Li Jinhui

Li Jinhui was a composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, China in 1891. He is the "Father of ". He is most notable for creating a new musical form with shidaiqu after the fall of the Qing Dynasty-- moving away from established musical forms.

Early years

One of the earliest instrument he studied was the guqin plucked string instruments during his childhood. He mainly drew his earliest musical influences from his hunan province hometown. He was inspired by local Chinese opera and Huagu flower drums which are performed over a stage theatre monologue. Because of this, it can be said that the very first inspiration of Chinese popular music are derived from these forms.

From 1916 to 1926 he was participating in textbook publishing for children. He wrote his first musical, and allowed his daughter Li Minghui to perform. In total he has 8 brothers. Some of the operas include ''The Sparrow and the Child'' and ''The Little Painter''.

Career

In 1927 he organized the "Chinese Dance School" and then the "Chinese Song and Dance Troupe" . Clayton played a major role in shaping the musical scores written by Li.

In 1929 he organized the Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe and toured around the country. She would later become one of the Seven great singing stars of the Republic of China.

In 1949 he was a composer for the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Li would eventually pay dearly for his fame. Classified as a founder of Yellow Music by the Communist Party of China, he became a victim of political persecution during the Cultural Revolution.

Legacy

In his life time, critics derided his work as "Yellow Music" because of its sexual associations. His work was labeled and was accepted only by select groups. His music movement would later grow into the cantopop and mandopop phenomenon, which became the main genre of music in Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively in the 20th century.