Because of the difference in one thought, and the loss of all the brilliant careers, people can't help but sigh that this is life!
"Sunrise song mountain pass
The morning bell startles the birds
The stream in the woods is babbling
Grass on the slope
Aroma of wild fruits and mountain flowers
Dogs jump sheep run
Raise the whip and shake it gently
Little qu is full of mountains..."
In 1983, CCTV held the first Spring Festival Gala, which gave birth to many wonderful works that have been repeatedly replayed since then, with rave reviews and far-reaching influences.
It was a milestone in the history of Chinese television programs that deserves to be solemnly written, because of the great success of the uprising, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala has become an audio-visual feast for the people to Chinese New Year's Eve night every year.
On the stage of the Spring Festival Gala that year, 25-year-old Zheng Xulan sang three songs, one of which was the "Shepherd Song" of the "Shaolin Temple", a clear and pure, gentle and delicate singing voice like a spring flowing, like a white cloud out of the sky, let people in the red dust, the mind was cleansed, as if it could forget the troubles of the world.
● Zheng Xulan, 1983 Spring Festival Gala
Zheng Xulan became popular overnight.
Since then, this name, which has the reputation of "China's first lyrical soprano", has soared north and south of the river.
But just 6 years later, Zheng Xulan disappeared from people's sight, and with her being "banned" and leaving a foreign country, the sweetest memory of an era ended in Sisi.
Just like the writer Shi Tiesheng's description of the vagaries of life in "Marriage": "Between the infinite intertwining and combination of billions of fate tracks, a person's fate can really be said to be a day and night." ”
Things are uncertain, and it is a dream. Looking back, he sighed: "The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red several times." ”
In 1982, the movie "Shaolin Temple" was released on the mainland, which was an epoch-making work in the history of martial arts cinema and caused a sensation in the whole world.
It is said that the ticket price of the film was only a dime when it was released, but it still set a box office record of more than one hundred million. This was Jet Li's first starring film, and he quickly became famous at home and abroad at the age of only 19.
The film's interlude "Shepherd Song" is the icing on the cake with its tender water-like melody and Zheng Xulan's pearl-like and melodious voice.
For singers, a good voice is a gift from God. Zheng Xulan is such a talented singer.
Born in 1958 in a military family, she often liked to sing to her brothers and sisters because she had the voice of gold and jade when she was young.
In the 70s of the last century, singing in people's concepts was a profession that did not have the function of settling down, so despite his talent, after graduating from middle school, Zheng Xulan did not embark on the road of singing, but became a worker in the third valve factory in Tianjin.
● Zheng Xulan and his parents
In 1977, at the Tianjin Staff Singing Competition, Zheng Xulan, whose voice was like a yellow warbler out of the valley, not only won the first place in one fell swoop, but also was recruited by the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, which favored him.
The Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, as a national performance group, is famous for cultivating singers such as Wang Kun, Li Guyi, Zhu Mingying, and Cheng Fangyuan.
Zheng Xulan, who has superior vocal conditions, is like a fish in the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe. Soon after, she went to the Central Conservatory of Music for further study, studying under vocal educator Guo Shuzhen.
● Zheng Xulan in his youth
During her studies in Beijing, she knew that opportunities were not easy to come by, so she cherished them.
The following year, her singing skills increased greatly, and she went to Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and other places to study Southeast Asian folk music.
From Beijing to the world, this musical road has opened a new chapter in her life.
Because he was often sent abroad by the song and dance troupe to study abroad, Zheng Xulan did not have many opportunities to participate in the performance at that time. Until one day, Wang Liping stood in front of her door and asked her to sing a documentary interlude.
Who is Wang Liping? "Shepherd Song", "The Sea Ah Hometown", and the 87th edition of the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber", which is still enshrined, which sings the "Red Bean Song", "Frowning Eyebrows", "Funeral Flower Yin", etc., which are all composed by him, and are endowed with enduring artistic charm.
Wang Liping's music for the TV scenery film "Summer in Harbin" did not pass censorship, and he rewrote the song "Sun Island" and is struggling to find a sound that can complement the song.
● Wang Liping
His friends in the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe handed him the tape of the young singers in the troupe, and this tape made Wang Liping surprised to find Zheng Xulan, who was a first-class singer, and was like a treasure.
Recalling this past, Zheng Xulan felt quite lucky: "I didn't expect to change my life like this." ”
In the relaxed and bright style, she brought people to that beautiful and leisurely island with fresh and joyful singing:
How clear the sky is on a bright summer day
How enchanting is the beautiful Island of the Sun
Bring a fishing rod for fishing
Tent with camping
We came to Sun Island
……
"Sun Island" has swept the country with the popularity of "Summer in Harbin". Sun Island has since become a mecca that many people are fascinated by. Soon, this once obscure island became a famous tourist area in the midst of Zheng Xulan's moving song.
Until now, Sun Island is still a popular attraction for many people when they travel to Harbin. This "obsession", I have to say, has the credit of "Sun Island".
A song brings red to an island.
To this end, the Harbin Municipal Government specially awarded Zheng Xulan the No. 01 certificate of "Harbin Honorary Citizen" in 1984. Although she is not from Harbin, she is still specially invited to "go home" to Visit Sun Island from time to time.
● Zheng Xulan skiing at Sun Island Ski Resort (Source: Ha Bao News Network)
In 1989, "Sun Island" won China's first Golden Disc Award from China Record Corporation.
After the fire of "Sun Island", Wang Liping wrote lyrics and composed music for the movie "Shaolin Temple", and collaborated with Zheng Xulan again.
A melodious and gentle "Shepherd Song" adds a magnificent warm color to the masculine and courageous "Shaolin Temple".
● Stills from "Shaolin Temple"
This song was later performed on stage by Li Guyi, Li Lingyu and other titan singers many times.
After participating in the 1983 CCTV Spring Festival Gala and shining, Zheng Xulan became the head of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe.
Three years later, Zheng Xulan once again appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
Years later, when people mentioned the songs she sang in those years, there are still lingering sounds, and there are endless sighs:
A song "The Sea, The Hometown", with the gentle blowing of the sea breeze, blows the nostalgia into the hearts of the children under the heavens; together with the prelude to "Mother Left Me a Song", the mother's face, which has been traced by the years, seems to reappear in front of our eyes; and the poignant "Butterfly" sings the love of a lover...
One classic song after another resounded throughout the country, pushing Zheng Xulan's singing career to the peak of her career.
● Zheng Xulan in the recording studio
In 1987, in an appraisal jointly sponsored by CCTV and the Filmmakers Association, Zheng Xulan was named "one of the ten most popular singers in the country".
As she was surrounded by applause and flowers, the Hand of Destiny quietly brought a young American named Edward to her side.
Edward is a fan of Zheng Xulan, and the two met during a performance. He admired her talent, and she depended on his company.
When Zheng Xulan flew to the world to participate in performances, he accompanied her and often shared with her the embroidery and customs of jinshan in the United States.
At that time, Zheng Xulan was a well-deserved pillar of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, and whenever there was a large-scale event and an important performance, she would appear as the finale actress.
Perennial high-intensity work, so that Zheng Xulan tired, coupled with Edward fell in love, she came up with the idea of following Edward to study in the United States.
In 1987, in the same nostalgia and regret of her family and fans, she became the first actress to resign since the establishment of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe.
But to her surprise, she thought too simply about her departure from the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, and envisioned her and Edward's future too beautifully.
She thought that after leaving the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, she no longer had to be sent by the intensive tasks in the troupe, and she could freely arrange her own performances.
As everyone knows, the reversal and low tide period of her life came unexpectedly.
● Zheng Xulan and his mother
After resigning, Zheng Xulan, before going through the formalities for going abroad, still occasionally participated in some performances as an actor in the former Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, which obviously violated the regulations at that time.
Before one time on stage, Zheng Xulan, who was wearing makeup, was suddenly told: "You don't have to wear makeup, the performance is canceled." ”
She was stunned, and did not expect that a bigger blow would follow: the day after the performance was canceled, she was banned!
She was just 29 years old.
The golden period of a singer's development came to an abrupt end. From the singers who became popular all over the country to the banned, the huge gap made Zheng Xulan once fall into depression:
"At that time, I decided to go abroad on impulse, and I wanted to go out to travel, study, and bring Chinese music to the United States."
After Zheng Xulan was banned, he had to lock the glory of the past into the memory box.
In 1989, Zheng Xulan went to the United States with Edward and soon married and had children. The woman who once stood on the stage and warmed and comforted the hearts of countless people with a pure and heavenly song, on the other side of the distant ocean, faded all the dazzling aura and became a full-time wife.
However, in the day-to-day relationship with her husband Edward, the differences between the two people due to culture and living habits have gradually caused a deep gap and resentment between them.
She hoped he could live with her back to Beijing, and he hoped she would stay in the United States. She wants to return to the stage to pick up her dream of music, and he hopes that she can safely meet her husband and teach her children at home.
Different demands are very different, contradictions are increasing day by day, quarrels are escalating, and this transnational love that she once endured "a thousand fingers" and sacrificed the cause of day and day was finally buried in a life of chicken feathers in one place.
In 1996, Zheng Xulan ended his 6-year marriage and returned to China alone with his children: "My heart is always hanging in mid-air, and I don't know where to put it." ”
The world is vast, like a vast sea, but there is no boat to cross, so she took her son back to her mother's house in Tianjin.
● Zheng Xulan and his son
In order to earn a living and support her son, she had to return to Beijing to find a job.
But when Zheng Xulan wanted to return to her old business, she saw that the pop music brought by new forces such as Faye Wong and Na Ying had quietly changed the vane of the music world, and she suddenly felt that the era that belonged to her had long gone.
As for her, she can only stay in the light and shadow of the eighties, in a long sigh of vain sighs...
With no one willing to sing with her, she eventually found a job as an ordinary clerk to sustain herself and her son.
When someone found out that the woman who was in the streets and alleys of her sweet and beautiful song at the time of fame, after the years, was lost in the crowd, she could not help but sigh:
"Zheng Xulan was so red back then, how did he end up where he is today?"
In the face of such a situation, she is also reflecting: "At that time, I often stood on the stage, I didn't feel how precious, but now it is so difficult to get on stage." Life is so cruel, only when it is lost can we know how to cherish it. ”
At that time, she resigned without hesitation, how could she have thought of being banned overnight; later settled in the United States with her husband, where could she expect that it would end in divorce?
Her good fortune seemed to have run out on the day she resigned.
As the saying goes, life is wrong, and fate is turned upside down.
In July 1998, the 40-year-old Zheng Xulan signed a contract with the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe again at the invitation of the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, but no one was confused, and the heyday of her career had already drawn a halt.
As the old Chinese saying goes, the leak in the house is hit by overnight rain. In 2003, Zheng Xulan was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction.
Due to the severity of her condition, she had to be hospitalized for surgery, but during the operation, due to the doctor's mistake, the healthy part of the intestine was removed, but the lesion remained in the body.
This major medical accident made her health worse and worse. For a long time, she relied on painkillers to get through the long and difficult nights. When she was in the most pain, she had to rely on nutrient solution to survive.
The double torture of body and spirit made her look like a withered mallet. Such days lasted for three years.
There is a saying, "The wound is the coldest day at night, and the haggard people are miserable." ”
Just as she was being tormented by the pain of illness, she met the second man in her life who loved her deeply.
During that time, the boyfriend who took good care of her was a ray of light projected by Zheng Xulan's gray life for many years.
Fate seemed to have finally taken care of her.
Soon, however, her boyfriend was diagnosed with mucosal cancer, and she heard the bad news and lay in a hospital bed in Beijing crying and drooling, but she was powerless.
At that time, two people with the same disease, one was living in Tianjin Cancer Hospital and the other was living in Beijing Specialist Hospital.
Love each other unswervingly, but it is like the next day.
At that time, their new home, which they were preparing to get married, had just been laid out.
In 2005, Zheng Xulan, who was not cured, held a special concert for the song "Dream of the Red Chamber".
● In 2005, the scene of the "Dream of the Red Chamber" song special concert
Most of Zheng Xulan's representative works are from the hands of the famous composer Wang Liping, but in the consideration of the singers of the 87 version of the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" that year, Wang Liping did not choose Zheng Xulan, which became a great regret in her acting career.
On that day, at the concert, she sang "Frowning Eyebrows", sang "Red Bean Song", sang "Funeral Flower Song", and the tragic destination of the woman in the Red Chamber seemed to be more able to interpret her tragic half life.
"One is the Langyuan Immortal, and the other is the Jade Flawless;
One is the moon in the water, and the other is a flower in the mirror. ”
"Drops of acacia blood tears throw red beans."
Spring willows and spring flowers are full of paintings in the building
Sleep unsteadily after the wind and rain in the screen window after dusk
Can't forget the new sorrows and the old sorrows..."
The boyfriend who loves her deeply carries the illness to the scene to watch and support Zheng Xulan's performance.
She's on stage, he's offstage.
Soon, within a few feet, it became a shadow forever.
Her world collapsed again.
"My boyfriend's death hit me so hard that I was really overwhelmed by grief, and I even felt like my life was coming to an end."
In her most desperate moments, she thought about suicide several times. But she knows that suicide is easy, and the pain that remains will never be healed, and the mess on the ground can only be borne and ended by the people closest to her. Because death is not only the tragedy of the deceased, but also the tragedy of the living.
"Looking back, I thought, so many people in the world, with all kinds of tragic experiences, they can come over, and I can definitely come over."
So, after experiencing another nirvana of life, she rekindled her desire to live, actively sought a cure for the disease, and met a doctor under the matchmaking of her friend Zhu Shimao.
● Zheng Xulan and Zhu Shimao
When the doctor saw Zheng Xulan, who was sitting in a wheelchair and thin enough to stand tall, he couldn't help but be shocked: the famous singer who was once brilliant was no longer the bright and healthy smile he used to be on the stage.
"You have brought joy to so many of us, and your singing has even infected and influenced a generation, so we must find a way to return the joy to you."
That operation was very successful, and Zheng Xulan, who had been suffering from the evil disease for many years, finally got rid of the pain.
"I'm not going to be knocked down, and I'm going to keep singing."
In 2018, Zheng Xulan held a solo concert with the theme of "Lan Qing Years" at Bailuyuan Film and TELEVISION City.
● "Arashi Years" solo concert scene
That night, tens of thousands of people gathered together, and the whole audience was full.
At that time, 40 years have passed since she first entered the music scene, and when a nostalgic golden song that was once popular among the population once again flowed out like a stream of water, many of her old fans could not help but burst into tears.
There are also many audiences who even travel thousands of miles to see her performances from other places, just to be able to listen to her beautiful singing at close range, because that night, she connected all the memories of a generation about youth, about love, about family affection, about the lost time.
At the concert, the wind gently brushed her hair, and the soulful singing was like the birth of spring water, reverberating in the night sky of the yellow land...
It is as if all the love and pain of the old days, life and death and parting, have turned into birds, with heavy and light wings, over the waves.
The writer Mu Xin once said that when people come out of sorrow and fall generously, they are artists.
True artists, whether they are pretentious to fate or understated, should be given the undertone of wisdom.
Perhaps the multitude of people, in their own life journey, from the prelude, to the final chapter, there are ups and downs, the peaks and loops are turned, until the end, without fear or regret, can make people do their best, and the aftersound goes around the beam... Text/Wattle Green