Zheng Zhihua, the "inspirational singer king", seems to have been forgotten in recent years, and for many young people, this is a very unfamiliar name.
However, after understanding his life experience, you will find that when we are still struggling in the contradiction between work, life and dreams, Zheng Zhihua did what we wanted to do and did not dare to do as early as 30 years ago: naked words, the pursuit of dreams, entrepreneurship, financial freedom...
The era of Zheng Zhihua after the 60s is like a ship full of restlessness, confusion, and countless hopes, many people are wrapped in big waves on the boat, and can only drift with the torrent, while Zheng Zhihua is a calm sailor, from beginning to end, he knows very well where his direction is.
In 1961, Zheng Zhihua was born into an ordinary family in Taipei, his father was a tailor, his mother was an ordinary woman, and Zheng Zhihua had two older brothers and two older sisters.
At the age of three, Zheng Zhihua suffered from polio because of the high fever, and in this way, until he went to elementary school, he had been dealing with various treatments and drugs.
In those years, in order to treat Zheng Zhihua, the family did not know how much energy and hard-earned money was spent.
And Zheng Zhihua, because of his disabled legs, could not go out, when he was a child, he could only lie down at the window to watch other children running around outside, very envious.
At the age of 7, Zheng Zhihua underwent an operation, and during the recovery period of surgery, with the encouragement of his family and neighbors, Zheng Zhihua began to learn to read and draw. In this way, before he even started school, he had already read many literary masterpieces. After that, Zheng Zhihua was able to move around with the help of the helpers, and his family sent him to school.
Being able to go to school like other children is what Zheng Zhihua once longed for the most. But when he arrived at school, he found that the teacher had already learned what the teacher said in class in his hospital bed, and the questions he asked could not be answered by the teacher. This made Zheng Zhihua very disappointed.
Seeing that his son had become more rebellious after going to school, the father sat down to talk to the child. After listening to his father's words, Zheng Zhihua was even more disappointed. It turned out that the father had long thought of a safe path for this son: to become a doctor, because in addition to doctors, it seems that other professions are not suitable for people with disabilities in both legs.
And Zheng Zhihua, this child has always been stubborn, the more others think that he can't do it, he wants to succeed. His father said that he could not do anything, and Zheng Zhihua preferred to do what he wanted to do to show him.
At Taipei's Port Market in the early 1970s, many children knew that the best way to play games was a "little cripple", who not only played well, but also did solitaire, marbles and dolls in the area, because he did a good job, and forced the toy store on the street to close. This "little cripple" is Zheng Zhihua. At this time, he was still in the fourth grade.
Growing up, Zheng Zhihua learned to fight with bad boys. At that time, there was a boy who was one year older than Zheng Zhihua, who was a notorious mischievous ghost and often bullied other classmates.
Once, he deliberately ran over from Zheng Zhihua's back and kicked away Zheng Zhihua's walking frame, causing him to fall to the ground, but fortunately Zheng Zhihua only broke his elbow.
The difference in strength between the two is too big, Zheng Zhihua decided to outwit, just when the boy was ready to kick him again, Zheng Zhihua picked up the crutch and hit the other party's leg hard, the boy stood unsteadily, fell to the ground, Zheng Zhihua took the opportunity to pick up the crutch and beat hard, later, the boy was stitched 12 stitches, and never dared to bully others again. And Zheng Zhihua's reputation for "not being easy to mess with" also spread throughout the school.
After graduating from junior high school, Zheng Zhihua ignored his father's resolute opposition, gave up the road to medicine, and was admitted to Taipei Technical College instead, majoring in civil engineering.
During this period, Zheng Zhihua read, wrote, and made friends, everyone knew that he could write a good article, his life seemed to be going well, and even better, he also made a lovely girlfriend.
However, the love affair with this girl was strongly opposed by the other family, and the relationship did not continue in the end.
Once, Zheng Zhihua thought that he could win everything by his own efforts, but this blow made him finally understand that persistence and ideals alone were far from being able to compete with reality.
The painful Zheng Zhihua once thought of committing suicide, and even wrote 11 poems as a suicide note for the girl, including the "Don't Cry, My Favorite Person" that later became popular across the country.
However, Zheng Zhihua did not die, and he and the girl never met again.
After graduating, Zheng Zhihua entered a construction company and began a boring office career. There, Zheng Zhihua felt that he could not breathe the air of freedom, and he once again made a shocking decision: naked words.
Blocking out everyone's gossip, Zheng Zhihua entered the advertising industry in Taipei. Within a few years, Zheng Zhihua was called "the bastard son of angels and Satan" by industry insiders, and he seemed to have inexhaustible creativity and inspiration to cope with almost all the problems thrown by customers. The company he worked for was the top of Taiwan's advertising industry at that time.
In 1989, a record company discovered Zheng Zhihua's musical talent from the advertising song and threw him an olive branch. Zheng Zhihua, who was originally very reluctant to be a singer, wanted to refuse, but his colleague's sentence "I don't even know the musical score, doomed to not make music" aroused his fighting spirit, Zheng Zhihua set a ten-year bet, accepted the invitation of the record company, and thus embarked on the road of music.
In the Taiwanese music scene at that time, Luo Dayou led Taiwanese music to the road of self-criticism with a song "Zhi Hu Also", while Zheng Zhihua used his singing voice to speak for a generation and guide them in the direction of the times as a recorder of the times.
"Snail's Home" sings the voices of many people who work hard in the city.
"The Story of the Old Man" sings the emotions of people who have left their hometowns that cannot be described.
"Face Problem" sings the real life of a young white-collar office worker who is overdrawn because of vanity.
It is precisely because Zheng Zhihua reveals the hypocrisy of reality to people in his song, and his lyrics are so compassionate and emotional, so almost every time there is a new work, it can cause an uproar, and Zheng Zhihua has become a legend in people's eyes.
Long before the four heavenly kings became famous, Zheng Zhihua had already spread throughout the two sides of the strait and three places. But at the time of the millennium, Zheng Zhihua quietly left at the peak of his career.
There are various speculations about the reason why he left the music scene, but the real reason is actually Zheng Zhihua himself has long said.
In a show, Zheng Zhihua once said that singers are not the profession they most want to engage in, and singing is just a crossover in his life.
It is not so much that Zheng Zhihua left because he was tired of the music scene, but rather that the ten-year bet he set that year had expired, and he had already won.
The family business is both successful, and the heart of the fighter has become more peaceful
Zheng Zhihua, who left the music scene, saw the development boom of the Internet, started his own business, and established an IT company. In the same year, he married Zhang Yuya, and the heart that had been wandering for many years finally had its own home.
With the arrival of his daughter, the former fighter has become more peaceful.
Today, zheng zhihua, who is not confused, with the encouragement of his daughter, picks up the paintbrush and microphone again, and even practices writing.
This man, who once stood at the peak and fought alone against loneliness and sadness, returned to his family, and life finally showed a gentle side to him.