The multi-faceted rebellious past of Zheng Zhihua...
Not long ago, 60-year-old Zheng Zhihua posted a brush stroke on Facebook, "When you are blinded by ideology in your judgment of right and wrong, you unconsciously become the biggest accomplice of the cold-blooded greedy conspirators", with the caption "Dumb pill people without self-conscious ability", in order to attack the situation that some people in Taiwan have been blinded by the epidemic. This led to Zheng Zhihua's Facebook account being banned for 24 hours. After that, Zheng Zhihua posted "Who is the initiator of hatred!" and closed the account.
Looking at Zheng Zhihua's Facebook post, this is not the first time he has pinped the needle. At the beginning of the epidemic, Taiwanese people snatched toilet paper, and Zheng Zhihua called it the chaos of an. In order to eat salmon for free, a group of young people in Taiwan changed their names to names with "salmon", and he also said "the son of the salmon in the ugly years, recognize the ancestors of the salmon sect". After Taiwan's injection of Japanese vaccines, there were many sudden deaths of the elderly, and Zheng Zhihua said that "under the leadership of the Dawei government, Taiwan quickly solved the problem of population aging."
Image: Network
Sharp and humorous, the name Zheng Zhihua quickly caught fire in mainland social networks. The people who knew him smiled faintly: Still the brother who did not learn restraint and sleekness. The younger generation sincerely asked in the comments section: Who is Zheng Zhihua?
Zheng Zhihua, a native of Taiwan Province of China, is often labeled as "singer who sang "Sailor" and "Stars And Lights"" and "inspirational singer". But just looking through his portfolio can easily be found: the so-called "inspirational singer" is really a narrowing of the value of his work. From 1988's "The Story of Lao Mi" to the end of "China's Children" in 2009, zheng Zhihua has released more than a dozen music albums for more than 20 years, and in addition to the regular love and pursuit of dreams, Zheng Zhihua has also described a large number of small people who live seriously and their observations on some social phenomena.
This is consistent with one of the popular trends in the Taiwanese music scene in the late 1980s. In the 1980s, Taiwanese society underwent tremendous changes, and a group of humanistic singers who reflected on the era also appeared in the music scene, full of concern for society and people's livelihood. Luo Dayou sang "Orphans of Asia Crying in the Wind", depicting a child walking alone in the wilderness of a foreign land; Zheng Zhihua wrote "The Story of Lao Mi", "Black Cinder, White Fog", telling the fate of the miners who grew up in the mining area.
Interestingly, a search on the Internet, the comparison between Zheng Luo and Zheng Luo is still a hot topic today. The "Pro-Zheng Faction" and the "Pro-Luo Faction" are each based on mountains and swords and swords, but the general agreement can be reached that Luo Dayou's music creation is more of an intellectual's gaze, standing on the side and thinking calmly like a philosopher; Zheng Zhihua's creation is more civilian, thinking about life and society from personal life experience, and is small and large.
"The Story of the Old Man" album cover, image: Network
Compared with other musicians who have been trained in the formal music system, or who can now become a traffic idol in the music world by virtue of their looks, Zheng Zhihua's popular experience belongs to that era. He doesn't know any instruments, he doesn't know anything about music theory, and the compositions are hummed by himself and recorded by professional musicians, so he will say in the interview, "I am an instrument myself." In terms of appearance, polio caused him to rely on crutches all his life. He has mentioned on many occasions that he has never felt like a star, but a spiritually wealthy person.
In this sense, Zheng Zhihua's popularity in the 90s was a civilian victory. "It has a taste of earth in it", in 2005, when Zheng Zhihua's "Zheng's Influence" concert was held at the Beizhan Theater, guitarist Long Long commented on Zheng Zhihua's works. Jiang Jianmin, another guitarist and former member of the Rainbow Band, joked, "There are a lot of people in China who play the piano in bars and nightclubs, and they are playing his songs to make money, and in fact they should pay his tuition." That kind of smell, I really can't play it, I really can't... It's not hard, he has that kind of thing inside, I don't have. ”
Years later, Zheng Zhihua's Facebook speech suddenly sparked a heated discussion, and the nationalist sentiments that surrounded it aside, in large part because he had brought the truest power to one or even two generations, influencing a generation or two generations of more sensitive, slender, conscientious, or a little withdrawn young people. And such a power, has been far away from today's music scene, when Jay Chou is addicted to the "chest muscles for you to rely on" saliva words, fans can only miss yesterday.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > Zheng Zhihua, politicized? </h1>
Defined as an "inspirational singer", it stems from Zheng Zhihua's overnight fame in the mainland. In 1992, as a representative of young singers with disabilities, he was invited to participate in the "92 Sacred Flame Gala" held by CCTV, and before rehearsal, the director hesitated to change the song, feeling that the lyrics of "Sailor" were slightly inflammatory. As a result, when the rehearsal was official, he was heard singing, and the students in the audience suddenly fell silent, and slowly some people began to sob. As a result, the song was retained. Later, on more than one occasion, Zheng Zhihua mentioned this day - at 9:15 p.m. on August 15, 1992, "Before this day, Zheng Zhihua was nothing, and after this day, Zheng Zhihua was a circle."
However, just like many singers hate their famous songs, because they have sung "Sailor" and "Stars and Lights" too many times, Zheng Zhihua himself is a little disgusted, "it is to position me wrong, what 'inspirational singer', this is a misunderstanding." ”
Looking back now, Zheng Zhihua's first album "The Story of Lao Mi" has a rich theme, basically from his personal experience, which laid the foundation for his musical style of using music to tell stories, rebellious and straightforward, but not condescending. In subsequent works, Zheng Zhihua has consistently adhered to this attitude.
At the time of writing the single "The Story of Lao Mi", there had just been two major mining accidents in Taiwan Province. In his autobiography "Fallen Angel", Zheng Zhihua described his feelings at that time, "two consecutive mining disasters, let me intuitively believe that Jiufen is a barbaric land with many disasters, poverty and backwardness, and must fight against nature in order to survive", he decided to do something for the miners with a kind of "self-assured intellectual conscience" and "an ignorant blood and impulse", and lived in Jiufen for nearly a week.
Zheng Zhihua's autobiography "Fallen Angel", Photo: Internet
The real experience in Jiufen made him sleepless - Jiufen had a sense of humanity and security that he would never experience in Taipei, no one wanted to move away, and Grandma's argument was even more of a faint fate, "Everyone will die!" Digging up the soil carbon, either dying in the pit or dying in the sleeping bed, what is the pity? Elder Ruan (Hokkien, our old man) Ah, he has long seen through..." He decided to abandon the plan to write an article, "I just recognized my relationship with Jiufen, I am not qualified, I am just an outsider", "If I want to write, I want to write about the human problems caused by the two mining disasters in Haishan and Coal Mountain that deserve our deep reflection, instead of treating this matter as a 'social event with topics'."
So, we heard the single "The Story of the Old Man": "The entangled house, the simple heart, the treasure in the pit is no longer there, why don't we move away?" The throbbing of sedimentation, the intoxicating wine, the corners of Abba's mouth murmured, "There are old friends here", "The people in the hometown are flooded by the mines and lose their lives; the people in the city are drowned by desire, but they have lost their souls".
In this song, the lyricist speaks from the perspective of "I", writing an image of an arrogant and stubborn old man who wants to get rid of the fate of his father. "In the scene of material civilization, I got everything but lost myself", at that time, Zheng Zhihua was still working in an advertising agency, so this kind of telling was not only the perspective of the sub-generation of miners, but more like his own spiritual experience, trembling and lost in urban desire.
"Dachi Daqi Dudu", also included in "The Story of the Old Man", is written about children with congenital hearing impairment. The lyrics are almost whispering, simple to repeat, and the opening scene uses "Daqi Daqi Toot, Daqi Daqi Toot, Daqi Never Speaks, Just Likes to Cry" to render a sad and gentle atmosphere.
The cover of the album "Private Song", which contains Zheng Zhihua's classic work "Sailor", picture: Network
After that, he wrote "Tuition Street", writing about the contradiction between classroom education and realistic education, and finally could not help but issue a series of questions, "Who can squeeze into that narrow door, who waits foolishly outside the door, who is manipulating this competitive game, and whether academic qualifications are the ultimate goal of education." In Middle Class, he begins almost every sentence with "I", but he does not see the subjectivity of "me" - "I often drink Coke, I eat hamburgers... I wander in the crowd with my face on my back", the more careless and confusing, vividly portraying a group of people who are struggling in the world and giving up thinking. By 1993's "The Great People," Mr. Cheng's rhetoric was even more intense, calling Taiwan "no longer an island for the poor."
Compared with the rough and straightforward writing of "social issues", the texture of Zheng Zhihua's writing of "people" is more delicate. "Fallen Angel" writes about a dusty woman who sells her body for life, and as soon as the wind blows, she sees "thin and slender bird feet, high heels, and bumpy steps", and the picture and emotions come out. "Your Birthday" writes about a wanderer, "I thought he was going to pray for something, but he always shook his head, he said that today is his birthday, but no one wished him a happy birthday", completely abandoning the situation rendering he was good at, but under the foreshadowing of the previous sentence, vividly presented the image of a wanderer who yearns for the spiritual world.
At one time, because the songs always criticized reality and politics, Zheng Zhihua's name was ridiculed by the Taiwanese media as "politicized", and even rumors spread that he was imprisoned for seven years for "The Great National". In many interviews, Zheng Zhihua had to patiently explain that he wrote the song because of a true story, rather than thinking of criticizing it when he wrote it. "I love Taiwan very much, so why in the later period, I have been singing Hokkien songs, I have always felt that my favorite land is still this place, or in Taiwan." Although many people see from my lyrics that I have been criticizing this place, it is because of love that you will criticize," Zheng Zhihua said.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > rebellious</h1>
In a 1996 video, the host Yufu asked Zheng Zhihua if it was because of polio that led to his strong sense of alienation from society. Zheng Zhihua did not directly deny it, but said"If I say no, you must not believe it", "because this is a fact that you see with your eyes open." Many people will think that a disabled person, the first must be very inferior, the second is more autistic, the third if successful, must be after a period of ups and downs, how you survive in adversity, are this stereotype."
Image: Screenshot of Zheng Zhihua's interview video
But in fact, polio brought him more of an observation power that was different from ordinary people. At the age of two, high fever caused polio; before the age of seven, Zheng Zhihua almost always moved his body by crawling, "the crawling posture is lying on his stomach, walking on his legs is standing, and he is destined to see things at different angles than others." As a child, when other children were running around the yard, he watched them quietly at the window.
As for the rebellious temperament, in Zheng Zhihua's description, it seems to be innate. In his autobiography", "Fallen Angel", he wrote the origin of the word "Zhihua", which is the Buddhist language and the monk's Dharma name, "can surrender my innate rebellious spirit", "(I) have an older brother with the youngest sister, he died before I was born, and the fortune teller said that I killed him."
When it came time to go to school, Zheng Zhihua described himself as a "problem student." The three things learned in the fourth grade of primary school were "fighting", "doing business", and "falling in love"; the classmates after the transfer in high school were all children of middle-class families, simple and naïve, so he decided to transfer back to the original school where the dragon and snake were mixed; and the views of the Chinese teacher were tit-for-tat, resulting in him being slapped by the tutor; when many people respected him because his classmate's father had killed people, Zheng Zhihua liked to be with him, and evaluated this friend as "real and unpretentious".
It was also during this period that Zheng Zhihua fell in love with Kafka. He called Kafka his "idol of life" and "though he was always desperate and naked about human nature, many people said his thoughts were gray." But is there something wrong with gray? I believe that the deepest knowledge is a pain! Seeing Kafka, Zheng Zhihua felt that he saw the same kind, "all too smart", so they have common pain, so they have insight into the blind spot between good and evil.
Later experiences have been described in many reports. He entered the Taipei Institute of Engineering and Civil Engineering, and his first job was as an assistant engineer in an engineering company, wearing a uniform light blue shirt and dark blue pants, and his enthusiasm was quickly worn away. Saw the advertising agency recruit copywriter, accidentally broke into the advertising industry, followed by the advertising song "Happy Girl" spread in the streets.
However, Rao is encountering his own very enthusiastic work, Zheng Zhihua still does not forget to complain, "The people in the advertising agency speak completely differently from the average person, they will complicate a seemingly simple thing, and then discuss and analyze it from different angles... What's even more frightening is their mouth full of professional words, like 'strategy', 'Selling Point', 'Target Consumer'..." Such a psychological activity, even today, is cute. Like his later songs, no matter how decadent and sad the atmosphere, the background is always optimistic and kind.
For the most part, that's exactly what he really is in. In the face of interviews, he always said that his life so far has been "smooth sailing", advertising and launching advertising songs, which were noticed by people in the record company. One went to audition and found "Oh! Love that microphone to death."
But the final determination to change from an advertiser to a singer is still related to the rebellious temperament in his bones. One day at the age of 28, he heard a child playing on the street carrying the tea advertising slogan he created, "Bo Pa Bo Ma Bo Sister Bo Tea", Zheng Zhihua froze in place, "Am I advertising, or am I doing education?" A jar of ordinary sugar water, because we turn over the clouds and rain, with a little trick, we can make it sell well. Are we doing the right thing, or are we selling air? ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > multiple Zheng Zhihua</h1>
It is difficult to imagine how in real life can be a person like Zheng Zhihua, who is at the head of the tide, but retreats when the tide rises. In 1999, after completing his twelfth album, he announced his retirement from the music scene because there were still many things he could do in life, to continue his childhood love of painting and to be a large community for the whole world. Another important reason is probably that writing songs is no longer challenging for him, and it means that there is no longer fun. He writes a new song every time, but "it's just another song."
In the past two decades, Zheng Zhihua has held two concerts, one in 2005 and one in 2009. What few people know is that in 2005, he signed to the mainland Dou room record company, released the album "Asuka" in 2007, and released the single "Chinese Children" in 2009. For "Children of China," he said, "A long time ago, I wanted to write a song that is more catchy than "Descendants of the Dragon," which has been written very well, but it is a china that is more in line with the past, and now China needs something more in line with the modern spirit. ”
Zheng Zhihua participated in "Extraordinary Change", photo: official stills
For twenty years, Zheng Zhihua occasionally appeared on variety shows. In the third issue of "Extraordinary Change" in 2019, the program team invited him to serve as a guest judge, and the contestant Fang Lei adapted and sang his "Don't Cry, My Favorite Person", Zheng Zhihua took off his glasses and silently wiped his tears. "Don't cry, the person I love the most" was originally a small poem he wrote to his separated lover Ah Yuan, "Ephemeral Flower", "Tonight I am like a ephemeral flower, withering in the most beautiful moment, your tears can not be recovered from the withering", the scene of the show, he said that this is his last words, almost pleading between words, "I really don't want to face this, you don't have to ask again."
Twenty years later, times have changed, and looking back, quitting the music scene in 1999 may be a wise choice. In the 1990s, when cultural products were relatively barren, a box of tapes was enough to make the literary and artistic youths mesmerized, singing "there is no money in the pocket, there are not many famous halls" and walked the streets and alleys, even if the tape was pirated, "with other people's photos on it, zheng zhihua written on it." But then, the network divine comedy such as "Rats Love Rice" and "Two Butterflies" is like a virus, and it penetrates into the corners of China with the help of the CRBT business.
Knowing that there is a question, "why zheng zhihua has been forgotten so thoroughly", the reply of netizen "Wang Donglai" has been approved by 122 people: many pop singers who have been popular for many years, most of their songs are still male and female love, "not only suitable for men and women in love to feel the beauty or bitterness of love through songs, but also conducive to boys in KTV or where they date girls to show their voices and win the hearts of girls." And most of Zheng Zhihua's songs have few such elements, it is difficult to imagine a boy running to kTV to sing a song like "Thirty-Three Pieces" to his beloved girl. ”
Zheng Zhihua painting exhibition, photo: Zheng Zhihua Weibo
For such a result, Zheng Zhihua probably did not care. He mentioned many times that after his daughter was born, his own changes became more and more tolerant, and he used to be clean to the point of breaking a hole in his clothes, and he didn't want to wear it again, "Before, many things had principles, and everything had to be like that, now it's a thing outside a bottom line, I can tolerate it." In his spare time, he regained his brushes, made lacquerware, practiced calligraphy, and in 2019, he also opened a solo exhibition "Doting" in Beijing, 36 oil paintings with strong colors, all of which are cartoon images.
In 1992, Zheng Zhihua published a photo book "Zheng Zhihua's Private Words", in which he sincerely analyzed many aspects of himself, perhaps summarizing his choices again and again -
"There are a lot of Zheng Zhihua inside the body...
Zheng Zhihua, who paints, often makes fun of zheng Zhihua, who sings, and is vulgar;
Zheng Zhihua, who sings, often refutes the self-styled Qinggao of painting.
The melancholy Zheng Zhihua encountered a rainy day in Taipei, and he had the idea of taking his own life;
And the brave Zheng Zhihua will always be indifferent.
There is a Zheng Zhihua who wants to start a family;
Another Zheng Zhihua will say contemptuously:
Why lose an entire forest for the sake of one tree?
There is a Zheng Zhihua even more faceless! He's always wanted to take nude photos..."
Cover image: Zheng Zhihua Weibo