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Text | Thousands of miles away
Edit | Thousands of miles away
Preface
"Although I wear a dress, my heart is still a Chinese heart", this lyric is certainly familiar to everyone.
In 1984, before Hong Kong returned to the embrace of the motherland, Zhang Mingmin withstood huge pressure and took the song "My Chinese Heart" on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala.
On that night, he was full of energy and emotion, and after singing a song, he instantly captured the hearts of the people of the whole country, and he became a superstar in people's hearts.
What's more, Zhang Mingmin became the first Hong Kong singer to sing at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, creating history.
At that time, "My Chinese Heart" was so red and purple that no matter how young or old, anyone could sing a few words.
Even today, hearing this song again can still make people's blood boil.
However, after the scenery, Zhang Mingmin, who returned to Hong Kong, was met with a cold reception.
Because of his "patriotism against the wind", he was suppressed there, and was even terminated from the contract by the company he worked for.
Over the past 20 years, Zhang Mingmin has always adhered to his beliefs, and as a "patriotic" standard-bearer, he has paid too much.
Now, you may wonder: After going through so many ups and downs, is Zhang Mingmin doing well now? Does he still maintain that "Chinese heart"? I am afraid that many people who care about him want to know these questions.
01, the music of the son of overseas Chinese pursues his dreams
Zhang Mingmin, born in Hong Kong in September 1956, his ancestral home is Fujian, and his parents are both overseas Chinese.
When he was very young, there were six siblings and parents in the family, and a total of eight people lived in a space of only six square meters, with not enough bunk beds and sleeping on the floor.
Despite living in poverty, parents teach their children to be ambitious, to remember their roots, and to remember that they are Chinese.
Zhang Mingmin's mother attaches great importance to the cultivation of Chinese culture in her children, teaching them Mandarin from an early age, telling stories about their hometown, and often sorting out old clothes and sending them back to their hometown.
With his father's ingenuity, the family gradually got rid of the cramped and crowded living environment, and the living standard gradually improved.
Thanks to this, her mother was able to regain her love for singing, which invisibly stimulated Zhang Mingmin's interest in music.
The first song his mother taught him was "Singing the Motherland", and the first lyric he remembered in his heart was "The five-star red flag flutters in the wind".
Under the influence of his mother, Zhang Mingmin not only learned Mandarin, but also developed a strong interest in Mandarin songs, and volunteered to become a singer since he was a child.
Although his father objected to him taking the path of music, believing that it was an impractical performance, this did not stop Zhang Mingmin from pursuing his dream.
Although his family's financial difficulties forced him to drop out of school to work as a repairman after he could not afford to pay the tuition fees after being admitted to university, his love for music has never been extinguished.
During the day, he worked diligently, and at night he borrowed books to teach himself music, and even bought a guitar with three months of hard work.
Despite the difficult conditions, his practice did not disturb his neighbors, but was encouraged and supported by them.
In the process of hard practice, Cheung Ming-man participated in many singing competitions, and won the championship of the "Hong Kong Workers' Singing Competition" and the "Amateur Singer Competition", which made him very encouraged.
After getting married, Zhang Mingmin was invited by Eternal Records to record his debut album "Country Road".
At that time, the Hong Kong record industry was at a low point, and his album did not make much of a splash in the market.
At that time, Cantonese songs were dominant, but Zhang Mingmin loved Chinese songs alone.
Faced with the dilemma of the company's poor performance, the owner of Eternal Records, who is also an overseas Chinese full of national feelings, decided to promote Chinese songs, which coincided with Zhang Mingmin's philosophy.
Unfortunately, at that time, most singers scoffed at Chinese songs, believing that they were not fashionable enough and were unwilling to sing, resulting in a sluggish Chinese song market.
But Zhang Mingmin went against the current and carried the banner of promoting Chinese songs, hoping to change the public's perception of Chinese songs through his singing.
Despite the dismal sales of his debut album "Country Road", he firmly believes that it is not his own lack of strength, but that the path he has chosen has not yet been recognized.
Some people suggested that he cater to the market trend and try to sing Cantonese songs, but he firmly said: "If there is no country, no nation, where will the music come from? If the Chinese cannot inherit music, then what can be inherited?" He always insisted on singing national songs in Chinese, and each record was recorded in Chinese.
It has successively launched Chinese albums such as "Ridge Walking", "Grandma's Penghu Bay", "Dad's Straw Shoes" and "Chinese Nation", and is affectionately known as "national singer" by the media.
Despite winning this reputation, Zhang Mingmin did not become popular in the early days, and his record sales were not satisfactory, so that it was difficult to maintain even a basic life.
In order to survive, he had to temporarily put aside his music dreams, return to his old business, and return to his original electronics factory work.
Despite the cruel reality, Zhang Mingmin did not give up his love and persistence for Chinese songs, and this unknown difficult years forged his unique position in the Chinese music scene in the future.
02. How does the cooperation between Zhang Mingmin and Huang Zhan break the barriers of the times
It wasn't until Zhang Mingmin met Huang Zhan, one of Hong Kong's four great talents, that his fate ushered in a major turning point.
Back in September 1982, the British Prime Minister visited China to discuss the Hong Kong issue, and the two sides reached an agreement on recovering Hong Kong's sovereignty.
At a time when the festive atmosphere has not yet dissipated, Japan's blatant distortion of the history of aggression against China and beautification of its aggression against China have aroused strong indignation among Chinese people around the world.
Huang Zhan, who was in Hong Kong, was furious when he heard the news, and immediately composed a song full of patriotic feelings - "My Chinese Heart".
But in the context of the era when Hong Kong had not yet returned to the motherland, no one in the Hong Kong music scene dared to sing such a sincere patriotic song publicly.
Just when Huang Zhan was frowning about this, Zhang Mingmin walked into his sight.
Huang Zhan decisively threw an olive branch to Zhang Mingmin and invited him to sing this work full of national emotions.
After reading the lyrics, Zhang Mingmin felt his blood boiling, and accepted the invitation without hesitation.
Not only that, in order to better express his patriotism, Zhang Mingmin decided to use Chinese to interpret this song: "No matter how time and space change, rivers and mountains always haunt my dreams, even if I am far away from my homeland for many years, what remains unchanged is my Chinese heart......"
Despite this, once "My Chinese Heart" was released, it encountered a collective boycott from the Hong Kong music scene, for no other reason than to seek stability, Hong Kong was still in a state of non-return at that time, and many artists chose to act cautiously.
In desperation, Zhang Mingmin could only temporarily return to work in the electronic watch factory and wait for the opportunity.
If it's gold, it won't be buried forever.
In 1983, Huang Yihe, the chief director of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, planned to invite artists from Hong Kong and Macao to the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, aiming to highlight the uniqueness of the party and promote the cultural integration of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Although the ideal is plump, the reality is extraordinarily skinny.
At that time, there was little cultural exchange between the mainland and Hong Kong, and Huang Yihe traveled around Guangzhou and Shenzhen for many days, full of Cantonese songs, but it was difficult to find suitable Hong Kong singers to participate.
Just as Huang Yihe was about to return empty-handed, a Chinese song suddenly floated on the bus, which immediately grabbed his ears.
This song is Zhang Mingmin's affectionate interpretation of "My Chinese Heart" in Chinese, his voice is unique and magnetic, and the lyrics are passionate, which makes Huang Yihe excited, and he immediately got up and asked the name of the song.
Maybe it was the language barrier, or maybe he was surprised by Huang Yihe's enthusiasm, the bus driver didn't look back and threw the car tape to him.
The five big characters "My Chinese Heart" printed on the tape touched Huang Yihe's heartstrings like an electric current, making him feel extremely shocked.
03. Touch the whole country with patriotism
Director Huang Yihe finally found Zhang Mingmin, but Zhang Mingmin muttered.
At that time, Hong Kong had not yet returned to the motherland, and it was very politically sensitive, not only because the procedures were so complicated that people had a headache, but what was more worrying was whether the mainland audience would be able to buy an ordinary Hong Kong singer? Besides, after returning to Hong Kong, how would the Hong Kong side view himself and his family? When he thought of this, Zhang Mingmin was really in a dilemma.
At the critical moment, my mother still has insight.
The old lady said to him, "If you sing in Mandarin, you should go to the place with the most audience." Fans like you, and your direction is there. Just go, talk less and sing more, and you'll be fine. In case something happens, and mom is here, mom will come to see you. With his mother's guidance and support, Zhang Mingmin finally let go of his knot and came to Beijing alone.
As the first Hong Kong and Taiwan singer to set foot on the mainland stage, Zhang Mingmin was excited and nervous, but he did not disappoint everyone.
With a sincere patriotic heart, he deeply touched the national audience.
His songs are integrated with Hong Kong and Taiwan pop elements, which sound fresh and pleasant, and he sings affectionately about the motherland as a wanderer, every sentence goes straight to the hearts of the people, so that the older generation who have experienced the years of the Anti-Japanese War listen to it, and their blood will boil.
04, patriotic singer Zhang Mingmin's ups and downs and perseverance
Zhang Mingmin, this name is closely associated with an affectionate song "My Chinese Heart" for many people.
This song has sung and cried the hearts of countless overseas Chinese, and Zhang Mingmin has been labeled as a "patriotic singer" since then.
But in the mainland, this label is an honor, and ## has become the reason why he is ostracized.
At that time##, people's feelings for the country were not so strong.
Some people even labeled Zhang Mingmin as a "red label" with ulterior motives and turned a blind eye to him.
To make matters worse, his company shunned him and ended up ruthlessly terminating their contractual relationship with him.
In that special period, ##民众对内地国家的认同感相对淡漠, Zhang Mingmin was suppressed and humiliated like never before because he sang this song that spread to the motherland.
Zhang Mingmin was not knocked down by these.
In 1984, he was already famous in the mainland, and was invited by Beijing Youth Daily to hold his own solo concert in the mainland.
His patriotic craze quickly swept the country, and the streets and alleys reverberated with that soulful patriotic song.
But Zhang Mingmin is not complacent, he returns to ##后, and still lives a dull life of singing and working.
This kind of life, although it seems ordinary, is the ideal life in Zhang Mingmin's heart, he is not confused by fame and fortune, as long as the money is enough to spend, he feels satisfied.
is different from Jiang Dawei, who became popular at the same time, Jiang Dawei sent his wife and daughter abroad after becoming famous, and also changed his nationality.
Later, he couldn't get along with it abroad, and returned to China to develop.
Although he made a lot of money, in the eyes of many people, his morality and humanity have been lost and can never be recovered.
And Zhang Mingmin, he used his actions to interpret what is true patriotism and what is true perseverance.
He tells us that fame and fortune are tempting, but morality and humanity are the things we should cherish the most.
05. Zhang Mingmin raised funds for the Asian Games
In 1988, Beijing began preparations for the 11th Asian Games.
After Zhang Mingmin heard the news, he was very excited and wanted to contribute to the Asian Games.
He reached out to the people involved, hoping to help.
However, at that time, the deputy mayor of Beijing told him that the fundraising situation was not very good, and he hoped that he could help raise some money if possible.
Zhang Mingmin listened to this, and without much thought, he decided to hold a charity tour to raise funds.
However, he needed money to run a benefit performance, and at that time he had neither helpers nor sponsors willing to pay for it.
Zhang Mingmin was very helpless, so he had to discuss with his wife whether to mortgage the house.
Unexpectedly, his wife directly suggested: "Just sell the house." ”
In this way, Zhang Mingmin and his wife sold their house and car, and sold them for a total of 5 million Hong Kong dollars.
His wife handed over all the money to Zhang Mingmin, and comforted him and said: "Don't have a psychological burden, in case you don't have anything to eat in the future, I have the ability to support you." Zhang Mingmin was very touched in his heart, his wife has been following him for so many years, has been silently supporting him, and now she is desperate to help him.
With this money, Zhang Mingmin can start performing for charity.
He led the team to the mainland, and he was very busy every day, sometimes performing three times a day.
Sometimes, in a hurry, they even have to get under the train.
At the beginning, the concert ticket was only sold for 0.35 yuan, but by the last one in Beijing, the ticket price had risen to 3.5 yuan.
Zhang Mingmin: They performed a total of 154 performances and spent more than a year.
In the end, he handed over all the 600,000 yuan he earned to the Asian Games preparatory team.
This move, I'm afraid no singer has been able to surpass it until now.
Zhang Mingmin's patriotism is really not just talking, he proves it with practical actions.
Think about it, Zhang Mingmin even sold his house in order to support the Asian Games, this spirit is really admirable.
In his own way, he has contributed to the country's sports cause, and it has also shown us what true patriotism is.
06, the patriotic song spread on both sides of the strait, sticking to the original intention to show the truth
After the charity performance, Zhang Mingmin returned to Hong Kong and continued to sing while working.
He has always maintained his identity as a patriotic singer and used his singing voice to convey his deep affection for the motherland.
Life doesn't always go so well.
After the house was sold, the whole family could only live in their parents' house, which was very inconvenient.
It wasn't until the mid-90s that they finally had the ability to buy a small house again, and life gradually settled down.
In 1997, when Hong Kong returned to the motherland, Zhang Mingmin began to travel frequently between Hong Kong and the mainland, making great contributions to cross-strait cultural exchanges.
With his singing voice and actions, he has built a bridge of friendship between the people on both sides of the strait, so that more people can understand and know each other.
Since the 90s of the last century, although Zhang Mingmin has tried a variety of industries, including opening karaoke, running restaurants, advertising companies, etc., but all of them have failed.
This did not make him give up his love and concern for his homeland.
He has always maintained a patriotic heart and contributed to the motherland in his own way.
Zhang Mingmin has two racing horses, one is called "China Heart" and the other is called "People and National Wealth".
He uses all proceeds from horse racing to charity to help those in need.
This spirit of selfless dedication is deeply admired.
Because of his great contribution to the motherland, Zhang Mingmin was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Medal in 2011, which is an affirmation of his persistence in patriotism and dedication to society over the years.
Under the influence of such a family atmosphere, Zhang Mingmin's son Zhang Songhua also has a patriotic heart, and hopes to be a singer like his father in the future.
Zhang Mingmin knows the hardships of being a singer and doesn't want his son to take this path.
As a result, Zhang Songhua could only take singing as a hobby, and returned to Hong Kong to work after graduating from university in Australia.
In 2014, Zhang Mingmin asked someone to create a song "My Chinese Dream", expressing his love and blessings for the motherland with singing.
After a lapse of 30 years, he once again appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and touched hundreds of millions of viewers with his singing.
07. Speak out bravely and protect patriotism
In 2014, there was a harrowing outbreak of violence in Hong Kong.
At that time, Chater Garden in Central gathered young people from all walks of life in Hong Kong to hold a rally in the hope of speaking out for peace.
And in this rally, we saw the figure of Zhang Mingmin.
As a public figure, he stood on the scene without fear of threats of violence and shouted: "Our roads will not allow this garbage".
This sentence is simple but powerful, like a pebble thrown into the lake, which aroused the resonance of the young people in the audience.
Zhang Mingmin is not only concerned about the current situation, he also cares about the growth of teenagers.
He called on everyone to learn Mandarin well and make contributions to cross-strait exchanges and the reduction of friction.
His patriotic feelings are not only in words, but also practiced with practical actions.
In 2019, He Junyao was retaliated against by evil forces for speaking out against violence.
His family information was leaked, the office was besieged, and even his ancestral grave was dug up.
But He Junyao did not give in, he still insisted on speaking out, and even said that as long as the saboteur was willing to stand up, he was willing to choose to forgive.
This forgiveness did not awaken the conscience of those evil elements.
At this time, Zhang Mingmin stood up again.
He spoke out courageously and condemned the vandals: "The office of a parliamentarian who has asked for the lives of the people has been openly vandalized, and even if there is any grievance, it should not be vented with violence."
His words were simple, but each one risked being violently attacked.
In 2020, in the face of the sudden new crown pneumonia epidemic, Zhang Mingmin received a call from CCTV again, inviting him to record the public welfare song "Firmly believe that love will win".
He didn't hesitate and immediately agreed.
Although he couldn't find a suitable recording studio during the epidemic and the time was tight, he still asked his friends to help him practice sleeplessly, just so that the four solo lines could be perfectly presented.
Cheung's patriotism is not just words, he has set an example for Hong Kong's young people with his actions.
After he was vaccinated against the new crown, he said with emotion: "I am very grateful for being saved."
He expressed his love for his motherland all the time.
In recognition of his contribution to national unity, Cheung has received 11 honors, including a member of the 9th Hong Kong National People's Congress Election and an advisor to the Hong Kong United Youth Association.
In 2011, the Hong Kong government awarded him the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS), which is the best recognition of his long-term service to the community and his outstanding performance.
08, the first patriotic singer to appear on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala and devote himself to cross-strait exchanges
Zhang Mingmin, a highly influential Hong Kong person, can be called a precedent - he is the first Hong Kong artist to perform on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and the first Hong Kong star to hold a solo concert in the mainland, and has always been active in the front line of promoting cross-strait cultural exchanges and ethnic unity, which can be called the first person in Hong Kong's patriotic action.
His patriotic heart has touched and influenced countless people.
In 1991, in the face of the floods in the mainland, more than 100 Hong Kong stars, including Zhang Mingmin, joined forces to participate in the movie "The Night Banquet of the Wealthy", aiming to raise funds for the disaster area; in 2004, at the Hong Kong Film Awards, the famous host Huang Zihua solemnly conveyed to the award-winning Japanese actor Harajima: "I remember to tell them when I return to Japan that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China."
In 2006, superstar Andy Lau resolutely refused to greet him in Japanese at a small singing party in Japan, and bluntly said: "Although I have a contract, I don't want to come to Japan."
Time flies, and Zhang Mingmin, who is now 68 years old, is still in good spirits, and his pace on the patriotic road has never stopped.
Even when the epidemic was raging, he actively participated in the recording of CCTV's public welfare song "Firmly Believe that Love Will Win" to encourage everyone to tide over the difficulties together.
With his soulful singing, he spread all over the motherland, awakening the deep attachment and patriotic feelings of countless overseas travelers to the motherland.
Behind this, Zhang Mingmin's dedication to the patriotic cause is inseparable from his wife, who has paid silently and firmly behind him, and her dedication is also awe-inspiring.
Zhang Mingmin's patriotic journey has undoubtedly deeply touched the heartstrings of every descendant of Yan and Huang and stimulated our patriotic enthusiasm.
I wish him a smoother journey in his future life, continue to convey patriotism with his singing, and bring more excellent works to the Chinese people.
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