Though Beijing is the undisputed center of China’s thriving underground music culture in China, I did get to get a bit of a taste of it here in Shanghai.  Here’s a little video shot at the Live Bar a couple of weeks ago.  Fun stuff!

Wherever there are Chinese people, the name of Theresa Teng is known, and her music is loved.  She has been that influential in the world of Chinese pop music.  Indeed, her influence reaches beyond just the Chinese-speaking world, and is felt all over East and Southeast Asia.   Alongside her Mandarin songs, she is also known for her recordings in Cantonese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indonesian, and English.  She, more than any other singer, really reached across the borders of the Asian pop scene.  You might say that what Bruce Lee was for Chinese movies, Theresa Teng was for Chinese music.

Teng’s music is best described as folksy, with lots of ballads and sentimental lyrics serving as the hallmarks of her style. Teng’s music is easy on the ear and loaded with feeling, and this seems to have enabled her music to pass smoothly from one country to another in Asia.  Songs such as 《月亮代表我的心》 (“The Moon Represents My Heart”) are instantly recognized all over Asia.  In fact, I was recently reading an article by a Korean writer who commented that, while Teng’s name might not be recognized as widely in Korea as in the Chinese-speaking world, all you have to do is hum a short section of one of her songs and the man-on-the-street in Korea will respond with, “Oh!  You mean her…”  The same article mentions that what the Beatles are to England, so is Theresa Teng to China. 

One thing about Teng’s superstar status that is worthy of mention is that she managed it all while never tarnishing the “good-girl” image that she projected.  She was tirelessly involved in community service, offering countless charity performances, and she will always be remembered for her sweet smile and girl-next-door image.

Sadly, in 1995, Teng died of a severe asthma attack while traveling in Thailand.  The day the news of her death spread across Asia, many were deeply saddened by her departure.  Her music has, of course, outlived her, and continues to be well-loved in Asian communities around the world.

I would be lying if I denied that some of my literary fathers are rock musicians.  I grew up loving the music of bands like The Police and Rush, both of which came up with some of the best lyrics rock music has ever seen.   I don’t know how evident the influence of Sting and Neil Peart is in my poetry, but I know that they were extremely influential with regards to what went on (and goes on) in my mind.  

In recent months, one of my favorite musical companions has been the Rush piece “Tai Shan.”  Both its music and lyrics have resonated for me during my prolonged stays in Shanghai and my travels to other parts of China in 2008.

I’ve named this blog in part as tribute to this song, but if you know much about China’s Tai Shan, you recognize the deep history that lies behind the lyrics.  It was atop Tai Shan that Confucius said that “the world is small” and Chairman Mao said that “the East is Red.”  It is a locale with a long and rich history.  

I’ve accordingly named this blog Tai Shan because I plan to make it a space for writing about China and things Chinese.  I plan to include some travelogues, some thoughts on language learning, and some reviews of various cultural products, whether ancient Chinese poetry or contemporary Chinese movies and music.  I am hoping to include some posts by guest bloggers from time to time too, if that can be worked out.  (Do contact me if you’d like to be a guest blogger here.)

Chinese scholar Guo Moruo calls Tai Shan “a partial miniature of China.”  In naming this blog after that sacred mountain, I hope I have not been presumptuous.  I cannot hope to provide a similar microcosm of the world that is China, but I can offer you my perspectives on my interaction with that world.  I hope you’ll enjoy the journey with me.

I thought of time and distance
The hardships of history
I heard the hope and the hunger
When China sang to me…
When China sang to me

– from Rush’s “Tai Shan”

lyrics by Neil Peart