Chen Gexin Chen Gexin

Chen Gexin (Chinese: 陳歌辛; pinyin: Chén Gēxīn; Wade–Giles: Ch'en Ko-hsin; September 19, 1914 — January 25, 1961) was a Chinese popular music songwriter. He also used the pen names Lín Méi (林枚) and Qìng Yú (慶餘).

Biography

Chen was born in September 19, 1914 to an elite Shanghai family, and his maternal grandfather was from India. He married his admirer and student Jin Jiaoli, against her wealthy family's wishes in 1935. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was jailed by the Imperial Japanese Army for his patriotic songs. Chen and his family moved to Hong Kong after the war ended.

With the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Chen was labeled a rightist and imprisoned in a laogai for "reform through labor" at Baimiaoling farm, Anhui in 1957, there he befriended a journalist named Ai Yi.

According to an essay and reports by Ai Yi, Chen died in his sleep due to starvation and illness in January 25, 1961 at the age of 47, during the Great Chinese Famine period. He was buried in the mass grave at the hill near the farm. A year later, Chen's widow Jin Jiaoli went there with a box to search through the dead bodies in a vain effort to collect his remains.

Music

Throughout his life, Chen had produced more than 200 songs, conducted symphony orchestras and held recitals for many times. Chen was the composer of famous mid-20th century popular standards as Shanghai Nights (夜上海) and The Blossom of Youth (花樣年華), both sung by Zhou Xuan. His song Rose, Rose, I Love You, sung by American singer Frankie Laine in 1951, is the only major popular music hit in the United States by a Chinese composer. When Chen's youngest son went to the United States for advanced education, he was able to meet Laine and thereafter maintained a correspondence. Another of his songs, Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity, originally written to celebrate the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, has become a popular Chinese New Year standard. His music continues to be performed and is featured in films such as Eros.

Descendants

Chen Gexin was the father, with his muse Jin Jiaoli (金嬌麗), of Chinese classical composer Chen Gang (陳剛 Chén Gāng) and grandfather of China's first "Miss Internet," Chen Fanhong.