Ai Jing

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Ai.
Ai Jing
艾敬
A long-haired East Asian woman in a black dress
Ai Jing in 2007
Background information
Born (1969-09-10) September 10, 1969 (age 56)
OriginPeople's Republic of China
GenresRock, pop
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1992–2007
Websitehttps://www.artaijing.com/en/about/

Ai Jing (Chinese: 艾敬; pinyin: Ài Jìng; born 10 September 1969[1][2]) is a Chinese singer, actress and painter. China's Northeast News called her "China's most talented female folk rock singer."[3]

Ai was born into a musical family in Shenyang, Liaoning: her father played several instruments, and her mother was a Pingju singer.[2][4] She attended the Shenyang Special School of Art,[5] joined the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe (Chinese: 东方歌舞团; pinyin: dōngfāng gēwǔ tuán) in Beijing at age 18, and first gained widespread attention with her 1992 song "My 1997" (Chinese: 我的1997; pinyin: wǒde yījiǔjiǔqī). A semi-autobiographical ballad[4] that has been compared to Cui Jian's "Nothing to My Name" in terms of its social impact,[6] the song tells about her love for a man living in Hong Kong, and how she eagerly awaits the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China so she can visit him.[5] After "My 1997", she performed throughout East and Southeast Asia for several years. The music video for her 1993 "Wandering Swallow" (Chinese: 流浪的燕子; pinyin: liúlàng de yànzi) won the Chunlan Cup MTV Convention.[4]

Nimrod Baranovitch describes Ai as one of China's first "independent, free, active, dynamic, perhaps even rebellious" female pop stars".[7] She is also known for having written and produced much of her own music, in a time when few Chinese artists were doing so.[7][8] Much of her music defied stylistic rules and incorporated Western folk and rock styles.[9] But after her early albums, Baranovitch claims, Ai's popularity decreased as her themes became more "personal and nonconformist",[10] and she faced "antagonism" from men within the music industry because she did not sexually objectify herself and because her introduction of new musical styles challenged the male-dominated industry.[10]

Ai moved to New York in 1997, and since then has mostly lived in the United States, although she recorded her 2003 album Is it a Dream? (是不是梦) in the United Kingdom.[8] In the late 1990s Ai switched her focus to painting, and had her first professional exhibition in 2008.[4] She has also acted in three[2] films: Five Girls and a Rope (五个女子和一根绳子; 1991), Beijing Bastards (北京杂种; 1993), and From the Queen to the Chief Executive (等候董建华发落; 2001).[5]

Discography

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Year Original title English translation Notes
1992 我的一九九七 My 1997
1995 艳粉街的故事 Story of Yanfen Street
1996 追月 Chasing the Moon
1999 Made in China (n/a)
2003 是不是梦 Is it a Dream?
2006 艾在旅途 Ai on the Road compilation album
2007 我的1997和2007 My 1997 and 2007 compilation album

References

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  1. ^ "年表 (Biography)". Ai Jing's homepage. 18 October 2004. Archived from the original on 2002-06-21. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c ""流浪的燕子"回家了 ("Wandering Swallow" Ai Jing has come home)". 东北新闻网 (Northeast News Online). 27 September 2003. Archived from the original on 8 November 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  3. ^ ""流浪的燕子"回家了 ("Wandering Swallow" Ai Jing has come home)". 东北新闻网 (Northeast News Online). 27 September 2003. Archived from the original on 8 November 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2009. "中国最具才华的民谣女诗人"
    "民谣" literally translates to "folk rock" or "folk ballad" and refers to a style of music (more completely called 城市民谣, "urban folk rock") that started in the 1990s.
  4. ^ a b c d "Singer Ai Jing". China Radio International. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on April 12, 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Ren Hai (2005). "Ai Jing". In Edward L. Davis (ed.). Encyclopedia of contemporary Chinese culture. Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-203-64506-2.
  6. ^ a b Baranovitch, Nimrod (2003). China's new voices: popular music, ethnicity, gender, and politics, 1978-1997. University of California Press. p. 164–5. ISBN 978-0-520-23450-5.
  7. ^ a b "Brief Introduction of Ai Jing". 艺术个案 (Art Case). 8 May 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  8. ^ Baranovitch 2003, 165–6.
  9. ^ a b Baranovitch 2003, p. 169.
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