Zheng Xuan (127–200), courtesy name Kangcheng (康成), was an influential Chinese commentator^[1] and Confucian scholar near the end of the Han Dynasty. He was born in modern Weifang, Shandong, and was a student of Ma Rong.

Like his teacher, he was a member of the Old Text School that was challenging the state orthodox New Text School. His contemporary rival was He Xiu. Zheng is notable for his syncretic attempt to bridge the two centuries of rivalry between the two schools. He adopted the strengths of each school in the interpretation of the Confucian classics although they usually favored the Old Text teachings. He was very influential but the government never officially adopted his teachings. The Han Dynasty was already in serious decline during his lifetime and collapsed a generation after his death. Both schools did not survive the chaos but Zheng's conception of Confucianism would be the mainstream interpretation for centuries.

See also[link]

• Three Kingdoms
• Personages of the Three Kingdoms
• Records of Three Kingdoms
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Notes[link]

References[link]

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

• Wang, Xuhua, "Zheng Xuan". Encyclopedia of China (Chinese History Edition), 1st ed.
• Zhou, Zumo, "Zheng Xuan". Encyclopedia of China (Philological Edition), 1st ed.

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Leehom Wang
Leehom Wang at the 2011 Harbin Film Festival with the award for Best New Director
Chinese name	王力宏
Pinyin	Wáng Lìhóng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Wong4 Lik6 Wang4 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Alexander[1] Leehom Wang
Ancestry	Yiwu, Zhejiang, China[2]
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	(1976-05-17) May 17, 1976 (age 36) Rochester, New York, USA
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, film director, actor, record producer, music arranger, composer
Genre(s)	Pop, R&B, rap, hip hop, rock, jazz, Broadway
Instrument(s)	Violin, piano, drums, guitar, bass/electric guitar, erhu, vibraphone, harmonica, chinese flutes, guzheng, zhongruan, etc.
Voice type(s)	Tenor
Label(s)	Sony Music Decca (1996–1997) BMG (1995–1996)
Years active	1995–present
Influences	Stevie Wonder, Prince, Alicia Keys, Outkast, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, The Neptunes[3]
Official Website	www.wangleehom.com
Awards Golden Melody Awards Best Mandarin Male Singer 1999 Revolution 2006 Heroes of Earth Best Album Producer 1999 Revolution 2004 Unbelievable MTV Asia Awards Favorite Artist, Taiwan 2006

Leehom Wang (born May 17, 1976) is an American-born singer-songwriter, record producer, actor and film director of Chinese descent based in Taiwan. Formally trained at the Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his musical style is known for fusing Chinese elements (such as Beijing opera, traditional styles of ethnic minorities, Chinese classical orchestra) with hip-hop and R&B. Wang has been active since 1995 and contributed in 25 albums. He is also a four-time winner of Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards, the "Grammys" of Taiwanese music.

In addition to his music, Wang also acted in several films, including Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and Jackie Chan's film Little Big Soldier. He is an environmental activist, and his album Change Me was dedicated to raising eco-awareness among Chinese youth. Wang was one of the first torchbearers for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, and performed in the Olympics' closing ceremony in Beijing. He was listed as one of Goldsea's "The 100 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time".^[4]

Life and music career[link]

Childhood and early beginnings[link]

Born in Rochester, New York, Wang is the second of three sons of immigrants from Taiwan of waishengren heritage. His father, a pediatrician, and his mother moved to the United States to further their college studies in the early 1960s. Influenced by his older brother, Leo Wang, who had been taking violin lessons since he was seven, Wang began to develop a curious interest towards the violin and its musical counterparts when he was three. He begged his mother to put him in violin lessons with his brother but his mother was against it, reasoning that he was too young. When Wang turned six, his mother enrolled him in violin classes, performing along with his brother.^[3] As he became a teenager, he began taking piano lessons, also teaching himself the guitar. He also worked several jobs to earn money to buy a second hand drum kit.

He attended Jefferson Road Elementary School, Pittsford Middle School, and Pittsford Sutherland High School in Pittsford, New York. He graduated from Pittsford Sutherland. Passionate for a career in music, he chose to attend Williams College double majoring in music and Asian studies.^[4][5] He joined an all-male a cappella group, The Springstreeters, and the group recorded several demo tracks.^[5]

In the summer of 1995, while Wang was visiting his grandparents in Taiwan, he was offered a professional recording contract by Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) after he participated in a talent competition hosted by the label.^[6] Not wanting to lose the opportunity, he immediately began preparing for his debut, and released his debut album Love Rival, Beethoven (情敌贝多芬) that December. The record received little limelight, forcing him to leave the label. He signed with Decca Records the following year, a label then famous for producing "powerful singers" (實力派歌手) in Taiwan.^[7] Wanting to also have control in the idol market, the label initially planned to market Wang as the mainstream "romantic idol", like with their previous artist Mavis Fan. However, after discovering Wang's talent in music-making, Decca began promoting him as Taiwan's "quality idol" (優質偶像) instead.^[7] Wang released his second album If You Heard My Song in 1996, which included some of his own compositions. He co-wrote the album's eponymous title song, which earned positive responses from the audience. The album drew moderately successful sales, and he became a rising star in the idol market, also finding similar successes with his third and fourth albums. During this time, Wang was asked to leave his college studies to pursue a full time singing career, but he insisted on finishing school first.

Rise to prominence (1998–2000)[link]

Wang's contract with Decca records was terminated after the release of his fourth album White Paper in the summer of 1997. After graduating with honors at Williams College,^[4][5] He released his first award-winning album Revolution under Sony Music Entertainment in August 1998. The album became his breakthrough album, immediately selling over 10,000 domestic units in the first week of release. Critics rated the album highly, and it won Wang two Golden Melody Awards—Best Producer and Best Mandarin Male Singer.^[8] He was the youngest artist to win in either of the two categories.^[9] Wang has been nominated the Best Mandarin Male Singer at the awards every year since the success of Revolution. The singles of Revolution also achieved similar success–"Revolution" became Wang Leehom's first #1 single, becoming one of the top 20 songs of the year on Channel V Taiwan.

He continued his studies by attending Berklee College of Music's Professional Music program, with voice as his principal instrument.^[3] In 1999, Wang released his sixth album Impossible to Miss You, which combined the catchy pop melodies of Revolution with a quirky style of new-found dance pop. It became his then best-selling album, selling over 1 million copies.^[10] All of the album's promotional singles topped KTV charts and yearly music charts, notably the upbeat "Julia" and the ballad "Crying Palm".His album also attracted international attention–Wang won three Best Male Vocalist awards at three different award ceremonies and was also awarded for his musical merit in the album at the 1st annual Asia Chinese Music Awards.

At the beginning of the millennium, Wang began filming for several Cantonese-language Hong Kong blockbusters, which inspired him to study the Cantonese language. He included a Cantonese track, "Love My Song," in the Hong Kong release of Forever's First Day (2000), his seventh album. Unlike his previous two albums, Forever's First Day consisted mainly of melodic R&B tunes. The album's eponymous single is a tragic romantic ballad, speaking of a separation of two individuals. Although raised in New York for most of his life, living in Taiwan made Wang realize the deep roots of his Chinese heritage. Forever's First Day yielded a cover of his uncle's signature song "Descendants of the Dragon"; Wang re-arranged the song with heavier rock and dance elements. The song also included a rap bridge that summarized experiences of his parents living as a Chinese American in New York.^[11]

International success (2001–03)[link]

Wang's next album, The One and Only (2001) received phenomenal international success. Selling over 1 million units in Asia, the rock-inspired album won him over seven different prestigious awards throughout 2001 and 2002. The album's title single "The One and Only" peaked #1 in almost all available music charts of Taiwan and was on the Ringback Tone #1 Download Charts for over a year, becoming his signature song. The One and Only also found success in Japan, opting him to release his first full-length Japanese album The Only One on May 9, 2003. The album only promoted one single, a Japanese version of "The One and Only", but it did not meet success on Japan's Oricon Charts. Wang also began filming several Japanese films, establishing his rising star status in Japan.

Eager to experience and perform different musical genres, Wang embarked on his first Asia-wide concert tour The Unbelievable Tour a few months before the release of his ninth album Unbelievable (2003). His concert tour received great reviews from both fans and music critics; they were impressed and shocked with his new-found hip hop image. His R&B/hip hop-inspired album Unbelievable involved new urban pop numbers, drawing hip hop influences from different styles of popular music, such as Indipop and urban pop. The album marked a milestone in his musical career; his new image received international critical acclaim and the album a chart-topping success, selling over 1.5 million units by 2004. A celebratory version of the album was released three months later, also becoming a chart-topping album. The album's singles, notably the ballad number "You're Not Here" also experienced international success, ranking #1 on several music charts for over 10 weeks. Unbelievable yielded his second win for Best Producer of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards in 2004.

Chinked-out (2004–06)[link]

Leehom Wang (right), named Best Mandarin Male Singer for his album Heroes of Earth, with Tanya Chua at the 17th Golden Melody Awards.

Having established himself as one of the most important, influential, and prolific artists in Chinese music, Wang continued to invent and experiment with new sounds and voices.^[12] For most of 2004, he traveled to remote villages in China, collecting often unheard tribal sounds of aboriginal Chinese music, Tibetan music, and Mongolian music. With his younger brother Leekai as his assistant, they carried 15 kg of music equipment as he recorded these sounds, recording and producing his album on the way.^[13] He incorporated these sounds into R&B and hip hop music, coining the style as "chinked-out." Despite the derogatory nature of the term "chink," Wang had wanted to repossess the term and "make it cool."^[3] Shangri-La was released on the last day of 2004, selling an 40,000 copies within the first ten days of release.^[14] Shangri-La became an international music sensation, especially catching the attention of many youths in Asia.^[15] Within a month, the album sold over 300,000 copies,^[16] ultimately selling over 1.5 million units.

Wang continued to infuse chinked-out elements into his next album Heroes of Earth (2005). Unlike the aboriginal tribal music heard in Shangri-La, Heroes of Earth contained mixes of Beijing opera and Kunqu.^[17] Following the concept of "heroes," he collaborated with Ashin of Mayday ("Beside the Plum Blossoms"), Chinese American rapper Jin and opera master Li Yan ("Heroes of Earth"), and also K-pop artists Rain and Lim Jeong-hee ("Perfect Interaction"). Heroes of Earth was the fastest-selling album of both 2005 and 2006, selling over 1 million copies ten days after its release. Subsequently, the album stayed as #1 in the charts for six weeks,^[18] and remained in the charts for 23 weeks, ultimately becoming 2006's third best-selling album.^[19] By 2007, about 3 million units were sold,^[20][21] and has since been Wang's most commercially and critically successful album.^[22][23][24] The album earned Wang a Golden Melody Award for Best Mandarin Male Singer for the second time.

Three months after the release of Heroes of Earth, he began the Heroes of Earth Tour, his first major world tour. The concert commenced with two shows per night in the Taipei Dome in March 2006, breaking Taiwan's concert attendance records.

Professional breakthrough (2007–present)[link]

Leehom Wang playing the piano at 2007 Heroes of Earth concert in Las Vegas.

Wang took a break in working on his music to film Lust, Caution (2007), an espionage thriller film directed by Ang Lee.^[25] He released a promotional single "Falling Leaves Return to Roots" on June 20, 2007 through Hito Radio, a month before the release of his twelfth studio album, Change Me. "Falling Leaves Return to Roots" incorporated Broadway-influenced musical elements, with classical instrumental accompaniments, such as the violin and piano. When asked about the sudden change of music style, Wang explained that the inspiration behind the song was due to the influence of his portrayal of Kuang Yumin in Lust, Caution.^[26] "In the past, I have only been releasing mainstream pop and chinked-out related hip hop. Lust, Caution made me return to 1930's Shanghai, re-living the moment."^[25]

Change Me was released on Friday, July 13, despite the superstition generally attached to Friday the 13th.^[27] Unlike his previous albums, Change Me mainly concentrates on pop rock, including influences of Broadway ("Falling Leaves Return to Roots") and old-school Taiwanese pop ("You Are a Song in My Heart").^[28] Through this album, he promoted the issue of global warming and raised environmental awareness.^[29] The packaging of the album used only recycled paper and contained no plastic.^[29] He believed that small changes by each person can change the world. "To change the world, you start with changing yourself."^[30] Reviews of the album were generally positive, defining the album as "mature."^[31] An online album poll organized by China's Sohu, however, suggested that Wang's album did not meet expectations.^[31] Netizens remarked that his chinked-out productions were more impressive, although that genre itself has also been criticized.^[32] Nonetheless, over 1 million units were shipped on the first day of release.^[30] The album broke past 2 million sales, becoming one of Wang's best-selling albums.^[30]

In August 2008, Wang sought US$320,000 in damages for plagiarism by Pritam, an Indian composer. The lead song for the movie Race (2008), composed by Pritam, was allegedly copied from "In the Depths of the Bamboo Forest," a single taken off from Wang Leehom's Shangri-La album.^[33] In November 2008, Wang was selected to conduct the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra for their 2008 annual grand finale, being the first Asian pop musician to conduct the orchestra. The concert Hong Kong Music, Leehom Wang (港樂‧王力宏) was held in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre for three nights, with four shows,^[34] receiving CNN International coverage throughout.^[35]

Wang embarked on his second world tour, the Music-Man Tour, in the latter months of 2008. The tour commenced with two shows per night in the Taipei Dome in September 2008, three months before the release of Wang's thirteenth studio album, Heart Beat. Heart Beat was released on December 26,^[36] debuting at #3 on the weekly G-Music charts.^[37] The album peaked at #1 on its seventh week of release, ultimately staying on the charts for 17 weeks. Like Wang's previous album, Heart Beat showed a similar emphasis of rock influences. The album largely focused on guitar and electric guitar solos, which Wang also used for performances in most of the album's music videos. Wanting to continue a similar "chinked-out" element, the album's first single, "What's Up with Rock?!" incorporated rock influences with Chinese flavor. For the track, he worked with pipa artist Liu Fang, and the two concentrated on mixing both electric guitar elements and pipa strings into the song.^[38]

On April 15, 2011, Wang Lee Hom took home the Best Male Singer (Hong Kong and Taiwan region), Best Album for The 18 Martial Arts, and Best Newcomer Director Award for his directorial debut, Love in Disguise at the Global Chinese Music Awards.^[39]

On Sept 7, 2011, it was announced that Wang hired Wong Fu Productions to direct his upcoming music video.^[40]

Musical style[link]

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since May 2010. It may contain original research. Tagged since January 2009.

Wang's music varies in style greatly from album to album. Although he is classified as an R&B artist, Wang Leehom demonstrates competence with many styles of music ranging from traditional Mandopop, Broadway, jazz, rock, R&B, gospel, acoustic, Indipop, hip-hop, to rap. Many of the styles are infused with a Chinese flavor.

When he first debuted, he sang old school pop and acoustic R&B ballads. Starting from Revolution (公轉自轉), Wang began to test out R&B pop music, but quickly jumped to a quirky style of dance pop for Impossible to Miss You (不可能錯過你). Starting from Forever's First Day (永遠的第一天), he began composing rock songs with heavy electric guitar melodies and less emphasis on dance pop. Nonetheless, he still concentrated in light R&B music. The One and Only (唯一) became his only fully produced rock album.

Unbelievable began a new road of music for Wang. Aside from the usual R&B grove, he contributed hip hop and rap that was not clearly emphasized in his past albums. "Not Your Average Thug" was a newly composed R&B style with a huge amount of American influence. "Can You Feel My World" was a different style of R&B, and the song contained great uses of the piano and violin as the accompaniment. Fast dance songs like "Ya Birthday" and "Girlfriend" (Chinese: 女朋友; pinyin: nǚ péngyǒu) incorporated rapid rap and heavy drum rhythms. "Girlfriend" included a heavily emphasised chinese flute and a music style that is influenced by Indipop.

Shangri-La was the first chapter of Wang's new style, chinked-out. Chinked-out is a new kind of musical style developed by Wang that involves modern "west" music of R&B, Hip Hop, rap, and Dance, along with "east" music of heavy Chinese instrument influences, more notably the koudi, tuhu, and ijac. "Deep Within the Bamboo Grove" (Chinese: 竹林深處; pinyin: zhú lín shēnchù) which emphasized samples of Tibetan Opera, and different minority tribes in Yunnan and other remote areas of China.

Then, I coined the term chinked-out. Derived from the historically derogatory racial slur chink, used to put-down Chinese people, chinked-out reclaims the word, turns its negative connotations upside-down, and uses them as material to fuel the new sound of this music. The term describes an effort to create a sound that is international, and at the same time, Chinese. In this album, I decided to implement some of China's most precious and untapped resources, the musics of its shaoshu minzu [少數民族], or ethnic minorities, concentrating on the regions of Yunnan, Shangri-La, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia. This is not one of those world music CDs. It's an R&B/hip hop album that creates a new vibe the whole world can identify as being Chinese.

— Leehom Wang on Shangri-La^[41]

	"Beside the Plum Blossoms" (在梅邊) noicon From Heroes of Earth (2005). The song utilizes a fusion of traditional kunqu melodies with modern hip hop rhythm, one of the several types of the chinked-out music style.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Heroes of Earth displayed a different side to chinked out. Instead of ethnic minority music, Wang focused on Beijing opera and Kunqu. He used instruments such as the erhu, guqin, and guzheng to infuse his new album with another side of traditional Chinese sound. "Beside the Plum Blossoms" (Chinese: 在梅邊; pinyin: zài méi biān) dealt with fast kunqu melodies. In the last 50 seconds of the song, Wang rapped over 250 words, increasing in speed towards the middle and then slowed down. This was to emphasize the accelerating and descending beats of traditional Chinese opera.

In addition to his chinked-out style of music, he is also noted for writing modern love ballads like "Forever Love", "Kiss Goodbye", "The One and Only" and most recently, "All the Things You Never Knew" (你不知道的事） which are sung with piano and string instrument accompaniments.

Acting career[link]

Wang had displayed interest in acting when he starred in several musical plays when he was in high school and college. In 2000, he made his feature film debut in the Hong Kong action crime thriller, China Strike Force, starring alongside Aaron Kwok, Norika Fujiwara, and Ruby Lin. Hong Kong critics had remarked Wang for giving a well-toned performance as his first film. His next starring role was the 2001 Hong Kong science fiction film The Avenging Fist as the main character Nova. He then starred in two Japanese films Moon Child (2003) and Starlit High Noon (2005).

The major breakthrough in his film career was in Lust, Caution, directed and produced by Academy Award winner Ang Lee. The film is based on a novella written by Eileen Chang and revolves around a plot to assassinate a high-ranking Chinese official in the Wang Jingwei Government using a beautiful young woman as bait. Wang plays Kuang Yumin, a patriotic college student who persuades Wong Chia-chi (Tang Wei) to seduce Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). The film was released in the U.S. cinemas on 28 September 2007. Lust, Caution was produced on a budget of approximately $15 million and grossed $64,574,876 worldwide.^[42]

In 2009, Wang was selected to star with Jackie Chan in Little Big Soldier.^[43]

In 2010, Wang stepped behind the camera to direct and star in, Love in Disguise (Chinese: 戀愛通告; pinyin: Liàn ài tōng gào), also starring Liu Yifei and Joan Chen.^[44] Love in Disguise went on to become the highest grossing film for a first-time director in Chinese history grossing over 60,000,000 RMB domestically.

Endorsements[link]

Wang is one of the most highly visible celebrities in Asia due in no small part to his many product endorsements including: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Sony Ericsson, Bausch & Lomb, Bosideng MAN, Garnier, Lay's Chips, Nikon, Brand's, Hyundai and also Wahaha purified drinking water, which he has endorsed since 1999.

Wang's Bausch & Lomb print advertisements and TV commercials featured prominently in the popular 2008-2010 TV series Chou Nu Wu Di. The series, which took place at an advertising agency, was an adaptation of the 1999 Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea.

Charitable events[link]

Wang is also recognized for his effort and financial contributions to charity. He is active with Worldvision and has visited Laos and Sierra Leone in the last couple of years to raise awareness about the state of poverty in those countries. He personally sponsors over 20 underprivileged children throughout the world with NGO World Vision and frequently participates in the much needed fund-raising campaigns for disaster relief such as the massive earthquake at Sichuan (2008) and Typhoon Marakot in Taiwan (2009). In 2003, he and David Tao composed a song titled Hand in Hand (sung by over 80 celebrities in Taiwan) to promote support and courage to those affected by SARS.^{[citation needed]}

Participation in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games[link]

Wang was chosen as one of the torchbearers to run in Greece.^[45] He was torchbearer number 17 on March 24, the first day of the torch relay. He also attended the torch lighting ceremony before his run. Wang took the torch from Liu Hongliang, son of the first Chinese to attend the Olympic games, Liu Changchun. He represented the newest generation of singers from Taiwan and China. He was chosen mainly because he is devoted to helping save the environment, as shown in his latest album Change Me.^[2]

Another reason he was chosen is due to Wang's enthusiasm in the 2008 Olympic Games Theme Songs Competition. His single One World One Dream was chosen as a Olympic Games participation song. The single was written, sung, produced, and scored entirely by himself. He sang along with Jackie Chan, Stephanie Sun, and Han Hong in the song for "The One Man Olympics" which was about the first Chinese to be in the Olympics. He also sang in the 100 days countdown theme song Beijing Welcomes You. He also sang alongside Stefanie Sun, Wang Feng, and Jane Zhang in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Torch Relay Theme Song, Light The Passion, Share The Dream. He is also one of the candidates on vote for performer of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Theme Song. In the closing ceremony, he sang "Beijing Beijing, I Love Beijing" alongside Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen and Korean singer Rain.

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

Bibliography[link]

• December 18, 2001: The One and Only - The Official Piano and Vocal Score (唯一樂譜書) (Piano and Vocal Score)
• March 20, 2003: Accidental Biography (純屬意外) (Biography; Piano and Vocal Score)
• October 15, 2003: Portrait of a Love Song (Photobook; Prose and Biography) [Japan Release]
• November 15, 2005: Shangri-La - The Official Piano and Vocal Score (心中的日月樂譜書) (Piano and Vocal Score)
• June 9, 2006: "Heroes Of TOKYO" (Photobook) [Japan Release]
• July 21, 2010: "Love In Disguise: photo collection" (Photobook)
• July 21, 2010: "Wang Leehom, the practice of first-time director"

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hu, Brian (7 September 2007). "Leehom's Roots Music". UCLA Asia Institute. http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=77393. Retrieved 10 December 2008. 
• Le, Han (23 May 2007). The Chineseness Constructed in Leehom Wang's "Chinked-Out" Music: Hybridized Texts and Meanings of Chinese Hip-Hop. International Communication Association. http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p168830_index.html. Retrieved 6 December 2008. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lee-Hom Wang

• (English) (Chinese) Leehom Wang official website
• Sony Music: Taiwan Japan
• Leehom Wang at the Internet Movie Database
• Leehom Wang's weibo

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

Jacky Cheung 張學友
Jacky Cheung, January 2007
Chinese name	張學友 (Traditional)
Chinese name	张学友 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Zhāng Xúeyǒu (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Zoeng1 Hok6-jau5 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Tianjin, China[1]
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1961-07-10) 10 July 1961 (age 50)[2] Hong Kong
Other name(s)	God of songs[3]
Occupation	Singer Very occasional Songwriter Actor
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop, Operatic pop, Jazz, R&B
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Voice type(s)	Baritone,[4] Tenor,[5] occasional falsetto[6]
Years active	1985 – present
Spouse(s)	May Lo Mei-mei (羅美薇)
Official Website	www.jackycheung.hk
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor 1989 As Tears Go By Best Original Film Song 2006 Perhaps Love Golden Horse Awards Best Supporting Actor 1990 The Swordsman Other awards World Music Awards Best-Selling Asian Artist 1995, 1996

Jacky Cheung (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王),^[7] with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000.^[8]

Biography[link]

Cheung is known for his baritone voice.^[9] On 15 February 1996 in London, he married Hong Kong actress May Lo Mei-mei, with whom he has two daughters.^[10] Cheung is also nicknamed "god of Songs" (歌神), but he is the second person to hold this title, after former Cantopop singer Sam Hui.^[3][11] In an interview with Ray Cordeiro (Uncle Ray), Cheung stated that the title was more appropriate for Hui than for him, since he actually wrote and popularized songs.^[12]

Career[link]

Music[link]

Jacky Cheung in concert, January 2008.

Cheung originally started working as a reservation officer for the Cathay Pacific airline.^[13] His music career started when he won the Amateur 18-Hong Kong district singing contest in 1984 with the song Fatherland (大地恩情).^[14] He ousted more than 10,000 other contestants.^[13] After winning the contest, he was signed by the then Polygram Records, now Universal Music Group.^[13] Although encouraged by a bright start, he was not able to achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by Leslie Cheung, Alan Tam, Anita Mui and Danny Chan. In 1985 he won his first two major awards together with the 1985 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and the 1985 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards.^[15][16]

	"Half moon (月半彎)" noicon A transitional song from the golden age to the Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王) era by Jacky Cheung
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In 1991 he released the song "Loving You More Every Day" (每天愛你多一些), a translated version of the Japanese Southern All Stars hit, Midsummer's Fruit (真夏の果実). The album True Love Expression (真情流露) in 1992, as well as the subsequent release, Love Sparks (愛火花) in 1992, achieved audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone.^[17]

His subsequent albums included 1993 "Me and You" (我與你) and 1994 "Born to be wild" (餓狼傳說). In the 1994 Billboard Music Awards in the US, he was named the most popular singer in Asia.^[18] He received numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Chinese singer in the World Music Awards for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996 held at Monaco.^[19] Cheung was also elected as one of the world's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999.^[18]

Amongst his hit songs, some of his most famous were Amour, "Just want to spend my life with you" (只想一生跟你走) and "Goodbye Kiss" (吻别). The album The Goodbye Kiss (吻别) was one of the best-selling albums of all time, achieving more sales in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia than ever attained before, with an astounding 4 million copies sold in 1993 alone.^[20] The 4 million sold worldwide allowed him to be the first Asian artist to get on PolyGram's annual Top 10 roster.^[21] The album was also instrumental in helping Cheung break into the mandopop market. Due to these great songs and albums, Cheung is generally considered to be the pre-eminent member of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. He is regarded by some sources as the best singer of the four.^[22]

In 1995, Cheung staged his record-breaking 100-show world tour titled "Yau Hok Yau" (友學友), literally a pun of "friendship Jacky Cheung" reusing the same Chinese characters found in his name.^[23] The tour started with 34 shows from 8 April to 9 June at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Then the tour continued at Perth Brisbane Australia and returned to Taipei and mainland China.^[24] It then expanded to Madison Square Garden^[25] in the US, different parts of Europe, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan.^[24] He was regarded as the new Michael Jackson by Business Week.

His successful music and acting career has made him one of Hong Kong's icons. Cheung was elected by Time Magazine as one of the "25 most influential people in the New Hong Kong" in 1996.^[13][14]

In 1999, he was named one of the 10 Outstanding Young Persons of the World by the Junior Chamber International, a worldwide federation of young professionals and entrepreneurs.^[18] In 2000 he was awarded by RTHK, the Golden Needle Award.^[26] This award, the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, recognized outstanding contributions to the music industry.

Cheung won the Best Selling Cantonese Album Award in the Hong Kong IFPI Awards of 2005 with his live album, Jacky Live Performance. In the fast-changing scene of canto-pop, Cheung has been able to maintain his popularity and sales power for more than 20 years after his debut, which is unparalleled in the history of Hong Kong pop music.

In 2007, Cheung staged his "Year of Jacky Cheung World Tour 2007". The tour started on 18 February 2007 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When the tour ended in Hong Kong on 3 February 2008 after touring 58 cities around the world, a total of 105 shows had been given, attracting more than 2 million fans. 105 became the highest number of shows in a tour by a Chinese artist, breaking the previous record of 100, which was also set by Cheung previously.^[27]

Duets[link]

	"In Love With You" (1994) noicon Cheung's collaboration with Regine Velasquez is one of Cheung's best duets.
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Cheung not only performs solo but often in duets with female singers. A duet with fellow Asian Superstar Regine Velasquez on the song "In Love with You" was included in her multi-platinum album "Listen Without Prejudice". In 2008 Cheung and A-Mei, the popular Taiwanese singer, performed Zhu Fu ("Blessing") as a duet in a benefit concert for victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Other duet partners include:

• Priscilla Chan - "A Pair of Lonely Hearts" (一對寂寞的心)
• Faye Wong - "Love's Promise"
• Kelly Chen - "Waiting for Your Love"
• Anita Mui - "Love is Hard" （相愛很難）, (祝福)
• Shirley Kwan - ""Youngster No Love"" (年少無情)
• Coco Lee - (從頭到尾)
• Priscilla Chan - (愛和承諾), (接近)
• Sandy Lam - (日與夜)
• Vivian Chow - (留住秋色)
• Sarah Brightman - "There for Me"
• Reba McEntire - "For My Broken Heart"
• Regine Velasquez - "In Love With You"
• Cally Kwong - "Only Love Persists" (祇有情永在)
• Karen Tong - "Miss Each Other In the Wind & Rain" (相思風雨中)
• Vivian Lai - "Long Flow, Never Rests" (長流不息)
• He Ruhui - (似曾相識)
• Francesca Gao (高慧君) - (你最珍貴)
• Karen Tong - (情濃半生)
• Chen Jia Lu - (花與琴的流星(雪狼湖)) , (愛狼說(雪狼湖))

On stage musical[link]

In 1997 his work on the groundbreaking Cantonese broadway-style musical Snow.Wolf.Lake was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics.^[7] Cheung not only played the male lead, but was also the artistic director for this production. The first female lead was played by Sandy Lam in Hong Kong and Nnadia Chan in Singapore. Kit Chan played the second female lead. They achieved 43 consecutive full-house performances at the gigantic Hung Hom Hong Kong Coliseum which remains the record today.^[28] In November 2004, Cheung and his concert manager, Florence Chan Suk-fan, worked on a revised Mandarin version of Snow, Wolf, Lake so as to bring it to a wider audience. The female leads this time were Evonne Hsu and Nnadia Chan respectively. The market budget alone exceeded HK$15 million.^[28] The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on 24 December 2004 in Beijing.^[29]

Acting[link]

Cheung's hand print an autograph at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong.

While Cheung is known for his singing, he has also acted in many films. He received the Best Supporting Actor award in the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards for his work in As Tears Go By (1988) as well as the Best Supporting Actor Golden Horse Award for his work in Swordsman (1990).^[30][31] That same year he also collaborated with John Woo and Tony Leung in the film Bullet in the Head. For his work in July Rhapsody, he also received the Best Actor Award at the New Delhi Film Festival for his portrayal of the protagonist role. His song Perhaps Love, which serves as the theme song for the multi-award-winning film Perhaps Love, also won the Best Song Award at the 2005 Hong Kong Film Award and the CASH Best Song Award at the 2005/2006 CASH Gold Sail Music Awards. He also starred in Taiwanese mini-series called Love Scar with F4 member Jerry Yan and Karen Mok, where he acted as Jerry Yan's older brother.^[32]

In the 2004 released and Wong Ching-po directed triads drama film, Jiang Hu, Cheung played the role of Lefty, the best friend and right hand man of a crime boss, Hung Yan Chau, who is played by Andy Lau. The film includes several actors from the cast of Infernal Affairs.^[33]

Ceremonies and spokesperson[link]

Cheung was named the spokesperson for Hong Kong Disneyland in 2004. He took part in a number of large-scale marketing events organized by The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, beginning with the hosting of a TV program, Magical World of Disneyland.^[34] He recorded a multi-lingual song for Hong Kong Disneyland, entitled One. The music video for One was filmed at Hong Kong Disneyland. He also recorded for the Hong Kong Disneyland: The Grand Opening Celebration Album.

In December 2006, Cheung performed live the theme song "Together Now" at the Opening Ceremony of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.^[35] He was introduced as "the most popular Asian performer in the world".

In 2010, Cheung, Jane Zhang, and K'naan sang a Mandarin version of "Wavin' Flag (The Celebration Mix)" for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Community[link]

In March 2009 he became the first Cantopop / Mandopop artist to contribute items to the Hard Rock franchise memorabilia collection.^[36] Items are to be exhibited at the Hard Rock hotel in Macau.^[36] A joint donation is also made to donate HK$600,000 to the Children's Cancer Foundation and ORBIS Macau.^[27] In September 2009, Cheung, as one of the super ambassadors of End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF) founded by Josephine Siao, attended the charity fund raising event for celebrating ECSAF’s 10th anniversary in Hong Kong.^[37]

Foreign domestic helper incident[link]

Cheung's maid was arrested for taking images of Cheung's children, in a case that sparked controversy among some domestic servants in Hong Kong. It was argued that Cheung overreacted and the sentence was disproportionate and the case was regarded by some as racial discrimination.^[38] The Philippines consulate soon announced that Cheung's family had employed 21 different maids in a three-year period and placed Cheung on a 'blacklist' that would prevent him from employing any Filipino maids in the future.^[39]

IFPI Awards (partial list)[link]

IFPI Gold Disc Award^[40]

• 1989 87'演唱會 Polygram
• 1990 絲絲記憶精選 Polygram

IFPI Platinum Disc Award

• 1985 Smile Polygram
• 1986 遙遠的她 Polygram
• 1987 相愛 Polygram
• 1987 Jacky Polygram
• 1988 昨夜夢魂中 Polygram
• 1990 給我親愛的 Polygram
• 1990 祇願一生愛一人 Polygram

IFPI Top 10 Sales Album

• 2003 Where is he 他在那裡 What's Music
• 2004 Black & White What's Music
• 2005 活出生命 Live 演唱會 What's Music

IFPI Top 10 Sales Artist

• 2005

IFPI Top Sales Album

• 2005 活出生命 Live 演唱會 What's Music

See also[link]

• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Music of Hong Kong

References[link]