*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Xuan
1920 births
1957 deaths
Actresses from Changzhou
Mandarin-language singers
Musicians from Changzhou
20th-century Chinese actresses
Chinese adoptees
Victims of human rights abuses
Singers from Jiangsu
Political abuses of psychiatry
Chinese film actresses
Burials in Shanghai
20th-century Chinese women singers
Chinese emigrants to Hong Kong
Pathé Records (China) artists