Yi Jian Mei (song)

"Yi Jian Mei" (Chinese: 一剪梅; lit. 'One Trim of Plum Blossom'),[lower-alpha 1] also commonly referred to by its popular lyrics "Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao" (lit. "Snowflakes drifting, the north wind whistling"),[lower-alpha 2] is a 1983 Mandopop song by Taiwanese singer Fei Yu-ching,[1][2] first released in his album Water of the Yangtze River (長江水).[3] A renewed version was released and included in Fei's album Boundless Love (天之大) in 2010.[4]

"一剪梅 (Yi Jian Mei)"
Single by Fei Yu-ching
from the album 長江水 ("Water of the Yangtze River")
ReleasedApril 1983 (1983-04)
Recorded1983
GenreMandopop
Length3:55
LabelTony Wang (東尼機構)
Composer(s)Hsin-i Chen (Chen I) (陳信義 (陳怡))
Lyricist(s)Yuchen Chen (Wawa) (陳玉貞 (娃娃))
Producer(s)Chunchen Chen(陳俊辰)
Singer Fei Yu-ching.
Plum trees in winter.

Widely regarded as the signature song of Fei's music career, it is a melancholic love song using winter plum blossoms as an analogy for enduring love through hardship.[2] It has been a popular song in Greater China since the 1980s, and is considered a timeless classic.[1][2] It was used as the theme song for the eponymous 1984 Taiwanese drama One Plum Blossom produced by China Television.[1]

Background

Fei Yu-ching's 1983 Mandarin-language album Water of the Yangtze River first included the song, which was originally planned as the theme song of a Taiwanese TV drama series entitled Dreaming Back to the Border Town (邊城夢迴).[3] Even though the TV drama series was ultimately not released, the song was instead adopted as the theme song for the 1984 Taiwanese TV drama "One Plum Blossom", thus it was popularized among the Taiwanese people.[5]

In 1988, "One Plum Blossom" was aired on the China Central Television (CCTV), which boosted the popularity of both the song and Fei himself in Mainland China; the song was reused as the theme song for New One Plum Blossom (新一剪梅), a 2009 Mainland Chinese remake version of the 1983 TV series, starring Wallace Huo.[6]

In 2019, the Beijing-based Taiwanese singer Peter Chen performed the song at a Mid-Autumn Festival concert organized by CCTV.[7] In the same year, Fei, who earlier announced his formal retirement, held farewell concerts in various places, and performed the song in the final show at Taipei Arena on November 7.[8]

Internet popularity

In early 2020, a selfie phone video clip featuring the song became viral, leading to the song being shared in thousands of internet memes and cover videos across the net.[9]

The video was originally posted in January 2020 on the video sharing application Kuaishou by Beijing-based actor/director Zhang Aiqin (張愛欽),[1][2] who filmed himself singing the famous verse somewhat off-tune while walking alone in a park covered by heavy snow.[1][2] Zhang is known for having a bald and oddly egg-shaped head, which has gained him the nickname "Eggman" or "Duck Egg".[1] His username on Kuaishou is "Brother Egg" (蛋哥).[2]

In May, the song reached international audience and became a meme on the video sharing app TikTok.[2] This propelled the song to the top spots on the Spotify Viral 50 chart in countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland and New Zealand.[2]

The song is commonly referred to as "Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao", which is the part of the song which gained most popularity. The popularity of the internet meme caused official versions of "Yi Jian Mei" on music streaming services like Spotify and YouTube Music to change the name of the song to include "xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao" following the official name.

Fei Yu-ching, who retired in November 2019,[1] has stated that he is both flattered and honored by the song's sudden international popularity,[2] but also emphasized that he has already retired and will not return to the Mandopop scene.[10]

Notes
  1. Chinese: 「一剪梅」; pinyin: Yījiǎn méi. The original track on the album Water of the Yangtze River (長江水) was titled 「一翦梅」 (Yījiǎn méi), which is the name of a ci-poetic tune pattern (詞牌; cípái). Later, the track was used as the theme song for the eponymous 1984 Taiwanese drama. Since the drama adopted 「一剪梅」 as the drama title, theme song title, and ci-poetic tune pattern title, the song was then known as 「一剪梅」.
  2. Chinese: 「雪花飄飄北風蕭蕭」; pinyin: Xuě huā piāo piāo běi fēng xiāo xiāo

References
  1. Tianyu, Fang (17 June 2020). "A 37-Year-Old Mandarin Song is Now a Global TikTok Sensation". Radii China. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. "How a hit Chinese song from the 80s became a global meme". South China Morning Post. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. Fei Yu-ching (April 1983). 長江水 [Water of the Yangtze River] (Music album). Taiwan: Tony Wang Company Limited.
  4. Fei Yu-ching (April 2010). 天之大 [Boundless Love] (Music album). Taiwan: Sony Music Entertainment Taiwan Ltd.
  5. "費玉清《一剪梅》 突爆红歐美". United Daily News (in Chinese). 17 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  6. 陳穗樺 (14 June 2020). "《一剪梅》在歐美爆红！ 因為一句歌詞". 僑報網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. "[2019中秋晚會]歌曲《一剪梅》 演唱：陳彼得". 央視網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. 陳秉弘 (8 November 2019). "費玉清告別演唱會 跨世代好歌經典重現" (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. "How a hit Chinese song from the 80s became a global meme". South China Morning Post. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  10. 王郁惠 (17 June 2020). "費玉清「一剪梅」夯成歐美流量大神　經紀人曝退休近況". United Daily News (in Chinese). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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