Jian
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	劍
Simplified Chinese	剑
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin jiàn - Wade–Giles chien4 Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping gim3
Vietnamese name
Quốc ngữ	kiếm, gươm
Thai name
Thai	กระบี่
Korean name
Hangul	검
Hanja	劍
Transcriptions - Revised Romanization geom - McCune- Reischauer kŏm, (after a voiced phoneme) gŏm
Japanese name
Kana	けん
Kyūjitai	劍
Shinjitai	剣
Transcriptions - Traditional Hepburn ken - Nihon-shiki ken

The jian is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. The first Chinese sources that mention the jian date to the 7th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn Period;^[1] one of the earliest specimens being the Sword of Goujian. Historical one-handed versions have blades varying from 45 to 80 centimeters (17.7 to 31.5 inches) in length. The weight of an average sword of 70-centimeter (28-inch) blade-length would be in a range of approximately 700 to 900 grams (1.5 to 2 pounds).^[2] There are also larger two-handed versions used for training by many styles of Chinese martial arts.

In Chinese folklore, it is known as "The Gentleman of Weapons" and is considered one of the four major weapons, along with the Gun (staff), Qiang (spear), and the Dao (sabre).

[edit] Parts of the jian

A pair of Jian with their Scabbards.

A guard or hilt protects the hand from an opposing blade. The shape of the guard can be described as short wings pointing either forward or backward. A minority of jian featured the disc-shaped guards associated with dao. A handle behind the guard can accommodate the grip of both hands or one hand plus two or three fingers of the other hand. Two-handed jiàn of up to 1.6 meters (65") in length, known as shuangshou jian, existed but were not as common as the one-handed version. The longer two-handed handle could be used as a lever to lock the opponent's arm if necessary. Grips are usually of fluted wood or covered in rayskin, with a minority being wrapped with cord.

The end of the handle was finished with a pommel for balance, to prevent the handle from sliding through the hand if the hand's grip should be loosened, and for striking or trapping the opponent as opportunity required — such as in "withdrawing" techniques. The pommel was historically peened onto the tang of the blade; thereby holding together as one solid unit the blade, guard, handle, and pommel. Most jian of the last century or so are assembled with a threaded tang onto which the pommel or pommel-nut is screwed.

Sometimes a tassel is attached to the hilt. During the Ming Dynasty these were usually passed through an openwork pommel, and in the Qing through a hole in the grip itself; modern swords usually attach the tassel to the end of the pommel. Historically these were likely used as lanyards, allowing the wielder to retain the sword in combat. There are some sword forms which utilize the tassel as an integral part of their swordsmanship style (sometimes offensively), while other schools dispense with sword tassels entirely. The movement of the tassel may have served to distract opponents, and some schools further claim that metal wires or thin silk cords were once worked into the tassels for impairing vision and causing bleeding when swept across the face. The tassel's use now is primarily decorative.^[3][4]

The blade itself is customarily divided into three sections for leverage in different offensive and defensive techniques. The tip of the blade is the jiànfeng, meant for stabbing, slashing, and quick percussive cuts. The jiànfeng typically curves smoothly to a point, though in the Ming period sharply angled points were common. Some antiques have rounded points, though these are likely the result of wear. The middle section is the zhongren or middle edge, and is used for a variety of offensive and defensive actions: cleaving cuts, draw cuts, and deflections. The section of blade closest to the guard is called the jiàngen or root, and is mainly used for defensive actions; on some late period jian, the base of the blade was made into an unsharpened ricasso. These sections are not necessarily of the same length, with the jiànfeng being only three or four inches long.^[5][6]

Jian blades generally feature subtle profile taper (decreasing width), but often have considerable distal taper (decreasing thickness), with blade thickness near the tip being only half the thickness of the root's base. Jiàn may also feature differential sharpening, where the blade is made progressively sharper towards the tip, usually corresponding to the three sections of the blade. The cross-section of the blade is typically that of a flattened diamond with a visible central ridge, though some are lenticular (eye-shaped) instead; ancient bronze jian sometimes have a hexagonal cross-section.

Materials[link]

An iron sword and two bronze swords from the Chinese Warring States Period

Jian were originally made from bronze, then steel as metal technology advanced. There are some, perhaps ceremonial, jian which are carved from a single solid piece of jade.

Traditional jian blades are usually of sanmei (three plate) construction, which involved sandwiching a core of hard steel between two plates of softer steel. The central plate protrudes slightly from its surrounding pieces, allowing for a sharp edge, while the softer spine protects the brittle core. Some blades had wumei or five plate construction, with two more soft plates being used at the central ridge.^[7] Bronze jian were often made in a somewhat similar manner: in this case an alloy with a high copper content would be used to make a resilient core and spine, while the edge would be made from a high tin-content alloy for sharpness and welded on to the rest of the blade.

The sword smiths of China are often credited with the forging technologies that traveled to Korea and Japan to allow sword smiths there to create such weapons as the katana. These technologies include folding, inserted alloys, and differential hardening of the edge.^[8][9] While the Japanese would be more influenced by the Chinese dāo (single-edged swords of various forms), the early Japanese swords known as ken are often based on jian. The Korean version of the jian is known as the geom or gum, and these swords often preserve features found in Ming-era jian, such as openwork pommels and sharply angled tips.

In martial art schools wooden swords are used for training, so most martial arts students' first experience with a jian in modern times is with one of those weapons. In some religious Taoist sects, those wooden practice swords have come to have an esoteric ritual purpose, claimed by some to metaphorically represent the discipline of an accomplished student.

Contemporary jian versions are often forged (shaped with heat and hammer) and assembled by mostly traditional methods for training of practitioners of Chinese martial arts around the world. These jian vary greatly in quality and historical accuracy.

Contemporary jian are also sometimes forgeries (artificially aged and misrepresented as original antiques), for sale to tourists and collectors who cannot distinguish them from true antiques.

Historical use[link]

Originally similar to bronze double-edged daggers in varying lengths, jian reached modern lengths by roughly 500 BCE. Though there is significant variation in length, balance, and weight of the jian from different periods, within any given period the general purpose of the jian is to be a multipurpose cut and thrust weapon capable of stabbing, as well as making both precise cuts and slashes, as opposed to specializing in one form of use. Although the many forms and schools of swordsmanship with the jian vary as well, the general purpose and use is still not lost.

Wushu jian pair event at the 10th All China games

Historical jian wielders would engage in test cutting called shizhan, practicing their skills on targets known as caoren, or "grass men". Such targets were made from bamboo, rice straw, or saplings. This practice was similar to the Japanese art of tameshigiri, but was never formalized to the extent that the latter art was.^[10]

Today many Chinese martial arts such as taijiquan and their martial artists still train extensively with jian and expertise in its techniques is said by many of them to be the highest physical expression of their kung fu. However, most jian today are flexible tai-chi or wushu jian used mainly for ceremonial purposes and not for actual combat. Famous jian forms include San Cai Jian (三才劍) and Kun Wu Jian (崑吾劍).

Mythology and legacy[link]

"The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea."^[11] The figure on the lower left wears a jian on his back

There are several Taoist immortals who are associated with the jian. One example is Lü Dongbin. The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (Ch: 文殊 Wénshū) is often depicted holding a jian, which is then referred to as the "sword of wisdom".

Jian frequently appear in wuxia fiction and films. The swords or the techniques used to wield them may be effectively or explicitly supernatural,^[12] and the quest for such swords or techniques may be a major plot element.

See also[link]

• Chinese swords
• Kung Fu
• Sword of Goujian
• Taijijian
• World Jianshu League
• Wudang Mountains
• Wushu (sport)
• Zhang Sanfeng

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Chen Fangmei (1995). Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Bronze Weaponry in the National Palace Museum. National Palace Museum. ISBN 957-562-199-9. 
• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66991-X (paperback).
• James J. Y. Liu (1967). The Chinese Knight-Errant. University of Chicago Press. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-14112. 
• Scott M. Rodell (2003). Chinese Swordsmanship: The Yang Family Taiji Jian Tradition. Seven Stars Books and Video. ISBN 0-9743999-0-6. http://sevenstarstrading.com/booksvideos/chineseswordsmanship/about. 
• Scott M. Rodell (2007). A Practical Guide to Test Cutting for Historical Swordsmanship. Seven Stars Books and Video. ISBN 978-0-9743999-5-9. http://sevenstarstrading.com/booksvideos/cuttingbook/. 
• Tetsutaka Sugawara, Lujian Xing, Mark B. Jones (1998). Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts, Volume 2: Aikido and Weapons Training. Sugawara Martial Arts Institute. ISBN 0-87040-963-8. 
• Zhang Yun (1998). The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0412-3. 

External links[link]

Look up 剣 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ma Yueliang Wu style Taijiquan 108 posture jian form video

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Stefanie Sun
Rehearsal at Kenting Peninsula Music Carnival, Taiwan (2010)
Chinese name	孫燕姿 (Traditional)
Chinese name	孙燕姿 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Sūn Yànzī (Mandarin)
Birth name	Sng Ee Tze
Ancestry	South China
Origin	Singapore
Born	(1978-07-23) 23 July 1978 (age 33) Singapore
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Genre(s)	Mandopop
Label(s)	Wonderful Music (2011–present) Capitol Music (2006–2008) Warner Music Taiwan (2000–2006)
Years active	2000–present
Associated acts	see Collaborations
Spouse(s)	Nadim Van Der Ros (m. 2011) «start: (2011-03-31)»"Marriage: Nadim Van Der Ros to Stefanie Sun" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Stefanie_Sun)
Official Website	Stefanie Sun's blog
Awards Golden Melody Awards Best Mandarin Female Singer 2005 Stefanie Best Newcomer 2001 Yan Zi MTV Asia Awards Favorite Artist, Singapore 2002-2005, 2008

Stefanie Sun (traditional Chinese: 孫燕姿; simplified Chinese: 孙燕姿; pinyin: Sūn Yan Zī), born Sng Ee Tze on 23 July 1978, and known to fans as 13姐 ("13th sister"), is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far.^[1] She does the majority of her recording and conducts most of her publicity events in Taiwan, which comprises her largest audience. She also visits mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore frequently for promotional rounds.

Biography[link]

Stefanie Sun has an older sister three years her senior Sng Yee-kia (simplified Chinese: 孙燕佳; traditional Chinese: 孫燕佳; pinyin: Sūn Yànjiā), and a younger sister six years her junior named Sng Ee-mei (simplified Chinese: 孙燕美; traditional Chinese: 孫燕美; pinyin: Sūn Yànměi).

Sun was educated at Nanyang Primary School, St. Margaret's Secondary School, Raffles Girls' School and went on to attend Saint Andrew's Junior College. She later attended Nanyang Technological University, where she obtained a degree in Marketing. Her voice talent was discovered by her music teacher Lee Wei Song.

In the Mandarin-speaking world, Sun is more popularly known by her Mandarin name, Sun Yan Zi or Sun Yanzi. Sun has sold over 10 million copies in Asia. With eleven albums to her name, she is arguably the most successful singer from Singapore, second to Kit Chan.^[1] Stefanie Sun is also known to be good friends with fellow Pop Princess of Taiwan, Jolin Tsai. They are often performing guests at each other's concerts.

On 8 May 2011, Stefanie Sun married Nadim Van Der Ros, 34, a Dutch-Indonesian and senior executive at Aviva. They had met through a mutual friend and dated for five years, but their relationship was revealed only when she was spotted supporting him at Aviva Singapore's Ironman Triathlon in 2009. They had earlier secretly registered their marriage on 31 March 2011.^[2][3][4]

Languages[link]

Most of her songs are sung in Mandarin Chinese, with a few in English. Sun's ability to speak various dialects is reflected in the songs she sings. io['uj In the song "Cloudy Day" (天黑黑), she sings in both Mandarin and Hokkien. It is an adaptation of a traditional Hokkien folk song that included the first six words in the original Hokkien- Thiⁿ-bo͘ho͘h, beh bo̍hō͘ - in the chorus.^[5]

The album Start contains 6 songs in English: covers of "Venus", "That I Will Be Good", "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", "Silent All These Years", and "Hey Jude"; and the original song "Someone".

Music career[link]

2000–2002[link]

Her first album was released in June 2000, the self-titled Yan Zi (孙燕姿), published by Warner Music. "Yan Zi" album sold over 560 000 copies alone in Taiwan, and 3.8 million copies in Asia. This was a major success for Sun and the record company as a newcomer. This was followed in December of the same year as My Desired Happiness (我要的幸福), which sold over 800 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and 4 million copies in Asia.

Her third album was released in Early 2001, titled "Kite" (風筝). This album had sold successfully with 900 000 copies in Taiwan; also over 4.1 million copies in Asia.^[6]

January 2002 saw the release of Start (自選集), a collection of songs, many of which are cover versions. "Start" sold over 500 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and it also reached high commercial success in Asia with 3.5 million copies sold.

In 2002 and 2003 Sun sang the official theme songs for Singapore's National Day Parade: "We Will Get There" (一起走到) and "One United People" (全心全意). The former was included on the album Leave. Leave sold over 400 000 copies in Taiwan and 3.3 million copies in Asia.

2003–2006[link]

In early 2003, she released her sixth album titled, "To Be Continued..." which was also met with commercial success. It managed to sell over 300 000 copies in Taiwan and over 2.8 million copies in Asia. Few months later, she released her seventh album, her first compilation album, with six new songs and fifteen of her old songs; the album sold over 900 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and 4.3 million copies in Asia. By the end of 2003, Stefanie Sun had sold almost 26 million copies in Asia with just seven albums.

In late 2003, she decided to take a one-year hiatus from making music, believing that she needs to recover her lost sense of direction in her career. She returned in late 2004 with a new album titled Stefanie, intended to be a mirror of her debut album (self-titled as well, but in Chinese). This was to symbolise her return with a fresh attitude. This album was well received by the critics in the Chinese music industry. This album sold over 4 million copies in Asia; making it one of the most successful album from her.^{[citation needed]}

She also started her own artiste management company, Make Music, during this sabbatical.^[7]

A Perfect Day was released on 2005, almost one year later. Reviews of this new album have been mixed, but Sun had mentioned before that her priority is to make quality music, instead of over-commercialized products that sell well but have a lower level of artistic quality. Though this album did not reach the best commercial success, it had still managed to sell over 300 000 copies in Taiwan and 2.8 million copies in Asia.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Sun was in the midst of a regional concert tour. She has staged four full-house concerts at the renowned Hong Kong Coliseum. The performances have received positive reviews from the media as well as overwhelming support from fans. Sun also returned to Singapore in a much-anticipated homecoming concert. Yet, not all is smooth-sailing for her. At the Golden Melody Award 2006 in Taiwan, whilst performing renditions of other male singers' songs, she went off-key and was heavily lambasted in the Chinese pop media, which reported that she has shattered her image of a pop diva with great singing skills. She attributed it to factors like not enough rest due to the incident at the airport and inadequate time for sufficient practice with a concert in Mainland China on the day right before the ceremony etc.^{[citation needed]} She re-did the songs again at her concert at Taipei one month later to show her true skills and received very positive reviews for the rendition and the concert itself as well.

2007–2010[link]

Sun's first album under the Capitol brand is entitled Against The Light (逆光) and has been released on 22 March 2007. Her decision to leave Warner after 9 albums was partly due to music executive Sam Chen, who now works at EMI. He had collaborated with Sun on 8 of her 9 albums.

On 26 February 2007, Stefanie Sun returned from Cairo where she and her team were extorted by suspected local gangsters. Sun was in Egypt to shoot a music video for her new album. Two men disguised as government officials followed her and the crew and asked for money—at one point even showing a handgun. The crew tried calling the police, only for the two crooks to dismiss them with just a few words. The crew had to hand over a total of over 200,000 yuan in order to continue shooting. The extortion went on for four days. Finally, Sun and her team were able to leave the country with the help of the Singapore embassy. Upon returning home, the pop diva said nothing except that she was tired and needed some rest.^[8][9]

Stefanie Sun's 10th album, Against The Light, has been a major success in Asia. In Taiwan, it sold over 60,000 copies in the first 3 days it was released. In addition, over 500,000 copies were sold within a week in Mainland China.

In 2007, Stefanie Sun sang the official theme song for ASEAN's 40th anniversary celebrations: Rise Again.^[10]

In May 2009, Stefanie Sun starts her new world tour "The Answer is..." with her first stop being Taiwan. In this world tour, she works with William Chang, her concert image consultant. She also sang her new song "愚人的國度". Stefanie Sun has no artist management deal currently.

In November 2009, Stefanie Sun sings the theme song "木蘭情" for the featured film version of Mulan.

In May 2010, Stefanie Sun released the single "Every Touching Moment" for Shanghai Expo 2010 with Tanya Chua, JJ Lin and A-do.

2011–present[link]

On March 8, 2011, Stefanie Sun launched her comeback with a new album, named "It's Time" (是时候). It had been four years since her last album.^[11] HMV and CD Rama in various locations in Singapore have reportedly sold out her first batch of CDs. However it had been reported that HMV charged an extra $5 for the CDs. Despite the hike in price it still remains top on the chart for 3 consecutive weeks since the release of the album.

Collaborations[link]

Sun collaborated with Japanese singer Mai Kuraki on the last track of Sun's album To Be Continued..., "My Story, Your Song". They collaborated again on Mai Kuraki's If I Believe album, released in July 2003, with the song, "Tonight, I Feel Close To You".

Sun also sang with fellow Singaporean singer, Tanya Chua, the song "Original Point (simplified Chinese: 原点; traditional Chinese: 原點; pinyin: yuándiǎn)" in Tanya's album, "Amphibian".

In the song "First Day", from the album A Perfect Day, she sings with the popular Taiwanese musicians MayDay (Chinese: 五月天; pinyin: Wǔyuè tiān) and F.I.R., forming a one time band called First Day (same as the title of the song they sing), with FIR coming from F.I.R., ST coming from the first two letters in Sun Yan Zi's English name Stefanie and Day coming from MayDay. Sun had previously worked with MayDay on a song from their album "Time Machine".

She collaborated with singers Wang Leehom, Jane Zhang, and Wang Feng to record the theme song of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: Light the Passion, Share the Dream (simplified Chinese: 点燃激情，传递梦想; traditional Chinese: 點燃激情，傳遞夢想; pinyin: diǎnrán jīqíng，chuándì mèngxiǎng).

Discography[link]

Studio[link]

Cover album[link]

Live album[link]

Compilation album[link]

Awards and accolades[link]

Sun is regarded as one of the most accomplished local artists in her native homeland, Singapore, partly linked with her central role in two National Day theme songs.

She has won over 33 awards and other accolades for her music in the course of her career in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong.

Music related[link]

Non music related[link]

• NTU outstanding young alumni award in 2005.^[13]
• Her World Young Woman Achiever Award in 2001.^[14]
• Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture) in 2007 for her outstanding achievements in the music scene, and her contributions to the local and international community.^[15]
• Business China Young Achiever Award in 2011 for her recognised bilingual and bicultural role model for the young.^[16][17]

Movie[link]

She has just recently taken an offer to guest star in the movie "12 Lotus" (12莲花). She will be acting as Guan Yin, who sings hokkien songs and reads a poem in Hokkien as well.

In November 2009, Sun participated in the film Mu Lan by singing the theme song for the movie.

In 2007 her song Green Light was heard several times in the movie "Two Tigers".

Vocal teacher[link]

Stefanie's vocal teacher, Nicole Lai passed away on 6 September 2008. Both are also very good friends. Stefanie gave her a nickname Niguolai (你过来) that sounds like Nicole Lai. One of Nicole's wishes in life is to have a CD album of her own. After her death, Stefanie sponsored Nicole's CD album with the Mandarin song 'Freedom' that was both written and sung by Nicole Lai. Singapore's leading English newspaper publication Straits Times on 26 September 2008 reported news of Stefanie's sponsorship of Nicole's CD album.^[18][19]

World AIDS Day 2008 Concert[link]

Stefanie Sun performed in the Love Amplified Concert, a concert held in Singapore to commemorate World AIDS Day 2008. The concert was held at Fort Canning Park, Singapore on 29 November 2008.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stefanie Sun

• 百度孙燕姿吧 (Chinese)
• 孙燕姿 Pixnet blog
• Official EMI site
• Stefanie Sun's Songs
• 孫燕姿全球互動網 (Chinese)
• Stefanie Sun Yanzi Fans league(P.R.C) 燕窝-孙燕姿全国歌迷联盟 (Chinese)
• Stefanie Fans Club China SunyanziCC.Net: 姿迷城市 (Chinese)

Yàn Zī
晏紫

Country	China
Residence	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Born	(1984-11-12) November 12, 1984 (age 27) Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	55 kg (120 lb; 8.7 st)
Turned pro	February 2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Career prize money	US $1,955,565
Singles
Career record	199 - 160
Career titles	1 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 40 (5 May 2008)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	2R (2006)
French Open	1R (2006, 2008)
Wimbledon	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
US Open	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
Doubles
Career record	372 - 172
Career titles	17 WTA, 16 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2006)
French Open	SF (2006)
Wimbledon	W (2006)
US Open	QF (2005, 2006, 2008)
Last updated on: August 10, 2009.

Yan Zi (Chinese: 晏紫; pinyin: Yàn Zī; born November 12, 1984 in Chengdu, Sichuan), is a Chinese professional tennis player.

Career summary[link]

In 2005, at the age of 20, Yan Zi won her first and only WTA Tour singles title at the Guangzhou Tier III tournament.^[1] The tournament did not have any major players.

In singles, she first reached the World Top 100 in January 2006, achieving a then career-high of World No. 72 that March before failing to defend her breakthrough run of results the previous year and dropping back outside the Top 100 that October. Her ranking had slumped to 262 by February 2007 after a year of disappointing results, but her results then picked up again over the rest of 2007; and she regained the top 100 for the first time in ten months after a spectacular run at Canada's Tier I Rogers Cup in August, reaching the semifinals before finally being heavily defeated by World No. 1 Justine Henin 3–6, 0–6.^[2]

In doubles, Yan Zi's highest ranking to date is number 4 and she has won two grand slam titles partnering with Zheng Jie. While she has been good at doubles, her singles performance has been inconsistent as her form fluctuates. She has winning records against top 10 stars Jelena Janković 2–0, Ana Ivanović 1–0, and Marion Bartoli 1–0.

Singles career in detail[link]

2002–2003[link]

Until January 2002, Yan met with mixed results as a singles player in the lower reaches of the ITF tournament hierarchy. But that month, she reached the final of a $10,000 ITF event at Hull, losing to Liu Nan-Nan. In May, she avenged this defeat with a win over Liu in the first round of a $50,000 tournament at Fukuoka; and again in August she defeated Liu, this time in the quarter-final of a $25,000 tournament at Beijing, only to lose to Rika Fujiwara in the semifinal. In September, she qualified for the WTA Tour contest at Shanghai, only to lose in the first round. But she had reached numerous ITF quarter-finals during the year, and finished it ranked for the first time inside the world Top 300, at #299.

In February 2003, she narrowly failed to qualify at Hyderabad, losing to Maria Kirilenko in a tight three-set match in the final round of qualifying. She put in her career-best performance to date at Fukuoka, reaching the semi-final with wins over Rika Fujiwara and countrywoman Sun Tiantian, before losing to Japanese star Saori Obata despite winning more games, the scoreline standing at 6–2, 6–7, 5–7. In July, she qualified for a WTA event at Palermo by defeating Zheng Jie and Ivana Abramović, then fell in the main draw first round to Italian rising star Francesca Schiavone in another three-setter in which she won more games than her victorious opponent, the scoreline this time being 6–0, 4–6, 3–6. These defeats suggest that she quickly runs out of steam after giving it all in the first set, thereby allowing her opponent to regroup and eventually pocket the contest. The same week, she defeated countrywoman Sun Tiantian to qualify for a $50,000 tournament at Modena, and in the main draw ousted Yulia Beygelzimer and Adriana Serra Zanetti en route to a quarter-final loss. In September, she qualified for another WTA event, the Japan Open, and defeated Ashley Harkleroad in Round Two before losing, on this occasion, to Zheng Jie in the quarter-finals. In December, she reached the semi-final of a $50,000 tournament for the second time in the year, beating Tzipora Obziler in the quarter-final at Changsha before losing to another of her prominent countrywomen, Peng Shuai. The following week, she narrowly lost in the quarterfinal of the $50,000 contest at Shenzhen to future star Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria, 6–3, 1–6, 4–6. The year had brought great improvement to Yan's singles results, and her year-end ranking correspondingly improved to 179.

2004[link]

Unfortunately, 2004 set back the Chinese player's progress slightly, but it was the calm before the storm. The year began poorly for her with a string of early losses, although she was ambitiously targeting only WTA events now, raising the bar on the required standard for successful competition. She failed to win a first-round main draw match the entire year, meeting only with moderate success in qualifying rounds; and ultimately the only relief she could find towards salvaging her world ranking was a retreat to ITF events late in the year. She reached the semi-final of a $25,000 tournament at Beijing in September (losing again to Zheng Jie), and the same stage at Shenzhen 2 (where she shocked by Li Na in the quarter-finals, then lost yet again to Zheng). This late flourish of results was enough to limp her home to a year-end ranking of 248.

2005[link]

In January, 2005, Yan battled her way past three high-quality opponents, Julia Schruff, Shikha Uberoi and Melinda Czink, to qualify for Tennis Gold Coast, an important WTA event, where she was removed by Tatiana Golovin of France. Then in May, she managed to beat Uberoi again after qualifying for Rabat with a win over Tiantian Sun, only to lose to Arantxa Parra Santonja in the second round. Then in June, she surpassed her previous career-best result, reaching the final of a $50,000 tournament at Beijing with wins over Sun and Zheng, but lost in the final to less-feted countrywoman Li Ting. The following month, as a direct entrant to the WTA event at Modena, she defeated the much higher-ranked Marta Domachowska of Poland before losing a close three-setter to Sanda Mamić. In September, she avenged her defeat by Li Ting to qualify for Bali, only to succumb to Ting's former doubles partner Li Na in Round Two of the main draw.

On September 26, she began competing in the WTA event at Guangzhou, this year up-rated to Tier III status, and shocked herself by proceeding to win the entire tournament, having previously failed to win even one ITF singles title, and having only once reached the quarter-final stage at any WTA Tour event. To achieve this astonishing outcome, she had to produce some of her best tennis to conquer defending champion Li Na in the quarter-final, which she finally won 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 after an intense battle. The other matches against worthy opposition looked easy by comparison, as she crushed Marta Domachowska for the loss of just three games in Round Two, fought past impressive emerging teen star Victoria Azarenka 6–4, 6–3 in the semi-final, and was up 6–4, 4–0 against Nuria Llagostera Vives in the final when the Spaniard conceded victory.^[1]

A semi-final result in November's $50,000 Shenzhen tournament capped off what had proved to be a superlative year for Yan, leaving her world-ranked 104, within the direct-entry threshold of Grand Slam events and minor WTA tournaments, and within the qualifying-entry threshold of even the more exclusive WTA fixtures.

2006[link]

Yan during the first round of the 2006 Australian Open.

She began 2006 by narrowly failing to qualify for Tennis Gold Coast, despite wins over Vania King and Shikha Uberoi, as the capable American Angela Haynes defeated her in three sets. But she succeeded in qualifying for Sydney with stunning straight-sets victories over Eva Birnerová, Denisa Chládková and Anastasia Yakimova, and beat the high-ranked Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6–3, 6–3 in the main draw first round before losing a three-set match to Francesca Schiavone, who had to struggle through a nail-bitingly close second-set tiebreak to avoid a straight sets loss to Yan, only to win the final set by a more comfortable margin.

As if these scores were not enough to prove her capability to the wider world, at the Australian Open she knocked out former No. 15 and the previous year's semi-finalist, Nathalie Dechy of France, in the first round, she then defeated unseeded Aleksandra Wozniak 6–3, 6–4, before suffering to former No. 19 Sybille Bammer. February brought more disappointing results in singles for Yan, as she lost a three-setter to Emma Laine of Finland at Pattaya, and failed to qualify for Doha and Dubai. But still, her January results and some points picked up in qualifying rounds in February had improved her world ranking to a career-best 66, just one place behind Li Na.

2007[link]

At the second round of the 2007 Canada Masters in Toronto, Canada she upset World No. 4 Ana Ivanović with a score of 6–3, 6–1 in just over an hour, even as Ivanović had a rare off day. She then beat Eleni Daniilidou in the third round and 2007's Wimbledon's finalist Marion Bartoli (who retired while trailing 2–6, 0–3) in the quarters. Yan's run was ended in the semi-finals by World No.1 Justine Henin, who showed the door through a straight sets 3–6, 0–6 win over her.^[2]

2008[link]

Yan started 2008 poorly, with a first round loss at the Australian Open to eventual quarterfinalist Venus Williams 6–2, 7–5. However, at the Bangalore Open she upset Maria Kirilenko saving 3 match points. Afterwards she managed to upset Jelena Janković in a quarterfinal, winning 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, although Janković did struggle with a shoulder injury. She eventually lost to runner-up Patty Schnyder 6–3, 6–4. She made her top 50 debut afterwards at No. 43.

At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Yan and her partner Zheng Jie won the women's doubles bronze medal, defeating the Ukrainian duo of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko in the Bronze medal match.

2009[link]

In January, Yan played qualifying singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at the Australian Open. In qualifying singles, she was seeded eighth but lost to unseeded Alexandra Panova of Russia, 7–6 (7–2), 2–6, 9–7 in the qualifying second round. In women's doubles, she partnered with countrywoman Zheng Jie and was seeded sixth and lost in the third round. In mixed doubles, she partnered with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and was seeded second and lost in the second round. Because of playing doubles extensively her singles ranking has dropped to where it is hard for her to get into events. She has started playing doubles with Chia-Jung Chuang, now because she wants to get out of Zheng's shadow. The choice was more so, though, because she wants to improve her singles ranking.

Doubles career highlights[link]

2006 Australian Doubles Tournament[link]

At the Australian Open, Yan Zi was active in the women's doubles tournament with long-time playing partner Zheng Jie, with whom she had been regularly competing at ITF events since as early as April 2000. To universal acclaim, the pairing won the Women's Doubles Title outright, and so became the first Chinese tennis players – male or female – to reach a final of a Grand Slam tournament, as well as win it. The route to the final was:

Wimbledon 2006[link]

In July the same year, she captured the ladies' doubles final at Wimbledon with longtime partner Zheng Jie. They defeated opponents Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez 6–3 3–6 6–2.

Path to the Final

WTA Tour titles (18)[link]

Singles win[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	September 26, 2005	Guangzhou, PR China	Hard	Nuria Llagostera Vives	6–4, 4–0 retired

Doubles wins (17)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	January 14, 2005	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Anabel Medina Garrigues & Dinara Safina	6–4, 7–5
2.	February 12, 2005	Hyderabad, India	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting & Sun Tiantian	6–4, 6–1
3.	January 28, 2006	Australian Open, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur	2–6, 7–6(7), 6–3
4.	May 14, 2006	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Zheng Jie	Elena Dementieva & Flavia Pennetta	6–2, 6–3
5.	May 21, 2006	Rabat, Morocco	Clay	Zheng Jie	Ashley Harkleroad & Bethanie Mattek	6–1, 6–3
6.	June 24, 2006	s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Zheng Jie	Ana Ivanović & Maria Kirilenko	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
7.	July 8, 2006	Wimbledon, Great Britain	Grass	Zheng Jie	Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suárez	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
8.	August 26, 2006	New Haven, USA	Hard	Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur	6–4, 6–2
9.	April 15, 2007	Charleston, USA	Clay	Zheng Jie	Peng Shuai & Sun Tiantian	7–5, 6–0
10.	May 26, 2007	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Zheng Jie	Alicia Molik & Sun Tiantian	6–3, 6–4
11.	September 30, 2007	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Peng Shuai	Vania King & Sun Tiantian	6–3, 6–4
12.	October 7, 2007	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Chuang Chia-jung & Vania King	1–6, 6–2, [10–6]
13.	October 14, 2007	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Ayumi Morita & Junri Namigata	walkover
14.	January 11, 2008	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Tatiana Perebiynis & Tatiana Poutchek	6–4, 7–6(5)
15.	May 24, 2008	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Tatiana Perebiynis	Yung-jan Chan & Chia-jung Chuang	6–4, 6–7(3), [10–6]
16.	August 9, 2009	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Chuang Chia-jung	Maria Kirilenko Agnieszka Radwańska	6–0, 4–6, [10–7]
17.	April 11, 2010	Ponte Vedra, United States	Clay	Bethanie Mattek-Sands	Chuang Chia-jung Peng Shuai	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]

Performance timelines[link]

Singles performance timeline[link]

To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

• ¹ As of 2008, Doha is a Tier I tournament, replacing San Diego and Zurich.

Women's Doubles performance timeline[link]

See also[link]

• Chinese tennis players
• Tennis in China

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yan Zi at the Women's Tennis Association
• Yan Zi at the International Tennis Federation
• Yan Zi at the Fed Cup
• (Chinese) Yan Zi's blog

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten Chinese female doubles tennis players as of April 2, 2012. 1. Zheng Jie (17 ) 2. Peng Shuai (31 10) 3. Zhang Shuai (52 1) 4. Zheng Saisai (97 ) 6. Han Xinyun (115 1) 5. Sun Shengnan (124 1) 7. Xu Yifan (156 1) 8. Liu Wanting (167 5) 9. Liang Chen (188 8) 10. Yao Yijing (238 5)

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