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Peng Liyuan

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Peng.

Peng Liyuan
彭丽媛
Peng in 2023
Spouse of the Paramount leader of China
Incumbent
Assumed role
15 November 2012
General SecretaryXi Jinping
Preceded byLiu Yongqing
Spouse of the President of China
Incumbent
Assumed role
14 March 2013
PresidentXi Jinping
Preceded byLiu Yongqing
President of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art
In office
May 2012 – July 2017
Preceded byZhang Jigang
Succeeded byZhang Qichao
Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
(9th, 10th, 11th)
In office
February 1998 – March 2013
ChairmanLi Ruihuan
Jia Qinglin
Personal details
Born (1962-11-20) 20 November 1962 (age 61)
Yuncheng County, Shandong, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Spouse
​
(m. 1987)​
ChildrenXi Mingze
Alma materChina Conservatory of Music
OccupationSinger, Professor of vocal music
ProfessionSoprano and (first holder of a master's degree in) "Chinese ethnic vocal music" (中国民族声乐)
Signature
Nickname(s)Mother Peng (Chinese: 彭妈妈; pinyin: Péng māmā)[1][2]
Military service
AllegianceChina
Branch/servicePeople's Liberation Army
Years of service1980–2017
RankMajor General
CommandsPeople's Liberation Army Academy of Art
Peng Liyuan's voice
Peng delivers a speech to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Forum on Women's Education and Poverty Reduction
Recorded 20 July 2021

Peng Liyuan (Chinese: 彭丽媛; pinyin: Péng Lìyuán; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese contemporary folk singer and the wife of Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China.

Peng gained popularity as a singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year.[3] She won honors in singing competitions nationwide.[3] Her most famous singles include People from Our Village, Zhumulangma, and On the Field of Hope. Peng also sang the theme songs of several popular TV series, such as The Water Margin (1998).[4]

In 1986, she received the Plum Blossom Award, China's highest theatrical award, for her lead role in The White Haired Girl.[5] She was the president of then People's Liberation Army Academy of Art between 2012 and 2017, and vice president of the All-China Youth Federation between 2005 and 2010.[6]

She is known within China for her fashion sense, credited to her personal couturier Ma Ke.[7][8][9][10] In 2014, Peng was listed as the 57th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.[11]

Biography

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Peng Liyuan was born in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province, China. Her father, Peng Longkun, was the director of Yuncheng County Cultural Center, and her mother Li Xiuying was a major opera singer in the Yuncheng County Yu Opera Troupe. Influenced by her mother, at the age of 4 to 5 years old, she was able to sing Yu opera excerpts. In 1976, at the age of 14, Peng Liyuan was admitted to the Shandong Province Yuncheng No.1 Middle School. In 1977, she was admitted to the Shandong Fifty-Seven School of the Arts (renamed the Shandong University Of Arts at the end of 1978), under the tutelage of Wang Yinsuan, specializing in folk vocal music.[12] In 1979, she won the Excellent Prize of the Shandong Province Song and Dance Concert.[13][14][15]

In 1980, while participating in a cultural performance in Beijing, he won the Excellent Prize for the songs Baoleng Tune and My Hometown, Mt. Yimeng, which shook up the Beijing's music scene. Afterwards, she went to Finland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Norway and Iceland with the China National Orchestra. In the same year, Peng joined the Avant-garde Song and Dance Troupe of the Political Department of Jinan Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army as a civilian soldier.[16][17]

In 1981, Peng was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music as a tertiary student, where she studied under the famous singer Jin Tielin.[18] 1982 was a key year that Peng Liyuan became familiar to the Chinese audience. In that year, while participating in the CMG New Year's Gala organized by China Central Television (CCTV), she sang On the Fields of Hope and I Love You, the Snow in Sai Bei, which won the audience's favor and thus established her unique position in the Chinese folk vocal music world. In 1983, she was admitted to the vocal class of the China Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate under the tutelage of Jin Tielin and Guo Lanying.[19]

In 1983, when Kim Jong Il, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), visited China for the first time, Peng Liyuan sang a bilingual rendition of the well-known North Korean song The Flower Girl.[20]

In 1984, she was transferred to the Song and Dance Troupe of the General Political Bureau, and in 1985, she rushed to the front line of the Battle of Laoshan to console the soldiers.[21] In the same year, Peng won the gold medal in the National Singing Group of the First National Nie Er - Xinghai Vocal Works Competition organized by the Ministry of Culture. In July of the same year, she joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[22] In 1985, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory in the war and the 40th anniversary of the premiere of The White-Haired Girl, Peng Liyuan appeared in Beijing's Tianqiao Theatre, where she became the third-generation "Xi'er" after Wang Kun and Guo Lanying, and achieved the "Plum Blossom Award" - the highest honor in China's theater industry.[23]

Peng's singing of On the Field of Hope, a song about the generational and emotional ties of people who work the land, made the song famous in the 1980s.[24]

In 1986, she won the 1st Prize for Professional Ethnic Singing in the Second National Young Singers Grand Prix organized by CCTV. At the end of the same year, she was introduced to Xi Jinping by a friend, and after graduating from college in 1987, she was recommended for a master's degree in acoustics at the China Conservatory of Music. On 1 September 1987, she married Xi Jinping, then the Vice Mayor of Xiamen. In May 1990, she defended her thesis and received her master's degree, becoming the first master's degree in folk vocal music trained in China.[25] In November 1991, when Daughter of the Party premiered, Peng starred in the role of Tian Yumei, the first heroine of the play, which became the first opera portrayal of the opera that had been stamped with Peng Liyuan's original imprint.[26]

In 2002, Peng was appointed as a visiting professor at the Shandong University Of Arts, and in September 2004, she was appointed as a visiting professor at the China Conservatory of Music. In September 2005, at the invitation of the organizing committee of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Peng Liyuan performed the Chinese opera Psalms of Mulan for the first time at the Lincoln Center in New York City, and was awarded the Distinguished Artist Award by the Artistic Committee of the Lincoln Center for the Arts.[27][28][29]

In November 2007, the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, the Ministry of Personnel and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles awarded Peng Liyuan and others the honorary title of "National Youth and Middle-aged Literary and Artistic Workers of Virtue and Excellence".[30] In the same year, the Ministry of Health appointed Peng Liyuan as the National Ambassador for tuberculosis prevention and treatment. Since then, Peng Liyuan has been actively involved in tuberculosis prevention and treatment publicity work, participating in national "World Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Day" publicity activities annually, and paying condolences to patients with tuberculosis on many occasions.[31]

Her husband became the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012 and President of the People's Republic of China in March 2013.[32][3] She is actively involved in politics and is a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She has been a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS since 2011.[33]

In September 2015, the President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan visited the United States to meet with President Barack Obama in the Lincoln Bedroom

Since 2012, Peng has served as the director of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art. In mid-April 2017, the academy was officially renamed the Academy of Military Culture of the National Defense University (NDU). Instead of serving as the director of the renamed Academy of Military Culture of the NDU, Peng was transferred to the Accreditation Committee of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) to serve as a senior adjudicator.[34]

On 20 November 2014, Massey University in New Zealand conferred upon Peng an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her "international contributions to the performing arts and health and education programmes".[35] In 2016, she was named UNESCO Special Envoy for the Promotion of Girls' and Women's Education.[36] Peng sang in a song-and-dance number in 2007 shown on Chinese television that featured Tibetans thanking the Chinese military for "liberating" them.[37] On 6 December 2017, Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory in New York City, also conferred Peng an Honorary Doctorate at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, in recognition of her accomplishment as an outstanding artist, and also for her contribution to cultural exchanges between China and the United States.[38]

Personal life

[edit]
On 3 July 2014, the Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan visited Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul

Peng Liyuan was introduced by friends to Xi Jinping in 1986, when Xi was working as the deputy mayor of the eastern port city of Xiamen, Fujian. Xi was reportedly academic during their courtship, inquiring about singing techniques.[3] The couple married on 1 September 1987.[25] Four days later, Peng Liyuan returned to Beijing to appear in the National Art Festival, and then immediately departed for the United States and Canada to perform. For many years after their marriage, the couples spent more time devoted to their respective careers until Xi Jinping promoted to Beijing. They have one child, a daughter named Xi Mingze, who was born in 1992, nicknamed Xiao Muzi.[39]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "联合国亲善大使 彭丽媛". United Nations (in Chinese). Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Song praising love of China's first couple goes viral". The Columbian. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Meet China's Folk Star First Lady-in-Waiting: Peng Liyuan". The Wall Street Journal. 13 February 2012. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  4. ^ "彭丽媛被世卫聘为抗击结核病和艾滋病亲善大使_新闻中心_新浪网". news.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  5. ^ "'The White Haired Girl': 70 years on". China Daily. 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Peng Liyuan, a symbol of China's soft power". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Fashion diplomacy: 8 most stylish stateswomen of our times". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  8. ^ "China's First Lady Peng Liyuan gives Melania Trump a run for her fashion money". The Straits Times. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Meet the designer behind China's first lady". CNN. 17 November 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Melania Trump takes fashion diplomacy to new lengths in China". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  11. ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  12. ^ "彭丽媛迎52周岁生日 回顾成长路程". 人民网. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  13. ^ 冯步岭编著 (1989). 中国民歌欣赏. 开封: 河南大学出版社. p. 411. ISBN 7-81018-209-9.
  14. ^ "Together They Hold Up the Sky: The Story China's Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan". Caixin. 19 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Peng Liyuan: Folk singer who became China's first lady". BBC News. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Peng Liyuan describes her own time in the army". Economic Daily (in Chinese). 1 July 2004. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  17. ^ "2014年度人物彭丽媛". 环球人物 (34). 2014.
  18. ^ "金铁霖从教45周年学生音乐会 宋祖英等联袂登台_娱乐_凤凰网". ent.ifeng.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  19. ^ 中共郓城县委办公室编 (ed.). 郓城名人名胜名产荟萃. pp. 222–223.
  20. ^ "揭秘金正日8次访华内幕 彭丽媛曾为其演唱卖花姑娘". 大公网. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  21. ^ "珍贵！彭丽媛赴老山前线慰问演出的老照片". 人民网. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  22. ^ "彭丽媛 《我爱你塞北的雪》". 中国网. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  23. ^ 智艳，张强，钱庆利著, ed. (2014). 中国歌剧音乐剧演出历史与现状研究. 合肥: 安徽文艺出版社. p. 43. ISBN 978-7-5396-4711-1.
  24. ^ Chatwin, Jonathan (2024). The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 64. ISBN 9781350435711.
  25. ^ a b "资料：彭丽媛简介". 新浪网. 23 May 2004. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  26. ^ 智艳，张强，钱庆利 (2014). 中国歌剧音乐剧演出历史与现状研究. 合肥: 安徽文艺出版社. p. 43. ISBN 978-7-5396-4711-1.
  27. ^ "资料：中国歌剧《木兰诗篇》艺术总监-彭丽媛". 新浪娱乐.
  28. ^ 刘锡林主编 (2008). 共和国女兵. 北京: 中国妇女出版社. p. 120. ISBN 978-7-80203-515-7.
  29. ^ 智艳，张强，钱庆利著 (2014). 中国歌剧音乐剧演出历史与现状研究. 合肥: 安徽文艺出版社. pp. 337–338. ISBN 978-7-5396-4711-1.
  30. ^ "胡玫高希希黄宏彭丽媛等喜获德艺双馨表彰(图)". 新浪网. 5 November 2007.
  31. ^ 郝阳，王宇主编, ed. (2011). 全国结核病防治规划（2001-2010年）终期评估报告. 北京: 军事医学科学出版社. p. 44. ISBN 978-7-80245-795-9.
  32. ^ Makinen, Julie (21 October 2012). "China's incoming first lady a challenge for the image makers". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  33. ^ "UN health agency appoints Chinese singer as Goodwill Ambassador". United Nations. 3 June 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  34. ^ "彭丽媛卸任军艺院长 专注做"第一夫人"". 联合早报 (in Chinese). 26 July 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  35. ^ "Honorary doctorate for China's First Lady". Massey University. 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  36. ^ "Peng Liyuan: "The equality of opportunity is fundamental"". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  37. ^ Beech, Hannah (29 October 2012). "As China Readies for Transition, 7 Tibetan Self-Immolations in 7 Days". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  38. ^ Chen, Nan (10 December 2017). "Peng receives honorary Juilliard doctorate". China Daily. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  39. ^ Staff Reporter (16 February 2012). "Red Nobility: Xi Jinping's Harvard daughter". Want China Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
[edit]
Honorary titles
Preceded by Spouse of the Paramount leader
November 2012–present 		Incumbent
Spouse of the President of China
March 2013–present
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