Inoubliable Teresa Teng

怀念邓丽君– In Memory Of Deng Li Jun

I am crazy about Teresa Teng, or better known as Deng Li Jun 邓丽君 in China, Not only I enjoy listening to her songs; I also read a lot about her. She was such an extraordinary person – apart from being a very famous mandarin singer – she was also a very patriotic girl too. She always held mainland China in her heart – her motherland.

The more I read about her, the more I found myself caught in a somewhat similar dilemma but with a slight difference; I belonged to the third generation of Chinese immigrant to the South Sea 第三代南洋华裔. Unlike Deng Li Jun, I seldom entertained the thought that China was my motherland – granted that I am always proud of being a Chinese and able to read and write Chinese too, albeit just barely. China, located more than 1500 miles north of where I live, just seemed too academic and distant to me then.

Deng Li Jun has rekindled my dormant sense of pride of the Chinese history and culture. I used to be fascinated by the Tang poetry and Sung prose 唐诗与宋词 and the popular classics such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” 三国演义, “Journey to the West” 西游记 etc. However, since I made a switch from Chinese primary school to English secondary school, I gradually shifted my interest to all things Western; I listened not to Deng Li Jun’s songs but The Beatles, Bee Gees and Carpenters instead.

In late October 1971, I left school to join the air force. The necessity for survival forced me to switch to using English rather than Chinese, as English is the de facto language of communications in aviation. The switch was subtle initially but quicken as time went by. In just a few years, it was almost complete. When writing, it seems that I can express myself a lot better in English than in Chinese nowadays. It’s such a strange feeling.

Over the last 35 years, I hardly practiced my already very weak Chinese writing, and I felt terribly inadequate when I was in Shanghai working together with you and John. I need to brush up my Chinese.
Recently I borrowed a book from the library about the life of Deng Li Jun《邓丽君之梦》; written by a Japanese female writer平野久美子 in 1996, translated into Chinese by two Taiwanese female scholars - 张正薇 and 高崎智in 1997. 平野久美子 clearly has expert knowledge and in-depth understanding of the Chinese and Taiwanese history, literature and culture. She gave a vivid and yet very accurate account of the success, tribulation and the corresponding events that affected and molded the life of Deng Li Jun. It was superbly written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Now I yearn for more.

By reading about Deng Li Jun; not so much of the gossipy details surrounding her love life and her sudden and “mysterious” death, I gained a better understanding of the intricate relationship between the indigenous Taiwanese and the mainland KMT Chinese who escaped and settled in Taiwan after their defeat by the communist in the late 1940s.

Born to a KMT army officer who settled in Taiwan, Deng Li Jun was influenced much since birth by her parents and was a patriot. She always wished to see the re-unification of China, or rather, the reversion of the then repressive communist regime of mainland China to become a state of more freedom and liberty for the common people. However, her dream was shattered completely after the Tiananmen incident on 4th June 1989.

When I heard the song “Home Is Over The Other Side Of The Hill” 家在山的那一边, which she sang with gripping emotions at the race course in Hong Kong during the massive demonstration by the Hong Kong residents over the Tiananmen incident. It symbolized the pride of being a Chinese – a “dragon descendant” 龙的传人.

What she witnessed in that fateful day on 4th June 1989 broke her heart, and she indefinitely postponed her concert tour in mainland China. In the end, Deng Li Jun never set foot on mainland China, to the disappointment of million of her fans here. To date, this remains one of her unfulfilled dreams.
If only she is still alive today, she would not have recognised the China she used to perceive and the China as it is today! But her voice and her beautiful songs had already spread like wild fire and reached every nook and corner in the “Middle Kingdom”, permeating and touching the hearts of millions. This phenomenon was first felt in around 1979.

There was a saying in early 1980s; "Deng Senior" 大邓 rules China by day, "Deng Junior" 小邓 rules China by night! Deng Senior was of course Deng Xiao Ping, and Deng Li Jun was affectionately known as Deng Junior. While Deng Xiao Ping was busy fixing China’s shattered economy by day. Deng Li Jun, unbeknown to her then, was busy healing and comforting the souls of millions in China with her beautiful songs in the after-dark hours.

Some of her songs, such as "He Ri Jun Zai Lai" 何日君再来, despite being banned by the authorities for years in mainland China as songs of decadence, the ban was totally ignored by the people. Many were still recovering and licking their wounds of the dreadful Cultural Revolution. They found her songs a refreshing change and a timely reminder to them that life was not just only Mao's excessive revolutionary slogans and the ear-shattering odes! Deng Li Jun struck a chord with them that there were still simple joys of life; romance between young couples and the appreciation of beautiful things in nature. Her beautiful songs also offered a moment of escape from the countless misery and hardship they faced in those days. She was the symbol of hope and comfort to them.

After the passing of the destructive Cultural Revolution and the removal of the “Gang of Four”, Deng Xiao Ping immediately initiated the market-style economic reforms which enabled China to quickly embark on a miraculous recovery. As a result of his vision, China enjoys an uninterrupted, accelerated and phenomenal economic growth ever since. With the new found wealth and the vastly improved income per capita, China can now safely put the impoverished past behind and look confidently forward to be an “awakening dragon” taking on new challenges of the future. The time has come to revive and restore the former glories of the “Han” 汉and “Tang” 唐era of which we “汉” or “唐” people cherished so much. I am proud to be a Chinese -龙的传人, always will be.

Deng Li Jun's songs are not only about romance; Zhuang Nu 庄奴, one of the most well known lyricists for her songs, churned out many beautifully written lyrics about the beauty of nature, small town, thoughts of longing to return home, trees and flowers etc. They are poetic as they are beautiful; e.g. “甜蜜蜜”, “小城故事”, “小村之念”, “原乡人” and “海韵” etc.

These are some of Deng Li Jun’s most beloved greatest hits. Zhuang Nu is nearly 86 years old but is still lucid. He was invited to Beijing recently to receive his “Life time achievement award” for having written so many wonderful lyrics. The lyrics of Zhuang and the voice of Deng were somehow symbiotically linked and mutually complimentary - a perfect match. It is quite simply; magic!

Many claimed that there would be no Deng Li Jun without Zhuang Nu. When interviewed by Beijing’s journalists, Zhuang revealed that he met Deng only once and yet both seemed to have a tacit mutual understanding. He acknowledged he owed much of his success to her as she to him, adding that there would be no Zhuang Nu without Deng Li Jun! He credited Deng’s success through her perseverance and resolve, which can only be best described in Chinese – “宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来”.

In early 1981, Polydor record producer Deng Xi Quan 邓锡泉and Deng Li Jun together they initiated a recording project. It was to be two years of untiring hard work. The project was in collaboration with some of the best song composers from Taiwan and Hong Kong, including Liu Jia Chang 刘家昌, Gu Yue 古月, Liang Hong Zhi 梁弘志 and Huang Zhan 黄沾. Pitching their talents together, they composed, arranged and produced 12 songs using some specially selected Sung proses 宋词as lyrics. And Deng Li Jun, already an accomplished singer by then, gave her finest hours into recording them, culminating the release of the unparalleled mandarin album “Dan Dan You Qing” 淡淡幽情 in 1983.

It was an instant success and immediately became the all-time top-selling mandarin album in the Fast East and other overseas Asian communities, and winning numerous awards. Several of these songs were later added to her already very large collection of all-time greatest hits; e.g. “Dan Yuan Ren Chang Jiu” 但愿人长久, “Du Shang Xi Lou” 独上西楼, “Ji Duo Chou” 几多愁 (虞美人) and “Ren Yue Huang Hun Hou” 人约黄昏后.
“Dan Dan You Qing” established Deng Li Jun as the most outstanding and indisputable one and only greatest mandarin singer of all time. Another reason for the runaway success of “Dan Dan You Qing” owed much to her faultless portrayal of a classical Sung beauty 宋代美人.

Dressed in Sung period costumes on videos, she was able to capture all the essence of an intricate splendor, poise and fragility of a Sung lady. So perfect and striking was the portrayal that she could literally transport you back in time to the Sung era! And with her silky smooth renditions of these brilliantly written Sung proses, she was able bring these long lost tunes back to life once again. What an incredible feat!
If only the renowned Sung poet Su Dong Po 苏东坡 (苏轼) was here to meet her, surely he would have been utterly dumbfounded by her singing talent and inspiring good looks. So far, no other Asian female singers can match that feat.

23 years have gone by since the release of “Dan Dan You Qing”, there was never another of such splendid work of art ever produced again. Worst of all, Deng Li Jun has set so high a benchmark that no one even dared to attempt a remake of this great album after her. “Dan Dan You Qing” has already been critically assessed and considered a unique classical treasure. It probably will not be surpassed for decades to come!

A cascade of her photos taken from 1977 to 1986
Deng Li Jun, from what I have learned through not just listening to her beautiful voice and heart-warming songs; I also discovered that she was such a gentle, down-to-earth, and a classic Oriental beauty.

Particularly from 1977 to 1986, when she was between 24 and 33 years of age, those were her unforgettable years when she reached the pinnacle of her singing career and she looked incredibly stunning and attractive too. It was downright easy to be infatuated by her! Many men and women, young and old, apart from sending her bouquets of flowers, simply could not hold themselves back and wanted to get close to touch or hug and kiss her! I saw that over and over again in many of her concerts on videos, particularly during her “15th Anniversary Concert Tour” in Asia, one of her most successful “all sold-out” tours from late 1983 to early 1984.

I wonder why I was so blind and nonchalant to her success and accomplishments then. It must be something to do with my switching from using Chinese to English after joining the Air Force, resulting in the “Chinese” part of me lying dormant for such a long time.

But thanks to her, and strange as it may sound, she had unwittingly helped me to revive my interest in Chinese history, literature and the desire to read and learn Chinese once again. She also helped me to rediscover my roots. Considering the fact that I only learned more about her in the last couple of months, mostly through the internet, especially from the myriad of websites set up in memory of her in mainland China. She must have meant so much to her millions of fans here.

Following her heartbreaking death in May 1995, Deng Li Jun was buried in Taiwan’s scenic Jin Bao Shan 金宝山 with full military honour, an undertaking that was unheard of in the military history of Taiwan for a non-military female.

Despite of some quarters’ disagreement to this, her contributions to Taiwan’s (or for that matter, the entire world’s Asian communities) music and culture were nevertheless - immeasurable.
Today, they are just as many singers who are labeled as Asia’s “the most popular” and “the greatest mandarin singers” or “heavenly kings” etc. - whipped up by the press or promoted by their recording companies with only the aim of increasing the sale of their CDs. By tomorrow, they will probably be gone without a trace. As for Deng Li Jun, her songs are still being aired regularly these days. She will be remembered by millions forever. Indeed, she had become an unprecedented and unparalleled singing legend.

Truly yours;
胡寿岩 Hu Shou Yan
eddiefoosn@gmail.com
(Updated on 3rd July 2006)

A late talent!

Nyumbang link lagu2 Teresa Teng in Japanese : http://www.4shared.com/file/26970590/32294448/TERESA_TENG_-_JAPANESE_OLD_SONGS_Special_2.html?s=1
CG. Ada Futari de o Sake o.

hello salam kenal .... aku bisa nyampe sini dari dari temanku yang baik hati, (http://yogahart.multiply.com/ .... thanks ya sobat :> )

isi blognya inspiratif sekali, banyak hal baru yang kutemukan disini, seperti lagu2 Indonesia dari Teresa Teng, and many more. makasih ya atas kesediaannya berbagi ...
salam

永远怀念鄧麗君。

thank you for the visit:)

Happy birthday..

Nice site! Good Job!I love Teresa Teng!