While society in China filled its thirst for a cultural liberation through Teresa’s songs, it was the youth, who were mainly university students and intellectuals, that started to treat Teresa’s popular music seriously.
Not only were they healing with her sentimental songs, they understood that these songs brought back and relived what was lost during the Cultural Revolution – a nostalgia in the Chinese folk’s living of the 1930s and 1940s; of the prosperity and wealth in the beautiful bygone era of China.
Teresa eventually publicly supported the Chinese protesters who were fighting for pro-democracy rights.
She participated in a concert entitled ‘Singing Democratic Songs for China’, which was held in Hong Kong on 27 May 1989.
This concert was considered to be one of the reasons that led to the events in Tiananmen Square later in June that year.
She was initially concerned about the political implications, and had chosen not to participate, but apparently later had a change of heart. Originally scheduled to go on stage later in the evening, she insisted to perform immediately upon arrival at 3 pm.
Teresa who was dressed in a white T-shirt with no make-up, wearing a headband and a billboard saying, ‘Standing against Military Control’, sang the song “My Hometown is near the Mountain over There”, which was the interlude from the anti-Communist film “Love Story of Uncivilized Girls” released by Tin Naam Film Company in 1959.
The controversy of this song and the way she represented herself at the concert is further explained by author, Cheng:
Although the lyrics of this song might not be directly relevant to open protest, its interpretation by the people present, and the protesters later in Tiananmen square, understood it as a representation of an imaginary Utopia, in a collective psychological symptom of idealism.
The singer, speaking live to the people, supported the movement, while at the same time shattered the tacit understanding of private rivalry between Taiwan and China.
Her direct appeal, instead of being a hidden whisper, working through the field of imagination, was right there in the flesh giving encouragement to Chinese fans in the Square. (Cheng and Athanasopolous, 2015/2016)
Unfortunately, on 4 June 1989, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) eventually turned to violent repression towards the protestors at Tiananmen Square.
In Cheng’s interview with Steve Liu, who is the executive editor-in-chief of a Hong Kong print media company, the painful memory of his personal account and witness of the horrific incident was described:
Everyone was in a panic and tried to run away from the chaotic situation. There was smoke everywhere in the air. My classmates and I struggled to escape from the scene.
We completely had no idea where to run. At that moment, the song “My Native Land” of Deng Lijun was broadcast in the square. We all cried.
Even though we were in such a rage and panic, we were comforted with the singing of Deng Lijun pro-democracy movement in China burst into tears when they heard Deng singing in Tiananmen Square, as her singing, by that time, had come to express a nostalgia for something that was beyond reach. (Cheng and Athanasopolous, 2015/2016)
The outcome of the protest events that took place at the Tiananmen Square in the late 1980s were very sad in the hearts of the Chinese. Close friends of Teresa mention that this event was her biggest heartbreak.
Although, it was claimed that there was a subtle change in China’s modernization after the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989.
As described by Cheng, the ideological and cultural thinking developed with the music of Teresa Teng was completely suppressed by the CCP but popular music was thereafter sustained in China’s economy, which was nonetheless inspired by Teresa’s career.
Even though it was claimed that Teresa had over a billion fans in China, she had never once performed on the mainland throughout her life.
In 1994, she was offered a reported $2 million to perform in Shanghai, but she declined.
In Cheng’s article, he referenced an interview of one of the leaders of the democracy movement in 1989 named Orkesh, who is now currently a political refugee in Taiwan. He indicated that students who listened to Teresa’s songs in the 1980s actually discovered the desire for freedom through her voice.
When Teresa passed away in 1995, they felt not only sad for the loss of a singer, but for the disappearance of an era of ideals.
This was exactly the main reason why rock singers in Beijing at the time recorded an album in memory of Teresa Teng, and named it “A Rocking Farewell.”.
It was reported that Teresa died from a severe asthma attack while on a holiday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with her partner Paul Quilery. Since her death, there have been many tributes performed by prominent Chinese rock bands and vocalists.
There is still much to say of Teresa Teng, and perhaps not enough, primarily because she was and still is, so deeply admired in Asia and within the Chinese diaspora.
In Taiwan and Hong Kong, she brought nostalgia to the people through her singing. In mainland China, she is the “Little Deng” (in reference to “Big Deng”, who is Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the CCP in the early reform era) who activated the revolution of the heart after the traumatic Cultural Revolution.
In the United States, she was acknowledged as the most influential cultural figures from China. Teresa enjoyed widespread popularity throughout her career, and she became one of the first Asian artist to break through the international barrier, which paved the way for future Asian female and male pop artists.
Her songs, even after 29 years, have been covered by many prominent artists, and used in films all across Asia and America.
Teresa Teng is a legendary cultural icon in the history of Asia - she is and has always been remembered for her sincere and passionate self of staying true to who she is.
Here's a video of the Concert for Democracy in China, Hong Kong in 1989, where Teresa made an unexpected appearance on stage, singing the controversial song, "My Home is on the Other Side of the Mountain"
Lyric Translation (Source: https://lyricstranslate.com)
My home is beyond the mountain,
There are luxurious forests,
There are boundless grassland.
Sowing seeds of rice and wheat in spring,
Harvesting in autumn for new year,
Uncle Zhang was never sad,
Auntie Li was always optimistic
Once the Rats raged out from the Cave,
Everything did change.
It was the deeply buried venom
That poisoned people's conscience.
My home is beyond the mountain;
Uncle Zhang lost his joy,
Auntie Li hid her smile.
Birds flew away from the warm nest,
The spring turned so cold as winter.
Kin and friends lost freedom,
Left the sweet, sweet home.
Friend, don't be greedy for temporary joy,
Friend, don't be content with ephemeral peace.
Go back home as soon as possible,
To light the torch of democracy;
Don't forget where we were born and raised;
It is beyond the mountain, beyond the mountain.
Teresa Teng's Legacy - Memories of Teresa
References:
ChenChing Cheng and George Athanasopoulous, “Music as Protest in Cold-War Asia”, Song and Popular Culture, 60/61 (2015/2016): 43
Celeb Net Worth, “Celeb Net Worth,” Teresa Teng. Accessed 8 November 2022. https://www.celebnetworthpost.com/teresa-teng
Levin, Mike, “Death of Teresa Teng Saddens all of Asia – Singer’s Popularity Spanned National Borders”, Billboard, Vol 107, Issue #20 (May 20, 1995): 3 and 110
Tao, Dongfeng. “Teresa Teng and the spread of pop songs in Mainland China in the early reform era.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2 (2022): 269 – 287. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2022.2064617
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