Shidaiqu
Encyclopedia
Shidaiqu is a type of Chinese folk/European jazz fusion
music that originated in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s.
shidaiqu was regarded as Chinese popular music beginning in the 1920s. Its heyday was in the 1940s, then it died out in 1952 when the Communists banned nightclubs and pop music production. The tradition then moved to Hong Kong
and reached its height from the 1950s to the late 1960s, when it was replaced by Taiwanese pop (sung in Mandarin) and later cantopop
. While it is considered a prototype, music enthusiasts may see it as an early version of mandopop
. Li Jinhui
is the founder of shidaiqu, along with Chinese popular music. The western jazz
influences were shaped by American
jazz
musician Buck Clayton
. Nowadays, shidaiqu has inspired Gary Lucas
for his album The Edge of Heaven
and DJs such as Ian Widgery and his Shanghai Lounge Divas project. On the other hand, if cinema was the origin of many songs, Wong Kar-wai
used them again for illustrating his movie "In the Mood for Love
"; Rebecca Pan
, one of the actresses in this film, was also one of those famous shidaiqu singers. Last but not least, though mainland China and Hong Kong
are where shidaiqu originated from, Japan
shouldn't be neglected either, as one of the most famous singers, Li Xianglan (born Yoshiko Yamaguchi), was Japanese.
Shidaiqu is a kind of fusion music. The use of jazz musical instruments (e.g., castanets, maracas) is unprecedented in Chinese musical history. The ABA form or ABCA form, which are still used by modern composers, were new to Chinese. This is also why it is called Shidaiqu. The melodies are easy to remember and some of them are still sung today, such as 恭喜恭喜 performed by Yao Lee
and Yao Min
.
Shanghai Shidaiqu reflects feelings of 1930's Shanghainese citizens. Shanghai was divided into the International Concession and the French Concession in the '30s and early '40s. Owing to the protection of foreign nations (e.g., Britain and France), Shanghai was a properous and a rather politically stable city. Some songs reflected the extravagant lives of the bourgeoisie class and rich merchants. At the same time, some leftist songs also showed the poverty of commoners in the city. Some Shidaiqu are related to particular historical events (e.g., Second Sino-Japanese War). The lyrics are graceful and expressive. This is closely related to the composers' profound knowledge of literature. The euphemism of presenting love, which was always found in old Chinese novels, is kept in Shidaiqu, thus making Shidaiqu artistic.
In terms of scientific significance, the recording methods of songs on 78rpm gramophone shellac records marked a new age in Chinese musical history. Usually the recording would be done in one take only. Therefore, sound engineers had to be extremely careful when making records. 鋼針唱片 (steel stylus records), which was an important recording medium, are now abandoned due to the development in digital recording. This is also accompanied by the disappearance of this precious sound recording technology.
Shanghai Shidaiqu are sung in Mandarin. It was regarded as a symbol of fashion and progressive culture in the old days. Although many people did not necessarily know how to speak Mandarin, they were enchanted by the songs.
Shanghai dominated the Chinese movie industry in the 1930s. 漁光曲 (literally: Fish light Song), a famous movie in the '30s, marked the beginning of 歌舞片 (song films or musicals). Pop singers (e.g., Zhou Xuan
, Bai Guang
, Gong Qiuxia
) also participated in these films. Their beautiful voices guaranteed best-selling, hit records.
With the popularity of Cantopop and Taiwanpop, Shidaiqu faces a decline in listeners.
Shanghai
Li Jinguang
Chen Gexin
Yao Ming (or Yao Min
)
Liang Yue yin
Hou Xiang
Concession
Jazz
Ballroom dance
Rumba
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
music that originated in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s.
Terminology
The term (時代曲shídàiqǔ) literally means "songs of the era" in Mandarin. When sung in Cantonese, it is referred to as (粵語時代曲), when sung in Amoy Hokkien, it is referred to as (夏語時代曲).Mainstream
In ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
shidaiqu was regarded as Chinese popular music beginning in the 1920s. Its heyday was in the 1940s, then it died out in 1952 when the Communists banned nightclubs and pop music production. The tradition then moved to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and reached its height from the 1950s to the late 1960s, when it was replaced by Taiwanese pop (sung in Mandarin) and later cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
. While it is considered a prototype, music enthusiasts may see it as an early version of mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
. Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui was a composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, Hunan, China. He is the "Father of Chinese popular music". He created a new musical form with shidaiqu after the fall of the Qing Dynasty-- moving away from established musical forms. Li was a very controversial figure in China...
is the founder of shidaiqu, along with Chinese popular music. The western jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
influences were shaped by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton
Buck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...
. Nowadays, shidaiqu has inspired Gary Lucas
Gary Lucas
Gary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" ; a "legendary leftfield...
for his album The Edge of Heaven
The Edge of Heaven
"The Edge of Heaven" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1986. It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo, and was promoted in advance as Wham!'s farewell single.-History:...
and DJs such as Ian Widgery and his Shanghai Lounge Divas project. On the other hand, if cinema was the origin of many songs, Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
used them again for illustrating his movie "In the Mood for Love
In the Mood for Love
In the Mood for Love is a 2000 Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung...
"; Rebecca Pan
Rebecca Pan
Rebecca Pan Di-hua is a Chinese actress and singer.She was born in Shanghai on 29 December 1931. She moved to Hong Kong in 1949. Her singing career began in 1957...
, one of the actresses in this film, was also one of those famous shidaiqu singers. Last but not least, though mainland China and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
are where shidaiqu originated from, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
shouldn't be neglected either, as one of the most famous singers, Li Xianglan (born Yoshiko Yamaguchi), was Japanese.
Shidaiqu is a kind of fusion music. The use of jazz musical instruments (e.g., castanets, maracas) is unprecedented in Chinese musical history. The ABA form or ABCA form, which are still used by modern composers, were new to Chinese. This is also why it is called Shidaiqu. The melodies are easy to remember and some of them are still sung today, such as 恭喜恭喜 performed by Yao Lee
Yao Lee
Yao Lee, also credited as Yiu Lei and Miss Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer from the 1930s to the 1970s and sister of Yao Min. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
and Yao Min
Yao Min
Yao Ming 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 through the 1950s and 1960s in Hong Kong....
.
Shanghai Shidaiqu reflects feelings of 1930's Shanghainese citizens. Shanghai was divided into the International Concession and the French Concession in the '30s and early '40s. Owing to the protection of foreign nations (e.g., Britain and France), Shanghai was a properous and a rather politically stable city. Some songs reflected the extravagant lives of the bourgeoisie class and rich merchants. At the same time, some leftist songs also showed the poverty of commoners in the city. Some Shidaiqu are related to particular historical events (e.g., Second Sino-Japanese War). The lyrics are graceful and expressive. This is closely related to the composers' profound knowledge of literature. The euphemism of presenting love, which was always found in old Chinese novels, is kept in Shidaiqu, thus making Shidaiqu artistic.
In terms of scientific significance, the recording methods of songs on 78rpm gramophone shellac records marked a new age in Chinese musical history. Usually the recording would be done in one take only. Therefore, sound engineers had to be extremely careful when making records. 鋼針唱片 (steel stylus records), which was an important recording medium, are now abandoned due to the development in digital recording. This is also accompanied by the disappearance of this precious sound recording technology.
Shanghai Shidaiqu are sung in Mandarin. It was regarded as a symbol of fashion and progressive culture in the old days. Although many people did not necessarily know how to speak Mandarin, they were enchanted by the songs.
Shanghai dominated the Chinese movie industry in the 1930s. 漁光曲 (literally: Fish light Song), a famous movie in the '30s, marked the beginning of 歌舞片 (song films or musicals). Pop singers (e.g., Zhou Xuan
Zhou Xuan
Zhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...
, Bai Guang
Bai Guang
Bai Guang was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
, Gong Qiuxia
Gong Qiuxia
Gong Qiuxia was born in 1916 under the birth name in Jiangsu, China. She was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
) also participated in these films. Their beautiful voices guaranteed best-selling, hit records.
With the popularity of Cantopop and Taiwanpop, Shidaiqu faces a decline in listeners.
Representatives
- Bai HongBai HongBai Hong was born in 1919 under the birth name in Beijing. She was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
白虹 - Zhou XuanZhou XuanZhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...
周璇 - Chen Juan-juan
- Bai GuangBai GuangBai Guang was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
白光 - Wang Zeh-mei
- Gong QiuxiaGong QiuxiaGong Qiuxia was born in 1916 under the birth name in Jiangsu, China. She was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
or Kung Chiu-hsia 龔秋霞 - Tung Pei-pei
- Wu YingyinWu YingyinWu Yingyin was a Chinese singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
or Woo Ing-ing 吳鶯音 - Chang Loo 張露
- Hsia Tan or Xia Dan 夏丹
- Tsin TingTsin TingTsin Ting is a Chinese singer and dubbing artist, who is perhaps best known as the Marni Nixon of Hong Kong cinema.-Biography:...
靜婷 - Yao LeeYao LeeYao Lee, also credited as Yiu Lei and Miss Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer from the 1930s to the 1970s and sister of Yao Min. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
姚莉 - Yao MinYao MinYao Ming 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 through the 1950s and 1960s in Hong Kong....
(singer) 姚敏 - Li Li-hwa 李麗華
- Lin DaiLin DaiLinda Lin Dai was a Chinese actress of Hong Kong films made in Mandarin during 1950s–60s. She was a star actress in the Shaw Brothers Studio stable....
林黛 - Yeh Meng
- Li Xianglan 李香蘭
- Poon Sow-keng 潘秀瓊
- Rebecca PanRebecca PanRebecca Pan Di-hua is a Chinese actress and singer.She was born in Shanghai on 29 December 1931. She moved to Hong Kong in 1949. Her singing career began in 1957...
潘迪華 - Mona FongMona FongMona Fong Yat Wah, Lady Shaw is a Hong Kong film and television producer and production manager. A Cantonese born in Shanghai, Mona achieved fame as one of the most popular nightclub singers and recording artists in Singapore and Hong Kong in the 1950s. She often sang English covers of top hits of...
方逸華 - Tsai ChinTsai Chin (singer)Tsai Chin is a pop and folk singer from Taiwan . She sings in both Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien and is known for her naturally magnetic rich vocals and witty persona.-Music career:...
蔡琴 - Tsui PingTsui PingTsui Ping has been a very popular Mandarin pop singer and "queen of expressive feelings" from 1950-1971...
崔萍 - Grace ChangGrace ChangGrace Chang , aka Ge3 Lan2 , is a Chinese actress and singer.Born in Shanghai, Chang moved with her family to Hong Kong in 1948....
葛蘭 - Ling Po 凌波
- Kuang Yuling 鄺玉玲
- Julie Yeh or Yeh Feng 葉楓
- Deng Xiaoping 鄧小萍
- Ouyang Feiying 歐陽飛鶯
- Ruby Wah or Hua Yibao 華怡保
- Carrie Koo Mei 顧媚
- Huang Ling or Wong Ling 黃菱
- Billie Tam 蓓蕾
- Deng Baiying 鄧白英
- Yi Min 逸敏
- Winnie Wei or Wei Xiuxian 韋秀嫻
- Liu Yun or Lau Yuen 留韻
See also
- C-popC-popC-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music , a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Others come from countries where the Chinese language is used by a large number of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
- Music of ChinaMusic of ChinaChinese Music has been made since the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
- Music of Hong KongMusic of Hong KongThe Music of Hong Kong is an eclectic mixture of traditional and popular genres. Cantopop is one of the more prominent genres of music produced in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta regularly perform western classical music in the city...
Shanghai
Li Jinguang
Chen Gexin
Yao Ming (or Yao Min
Yao Min
Yao Ming 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 through the 1950s and 1960s in Hong Kong....
)
Liang Yue yin
Hou Xiang
Concession
Jazz
Ballroom dance
Rumba