Chinese music can be dated back 7,000-8,000 years ago and has one of the world’s oldest and most advanced music systems. The music originated from imitating sounds in nature such as the calls of birds or the flow of a river. It’s still recognizable in modern Chinese music and remains a core part of its identity.
In historical records, it’s been found that it was used in courts and sung for pleasure by peasants. Chinese music is extremely unique with classical instruments unlike any other in the world. Yi Jian Mei used some classical instruments such as the Erhu and Dizi. Even though that may seem like the end of the story of Yi Jian Mei, it miraculously has made a recent comeback because of the internet.
In January 2020, amidst the global pandemic, Beijing actor and director Zhang Aiqin, posted a video of himself singing the song while walking in a snow-covered park on the social media platform Kuaishou. His video went viral, and by May, had reached audiences worldwide on other social media platforms like TikTok.
With this newfound popularity, the song once again topped the charts. In Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand, Yi Jian Mei reached the top spots on the major music streaming platform, Spotify. Zhang’s singing popularized the song, and it has now reached a wide audience, many referring to it as Xue Hua Piao Piao—the lyrics to the melody.
Yi Jian Mei introduced so many people to Chinese music and culture. From it, we can see how a simple video can bring people together to learn about unique parts of culture. There are so many more extraordinary things in culture that I believe, with small actions, we could share with each other.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Jian_Mei_(song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandopop
https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3089256/how-hit-chinese-song-80s-became-global-meme
I like the culture of chinese music:)