Xǔ Shèn (; ca. 58 CE – ca. 147 CE) was a Chinese philologist of the Han Dynasty. He was the author of ''Shuowen Jiezi'', the first Chinese dictionary with character analysis, as well as the first to organize the characters by shared components. It contains over 9,000 character entries under 540 radicals, explaining the origins of the characters based primarily upon a study of the earlier seal script. A number of Xu Shen's character analyses are erroneous, as the seal script differs considerably from the older bronzeware script and the even older oracle bone script, both of which were unknown at the time, also to Xu Shen. Xu Shen completed his dictionary in 100 CE but, for political reasons, waited until 121 CE before having the work presented to the Emperor An of Han China by his son.

A native of the present-day Yancheng District () City of Luohe () in Henan Province, Xu Shen was a renowned Confucianist scholar who specialized in the Five Classics, and wrote the ''Wujing yiyi'' ( "Differing Meanings in the Five Classics"). Although the original text was partially lost or corrupted by the Tang Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty scholar Chen Shouqi (; 1771–1834) partially reconstructed the work from fragments and quotations.

References

He Jiuying 何九盈 (1995). ''Zhongguo gudai yuyanxue shi'' (中囯古代语言学史 "A history of ancient Chinese linguistics"). Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe.

See also

Shuowen Jiezi

List of Shuowen Jiezi radicals

Category:Chinese lexicographers Category:Chinese linguists Category:50s births Category:140s deaths Category:Han Dynasty people

de:Xu Shen et:Xu Shen ko:허신 (후한) hr:Xu Shen ja:許慎 no:Xu Shen pl:Xu Shen ru:Сюй Шэнь sh:Xu Shen vi:Hứa Thận zh-classical:許慎 zh:許慎

Georges Bizet (25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer and pianist of the Romantic era. He is best known for the opera ''Carmen''.

Life and career

Bizet was born at 26 rue de la Tour d'Auvergne in the 9th arrondissement of Paris in 1838. He was named Georges Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, but he was always known thereafter as Georges Bizet. His father Adolphe Armand Bizet (1810–86) was an amateur singer and composer, and his mother, Aimée Léopoldine Joséphine née Delsarte (1814–61), was the sister of the noted singing teacher François Delsarte.

Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory of Music in October, 1848, a fortnight before his tenth birthday. His teachers there were Pierre Zimmermann (fugue and counterpoint; often assisted by his son-in-law Charles Gounod), Antoine François Marmontel (piano), François Benoist (organ) and, on Zimmermann's death, Fromental Halévy, whose daughter Bizet later married. He won first prizes for organ and fugue in 1855, and he completed his earliest compositions there.

Bizet's first symphony, the Symphony in C, was written in November 1855, when he was seventeen, evidently as a student assignment. It was unknown to the world until 1933, when it was discovered in the archives of the Paris Conservatory library. Upon its first performance in 1935, it was immediately hailed as a junior masterwork and a welcome addition to the early Romantic period repertoire. The symphony bears a stylistic resemblance to the first symphony of Gounod, first played earlier in the same year, and which Bizet had arranged for two pianos although present-day listeners may discern a similarity to music of Franz Schubert. In 1857, a setting of the one-act operetta ''Le docteur Miracle'' won him a share in a prize offered by Jacques Offenbach. He also won the music composition scholarship of the Prix de Rome, the conditions of which required him to study in Rome for three years. There, his talent developed as he wrote such works as the opera buffa ''Don Procopio'' (1858–59). There he also composed his only major sacred work, ''Te Deum'' (1858), which he submitted to the Prix Rodrigues competition, a contest for Prix de Rome winners only. Bizet failed to win the Prix Rodrigues, and the ''Te Deum'' score remained unpublished until 1971. He made two attempts to write another symphony in 1859, but destroyed the manuscripts in December of that year. Apart from this period in Rome, Bizet lived in the Paris area all his life.

Shortly after leaving Rome in July 1860, but while still touring in Italy, he had the idea of writing a symphony in which each of the four movements would be a musical evocation of a different Italian city – Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples. On hearing of his mother's serious illness he cut short his Italian travels and returned to Paris in September 1860; she died a year later. The Scherzo of the symphony was completed by November 1861, but it was not until 1866 that the first version of the whole symphony was written. He subjected it to a number of revisions through to 1871, but died before ever producing what he considered the definitive version. For this reason, the work is sometimes described as "unfinished", but this is an inaccurate description as it was fully scored. It was published after his death in 1880 as the Roma Symphony.

In June 1862 the Bizet family's maid, Marie Reiter, gave birth to a son, Jean Bizet. The boy was brought up to believe that his father was Adolphe Bizet, and that he was Georges's half-brother, but his mother later revealed that his true father was Georges Bizet. His former teacher Halévy died in 1862, leaving his last opera ''Noé'' unfinished. Bizet completed it, but it was not performed until 1885, ten years after Bizet's own death.

Bizet composed the opera ''Les pêcheurs de perles'' (''The Pearl Fishers''), a drama of love and ritual in Ceylon for the Théâtre Lyrique in 1863; it was initially a failure. In 1866, Bizet was hired to arrange two of Ambroise Thomas's operas for both solo and duo piano. The works of his youth displayed his power of evoking exotic atmosphere such as ''La jolie fille de Perth'' (after Walter Scott's novel), which takes place in a romanticized Scotland (premiered also in the Théâtre Lyrique, in 1867). Although these operas were not overwhelmingly successful, they established Bizet's reputation as a composer to be reckoned with.

On 3 June 1869, Bizet married Geneviève Halévy (1849–1926), the daughter of his late teacher Fromental Halévy. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870, Bizet joined the French National Guard, as did some other well-known composers. This delayed his progress on several works. The armistice of January 1871 was followed by a civil uprising, which resulted in a two-month period of bloodshed and unrest in Paris. Bizet and his wife fled to Le Vésinet near Paris, to escape the violence. From November 1871 until his death Bizet was a member of the Conservatoire examination committees for composition, counterpoint and fugue, and for piano and harp.

Bizet wrote ''Jeux d'enfants'' (''Children's Games'') for piano duet in 1871. The following year (22 May 1872) saw the production of the one-act opéra comique ''Djamileh'', which is often seen as a precursor to ''Carmen''. He wrote incidental music for the play ''L'Arlésienne'' by Alphonse Daudet, first performed on 1 October 1872. Bizet derived a ''L'Arlésienne Suite'' from the music (first performed 10 November 1872), and Ernest Guiraud later arranged a second suite; both contain considerable rewriting of the original score (many performances of the second suite omit any mention of Guiraud's contribution). His overture ''Patrie'' was written in 1873 (it had no connection with Victorien Sardou's play ''Patrie!''). ''Carmen'' (1875) is Bizet's best-known work and is based on a novella of the same title written in 1846 by the French writer Prosper Mérimée. Bizet composed the title role for a mezzo-soprano. It was substantially composed during the summer of 1873, but not finished until the end of 1874, during which time his marriage came under severe strain and he separated from his wife for two months. ''Carmen'' premiered on 3 March 1875, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and was not initially well-received, although it ran for 37 performances in the next three months, an average of three a week; it was Bizet's greatest success so far. Bizet had put every ounce of his genius into ''Carmen'', and its lukewarm reception was a bitter disappointment. Praise for it eventually came from well-known contemporaries including Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky. Brahms attended over twenty performances of it, and considered it the greatest opera produced in Europe since the Franco-Prussian War. The views of these composers proved to be prophetic, as ''Carmen'' has since become one of the most popular works in the entire operatic repertoire. ''Carmen'' contains two of Bizet's most famous songs, the "Habanera" and "The Toreador's Song", which compete for popularity with the tenor-baritone duet "Au fond du temple saint" ("In the depths of the temple") from ''The Pearl Fishers''.

However, Bizet did not live to see ''Carmen'''s success. He died from heart failure at the age of 36 in Bougival (Yvelines), about 10 miles west of Paris. It has been suggested that Élie-Miriam Delaborde, who was believed to be the illegitimate son of Charles-Valentin Alkan, may have been indirectly responsible for Bizet's death, which followed a swimming competition between the two, as a result of which Bizet caught a chill. Murder or even suicide were suspected at the time, as what was described as a "gunshot wound" appeared to be on the left side of his neck. However, this was most likely a lymph node which swelled and perforated. He almost certainly died with a systemic streptococcal infection, consistent with his lifelong medical history.

Bizet died on his sixth wedding anniversary, exactly three months after ''Carmen's'' first performance. His death came just when he had found his mature style. He was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, alongside other greats like Chopin and Rossini. ''Carmen'' was then immediately dropped by the Opéra-Comique. Yet within three years, it had made its way to Vienna, Brussels, London, New York City, and soon to Germany and Russia, also. Five years later, ''Carmen'' returned to Paris, where it was received rapturously and launched on its long-running success. Today it is one of the world's best-loved operas.

Bizet the pianist

Bizet's work as a composer has overshadowed how fine a pianist he was. He could easily have had a career as a concert pianist had he so wished, but he hated the idea. In an 1867 letter, he wrote, ''I play the piano very well and live on it very poorly as nothing in the world could make me play publicly. I find the profession of a pianist odious''. He did occasionally play in public or at private soirées, but limited such appearances for fear of being considered a pianist rather than a composer.

Bizet was also a magnificent sight-reader. On 26 May 1861, at a dinner party at the Halévys at which Franz Liszt was present, Bizet gave a faultless performance of an elaborate work of Liszt's, reading at sight from the unpublished manuscript. Liszt proclaimed that Bizet was one of the three finest pianists in Europe. Bizet's sight-reading skill was also praised by Hector Berlioz, his teacher Marmontel, and many others. Berlioz wrote in the "Journal des Débats" on 8 October 1863, ''His talent as a pianist is so great that no difficulty can stop him when sight-reading orchestral scores. After Liszt and Mendelssohn one could see few sight-readers of his ability''.

Posthumously

His widow Geneviève later had an alliance with Élie-Miriam Delaborde; indeed, there exists an application for registration of a marriage between them, which never took place. Instead, she married Émile Straus, a banker with Rothschild family connections, and became a noted society hostess. The writer Marcel Proust used her as a model for the Madame Verdurin in his ''roman-fleuve'' ''À la recherche du temps perdu''. (The Bizets' son, Jacques Bizet (1872–1922), who became a writer, had been a friend of Proust's while they were schoolboys together at the same school.)

Bizet's music was used in the twentieth century as the basis for several important ballets. The Soviet-era ''Carmen Suite'' (1967), set to music drawn from ''Carmen'' arranged by Rodion Shchedrin, gave the Bolshoi ballerina Maya Plisetskaya one of her signature roles; it was choreographed by Alberto Alonso. In the West the ''L'Arlesienne'' of Roland Petit is well regarded, and ''Symphony in C'' by George Balanchine is considered to be one of the great ballets of the twentieth century. It was first presented as Le Palais de Crystal by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1947, and it has been in the repertory there ever since. The ballet has no story: it simply fits the music. Each movement of the symphony has its own ballerina, cavalier, and corps de ballet, all of whom dance together in the finale.

Works

References

External links

The Lied and Art Song Texts Page created and mantained from Emily Ezust Texts of the Melodies of Bizet with translations in various languages.

Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Bizet Biography

Mina Curtiss collection (research materials used by one of Bizet's biographers) in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Lettres à un ami, 1865-1872 (French) at Gutenberg.org

;Free sheet music

Free scores Mutopia Project

Carmen. Selections, piano (From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)

Carmen Fantasie, for violin and piano (From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)

L’Arlésienne : incidental music to the melodrama by Alphonse Daudet, for piano 4 hands (From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)

Category:1838 births Category:1875 deaths Category:Musicians from Paris Category:Alumni of the Conservatoire de Paris Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:French composers Category:Opera composers Category:Prix de Rome for composition Category:Romantic composers

ar:جورج بيزيه an:Georges Bizet be:Жорж Бізэ bg:Жорж Бизе ca:Georges Bizet cs:Georges Bizet cy:Georges Bizet da:Georges Bizet de:Georges Bizet et:Georges Bizet es:Georges Bizet eo:Georges Bizet fa:ژرژ بیزه fr:Georges Bizet gl:Georges Bizet ko:조르주 비제 hy:Ժորժ Բիզե hr:Georges Bizet io:Georges Bizet id:Georges Bizet it:Georges Bizet he:ז'ורז' ביזה ka:ჟორჟ ბიზე sw:Georges Bizet la:Georgius Bizet lv:Žoržs Bizē lb:Georges Bizet lt:Georges Bizet hu:Georges Bizet mk:Жорж Бизе mr:जॉर्जेस बिझेत ms:Georges Bizet mn:Жорж Бизе nl:Georges Bizet ja:ジョルジュ・ビゼー no:Georges Bizet oc:Georges Bizet pl:Georges Bizet pt:Georges Bizet ro:Georges Bizet qu:Georges Bizet ru:Бизе, Жорж sc:Georges Bizet scn:Georges Bizet simple:Georges Bizet sk:Georges Bizet sl:Georges Bizet sr:Жорж Бизе fi:Georges Bizet sv:Georges Bizet tt:Georges Bizet th:ฌอร์ฌ บีแซ tr:Georges Bizet uk:Жорж Бізе zh-yue:比才 zh:乔治·比才

Xu Zhi (died 254) was a military general of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. His name is sometimes romanticized as Xu Zi.

Biography

In 254, Xu participated in a battle against an invading army from the rival state of Shu Han, which was led by Jiang Wei. He engaged Jiang's forces at Nan'an (南安) as a local defense. During the ensuing battle, he defeated the Shu Han generals Liao Hua and Zhang Yi (張翼) and slew Zhang Yi (張嶷). However, Zhang Yi's desperate fight also inflicted a devastating damage to Xu's army, so he was forced to retreat and await reinforcements. Shu forces thus gained some footholds on Xiangwu region and the battles went on and off for some time until Jiang finally suffered a catastrophic defeat from Deng Ai. Unlike what the novel, ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', depicts, Xu was recorded to have resisted Jiang Wei, and supposedly drove the latter out along with the relief forces, rather than being killed by the invading forces.

In fiction

In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Xu volunteered to engage Jiang Wei's army and was appointed general of the vanguard. The two armies encountered each other at Dongting (董亭) and got into their respective formations. Xu charged out of the Cao Wei formation and dueled with the Shu Han general Liao Hua. Soon after, Liao took advantage of a feint and retreated. Zhang Yi (張翼) continued the duel against Xu but was forced to retreat as well after a few rounds. Xu then led his troops on a charge and defeated the enemy.

Later, Xu Zhi was caught in a surprise attack led by Liao Hua and Zhang Yi. Though his force was wiped out, Xu managed to escape alive; he ultimately ran into an ambush party led by Jiang Wei, where he was killed.

See also

List of people of the Three Kingdoms

References

Chen Shou. ''Records of Three Kingdoms'', Chapter 44, Biography of Jiang Wei.

Luo Guanzhong. ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', Chapter 109.

Notes

Category:Cao Wei generals Category:254 deaths

ca:Xu Zhi zh:徐質

Name	Leon Lai BBS, MH
Chinesename	黎明
Pinyinchinesename	Lí Míng
Jyutpingchinesename	Lai4 ming4
Birth name	Lai Chit (黎捷)
Ancestry	Meixian, Guangdong, China
Origin	Hong Kong
Birth date	December 11, 1966
Birth place	Beijing, China
Occupation	Singer, Actor, Record Company Manager
Genre	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument	Singing
Label	1990 - 1998 PolyGram1998 - 2004 Sony Music2004 -Amusic
Yearsactive	1986 - Present
Spouse	Gaile Lok
Website	www.amusic.hk
Hongkongfilmwards	Best Original Film Song1999 ''City of Glass''
Goldenhorseawards	Best Original Song1997 ''Eighteen Springs''Best Actor2002 ''Three Going Home''
Ntsawards	1986 Second Runner-Up
Alma mater	}}

Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王). He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."

Biography

Lai was born in Beijing, China as Lai Chit (黎捷) with Meixian, Guangdong ancestry. His family was originally from Meixian. His parents divorced when he was four. He migrated with his Malaysian Chinese father, Lai Xinsheng to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution in China. At the age of fifteen, he attended King's Way Princeton College in the United Kingdom and returned to Hong Kong at the age of eighteen in 1984.

Career

Early years

Lai initially worked as a salesperson for a mobile phone company. After being awarded second-runner-up in the 1986 5th New Talent Singing Awards, Lai received vocal coaching from Dai Si Zong (戴思聰). In the same year he also obtained an artist contract from Capital Artists. Lai did not release any albums for four years. As a result, his teacher, Dai, arranged to have him signed a contract with Polygram, later known as Universal Music.

Music

In Polygram, he released his first album "Leon" and subsequent album "Meet In The Rain". His debut album went gold. After several years at Polygram, he then signed a new contract with Sony Music on 23 March 1998.

Together with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, Lai was among the four most popular male singers during the 1990s, when the media referred to them as Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings ().

In the early stages of his career, he mainly sang cantopop, but due to the influence of producer Mark Lui, he expanded his repertoire to include popular electronic songs with compelling music videos. In 1990 he won his first 1990 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards and 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He also followed up to win the "Most Popular Male Singer" award in 1993 and 1995 for TVB Jade Solid Gold. In 1996, he collaborated with composer-producer Steve Barakatt on his album "Feel". Two years later in 1998, he became the first HK singer to reach the Top 10 K-pop chart with the song "After loving you". In 1999 he announced that he would no longer accept any more awards in Hong Kong.

In 2002 he was selected to sing "Charged up", the 2002 FIFA World Cup theme song for the Greater China region. In 2004 he became the first Hong Kong singer to represent the territory at the first Asia Song Festival held in South Korea.

Lai was selected to be the ambassador of the 6th Winter Asian Games to be held Changchun in 2007. He sang the Games' theme song and took part in the torch relay. He then joined Michael Wong and Janice Vidal held a three day "Magic Live" charity concert at Star Hall, Hong Kong from 9th Nov to 11th Nov, 2008.

Duets

Apart from being a solo artist, Lai has co-operated with other artists. Some of his better known collaborations are "Love Until the End" and "A Happy Family" with Vivian Chow, "Really Wish to Be Like This Forever" and "It's Still You" with Priscilla Chan, "Song of the Star" with Alan Tam, "Never Give Up" with Jacky Cheung, "Why did I let you go?" with Janice Vidal.

Company founder & singer

In 2004, Lai formed a new record production company, "A Music", East Asia Record Production Company Limited, with Peter Lam. The first album produced by the company, "Dawn" was released in September of that year. The album, "Dawn", was released with minimum promotion as Lai went to Mainland China for a movie shoot on the day of the album's release.

In order to bring in new excitements for his music, Lai invited a famous music producer Jonathan Lee from Taiwan in 2005 to produce his new mandarin album "A Story". However, by doing so he had to give up the opportunity for a lead role in a big budget Taiwan movie "Gui Si" due to conflicts in his schedules.

Lai returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum on April 13, 2007 to perform in his one night only ''Leon 4 in Love Concert'' where he performed not only his own hits but also hits of the other three heavenly kings. He performed a total of 18 songs, all of which are newly arranged by Mark Lui. He subsequently released an album titled "4 In Love" on May 3, 2007, comprising 16 of the 18 songs he had performed in the concert.

Actor

In the period before Lai participated in the New Talent Singing Awards, he enrolled in the ATV actor training class, however he didn't complete the training. He then applied for admission to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts but his application was rejected.

After the New Talent Singing Awards, he had some opportunities to star in a few TV series. On one occasion, he went for filming of a romantic serials titled, ''Fengyun era'', in Taiwan. There was a stark contrast in height between Lai and the popular lead actress who is only 160 cm in height. The actress then demanded that Lai squatted while filming so as to make up for the height differences. Lai had to act through all the scenes with the actress while squatting but he had to endure it as he was not popular at the time. Not long afterwards his new TVB series, ''The Breaking Point (1991 TV series)'' turned out to be a resounding success and propelled him to widespread fame in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In 1996 Lai was nominated for the ''Best Actor'' award at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film ''Comrades: Almost a Love Story''. The next year in 1997, he managed to win the award for ''Best Original Song'' for the film ''Eighteen Springs'' both at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Awards. He was again nominated for the ''Best Actor'' and ''Best Original Film Song'' award for the film ''City of Glass'' in 1999, but he only managed to win the award for ''Best Original Film Song'' which he shared with Albert Leung and Dick Lee.

Lai was considered by Lee Ang to act as ''Li Mu Bai'' in the film ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', however he had to turn down the offer as he had advertising contract and live concert about to start which would not match his shaven head as was required for the role.

He collaborated with Cecilia Cheung in 2001 for the first time in the Wong Jing directed romantic comedy film, ''Everyday Is Valentine''. In the film, Lai played a serial liar.

In 2002 Lai took the spotlight at the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of the Oscars in Taiwan. He won ''Best Actor'' for ''Three: Going Home''. Lai played a minor role as ''Superintendent Yeung Kam Wing'' in ''Infernal Affairs III'' in 2003. In 2004 Lai starred with Faye Wong in the romantic movie ''Leaving Me, Loving You'', the story of which he co-wrote with Wilson Yip and he was also the creative/production controller of the movie. However, the movie was a flop raking in HK$ 10,529,501 in the box office. Still in that same year he was ranked 8th on the China Celebrity 100 list released by the Chinese edition of Forbes.

In 2005 Lai acted as one of the seven warriors in the Tsui Hark directed wuxia film, ''Seven Swords''. In the same year in the film ''Moonlight in Tokyo'', Lai unexpectedly acted as a Chinese retard who pretend to be a Korean gigolo in Japan and thus shedding his idol image. He won the ''Golden Deer Best Actor Award'' from Changchun China Film Festival for his portrayal in ''Leaving Me, Loving You'' in 2005.

In 2006 Lai starred alongside Fan Bingbing and Rene Liu in a love and horror, thriller film titled ''The Matrimony'' where he played a cinematographer ''Shen Junchu'', the love interest of ''Manli'' and ''Sansan''. ''JunChu'' was pressurised into marrying ''Sansan'' after the untimely demise of his true love ''Manli'' in an accident. The film was released on 8 February 2007. In the same year, Lai wrote and directed a musical film titled ''A Melody Looking'' which was shot in New York. It features Lai and the rest of the Amusic family of singers namely Janice, Jill, Emily, Charles and Chapman. This film marks his debut as a director.

In 2007 Lai starred alongside Kelly Chen, Donnie Yen and Guo Xiaodong in the Ching Siu-tung film An Empress and the Warriors. He acted as a woodland medicine man whom have a romantic relationship with a princess. Lai and Kelly Chen sang the theme song, "''Fly With Your Dreams''" written by Albert Leung and composed by Mark Lui.

He underwent training in Peking Opera for playing the lead role as ''Méi Lánfāng'' in the biographical film ''Forever Enthralled'' which was directed by Chen Kaige. He directed the music video for the film where he and Zhang Ziyi sang the theme song, "You Understand My Love". For the first time in his career, Lai played the role of a beggar in the Peter Chan directed film ''Bodyguards and Assassins''. For his success a wax figure of Lai was revealed at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

Community

Apart from being an actor and singer, Lai is actively involved in the Community Chest. In the 1990s he began serious charity work when his father was diagnosed with carcinoma of the rectum. The doctors said it was incurable. But after operation, his father survived the miraculous surgery. When the Cancer Research Foundation and the U.N. organization approached him for help, he started getting involved in charity work actively.

Lai's first work with UNICEF in a China polio eradication project in 1993. He managed to raise substantial funds accruing from his supporters, fans and concert ticket sales. In July 1994, he was appointed the International UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and thus becoming the first Hong Kong citizen to be given this position. Since the year 1994, he has been involved in various fund raising activities of The Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (HKCU). These activities include seven charity concerts, three charity chocolate sales and charity walkathon. Lai, along with HKCU representatives, visited Rwanda, Gansu of China and Brazil to study the work of UNICEF and to help promote public awareness to help children". In December 1995, he was appointed as "UNICEF Special Representative to Youth" at in the New York headquarters recognizing his contributions for the welfare of the children.

Lai have also been elected as one of The Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in 1997, giving him a formal recognition of his professional endeavours and commitment to the community. He bought the first donation ticket, numbered 000001 at a "Children's Education Fund Raising Campaign" launch event at Tsuen Wan PARKnSHOP's Skyline Superstore in 2001 to encourage people to contribute to a meaningful social cause. The funds raised was donated to the Community Chest.

He was awarded the Medal of Honour (M.H.) on 12 October 2003 by Tung Chee-Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Ever since his decision not to receive any music award in HK, he has not appeared on the TVB Jade Gold Solid Awards ceremony even as a guest, but in order to secure more funds for charity, he agreed to perform in the ceremony as a guest performer on 8 Jan 2005. On 13 May of the same year, Lai co-operated with Mark Lui to compose the song "8858". The song will be used as the promotional song of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF). The title of song means "Help me (sounded like 'bang bang wo ba' in Putonghua)" and the number "8858" represent the SMS number people can use to donate the money. In a surprising move in Dec 2005, Lai appeared in a Hong Kong government television advertisement requesting the public to support a gradual political reform package tabled by the ruling government rather than asked for rapid political reform. This marks the first time he got himself involved in a politically motivated advertisement.

Incidents

Commercial anthem incident

In 2000, Lai's song ''All Day Love'' (全日愛) got him into trouble with the Chinese authorities for drawing passages from the Chinese National Anthem, March of the Volunteers. The starting tune also sounds similar to the anthem tune. He was warned against using the song for commercial purposes.

Concert

At Hong Kong Coliseum :

16 July - 19 July 13 Apr 10 Oct - 15 Oct 14-16; 21-25; 28-31 Dec 20 Nov - 12 Dec 20 Dec - 8 Jan 2 Nov - 27 Nov 8 Aug - 25 Aug 7 Oct - 14 OctTotal

!Year !!Date!!Title !!Chinese Title !!No. of Shows!!Sponsor
2009	|	Leon Dream Wedding Live		4	Chow Tai Fook
2007	|	Leon 4 in Love Concert		1	3 (telecommunications)>3
2005	|	Leon Crazy Classic Concert		6	Johnnie Walker Black Label
2001	|	Leon Live Is Live Concert		12	CitiBank
1999	|	Leon Live 99		23	AXA
1997-98	|	Leon Lai Live 97		20	G Sushi 元祿壽司
1995	|	Neon Leon Live 95	那一夜我們在霓虹下起舞	26	Hang Seng Bank Credit Card
1993	|	Summer of Love Concert	夏日傾情演唱會	20	Saab
1992	|	Night Devotion Live #	一夜傾情演唱會	10	Kao
	|			122

(Note: # indicate literal translation)

Source:

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!Year !

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1999	Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited>Hutchison Orange dual band network
1998	Hutchison new line-Tianshan article
1998	Airport Express Line
1998	Hutchison new line-Xueshan article
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1997	Hutchison GSM Mobile

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Year	Single	Peak positions
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Year	Album	HMV Sales Chart
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(source:)

Awards

+ IFPI	Year !! Awards !! Albums
	IFPI HK Top 10 Sales Album	Leon Club Sandwich
IFPI HK Top 10 Sales Mandarin Album	The Red Shoes
IFPI HK Top Sales Male Artist
	1998	IFPI HK Platinum Disc
rowspan="4"	1997	IFPI HK Platinum Disc
IFPI HK Platinum Disc	Feel
IFPI HK Gold Disc	Leon's …
IFPI HK Gold Disc	Leon Sound
Total

Source:

+ Commercial Radio !Year !	Awards !! Songs
	Best Male Artist:Silver
Favorite Male Artist
No.3 professional recommendation	Jin Shen Bu Zai
Best Co-operation	Leon Lai and Hutchison Telecom
rowspan="5"	1997	Best Male Artist:Gold
Favorite Male Artist
Top 10 Songs professional recommendation	Only if you love me for a day
Favorite Song	Only if you love me for a day
10th anniversary Top 10 Artists
rowspan="3"	1996	Best Male Artist:Gold
Best Ads Song	Unspoken words of sentiment
Four Media IFPI Top award	Perhaps
rowspan="2"	1995	Best Male Artist:Bronze
Top 10 Songs professional recommendation	Danger tracking
rowspan="5"	1994	Most Played Artist:Bronze
Top 10 Songs	Not one day I don't think of you
Favorite Song	Not one day I don't think of you
Most Favorite Live Performance	Not one day I don't think of you
Top Composed Song	Not one day I don't think of you
rowspan="2"	1993	Best Male Artist:Bronze
Favorite Songs	Not willing to leave you tonight Summer Devotion Summer is burning
rowspan="2"	1992	Most Played Artist:Bronze
Favorite Song	My Love Wish We Are Not Just Friend
1991	Most Played Artist:Bronze
1990	Most Played Artist:Silver
Total

External links

A Music

Leon Lai Family (Hong Kong) 黎明家族 (香港) - fansite

Leon Family (Taiwan) - fansite

Leon Lai Fans Club 黎明之友 - fansite

Leon at UNICEF

References

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong Buddhists Category:Hong Kong actors Category:Hong Kong male singers Category:Cantopop singers Category:People from Beijing Category:Hong Kong people of Hakka descent Category:Hong Kong people of Malaysian descent Category:Cantonese people Category:New Talent Singing Awards contestants Category:Japanese-language singers Category:Hong Kong Mandopop singers

fr:Leon Lai ko:여명 (1966년) it:Leon Lai ja:レオン・ライ th:หลี่หมิง vi:Lê Minh zh-yue:黎明 zh:黎明

Xu Jie (, born January 21, 1982 in Tianjin) is a Chinese-Polish female table tennis player, member of the Polish national team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She has lived in Poland since 1999 and became a naturalised citizen in 2003. Between 1999 and 2005, she represented the team of AZS Częstochowa, later moving to GLKS Wanzl Scania Nadarzyn, located in the suburbs of Warsaw.

Xu Jie was ranked in 73rd place in world rank of the International Table Tennis Federation in 2010. She is a five times individual champion of Poland (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, 2010).

References

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Polish table tennis players Category:Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic table tennis players of Poland Category:People of Chinese descent Category:People from Tianjin Category:Naturalized citizens of Poland Category:Polish people of Chinese descent

pl:Xu Jie