Public Lecture | The Past and Present of
Chinese Pop Music and Shanghai-era Songs

Mandarin pop music originated from the early 20th century with the school songs in Beijing ("Farewell," "Longing for My Hometown"), flourished in the 1930s with Shanghai-era songs ("Shanghai Night," "Moon is Full, Flowers are in Bloom," "When Will You Return"), and in just a few decades, it was vibrant and diverse. In 1949, it split into Hong Kong and Taiwan. It experienced the heyday of the harbor-style era songs ("Spring Breeze Kisses My Face," "Unfinished Love," "Cherish Tonight"), but after more than 20 years, it declined with the de-Sinicization under British rule in Hong Kong, and in the 1970s, it was replaced by the rise of Cantonese pop music in Hong Kong.

Literati and artists who crossed the sea to Taiwan combined Shanghai-era songs, Japanese enka, Minnan dialect ballads, and Western pop music, which initially shaped the form of popular songs and allowed them to take root and flourish. In the 1970s, they became renowned in the Chinese communities around the world, and after the 1980s, they returned to the mainland of China to spread and grow. In less than a century, they have linked up the 3,000-year-old Chinese musical and literary traditions, carrying forward the legacy of Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan operas, tracing back to the Yuefu, Han fu, and the Book of Songs, modernizing classical poetry and songs, integrating Eastern and Western cultural exchanges, guiding social customs, and documenting human emotions. The task is significant and the road is long.

On April 27th at 2 PM, LIULU CHINA MUSEUM specially invites veteran musician, talent agent, international fashion brand expert, and the son of lyricist tycoon Zhuang Nu, Huang Haoran, to share with you the past and present of Chinese pop music in Taiwan and the stories of Shanghai-era songs from the perspective of a fashionable musician!