NOT TO talk about Teresa Teng of Taiwan in a movie blog is considered a cardinal sin. Teresa Teng was and still is regarded as the best singer ever to emerge from Taiwan and the Chinese community.
The Chinese nightingale has sung so many theme songs for Taiwan movies that chances are that if you like a particular movie, the song would most probably be sung by Teresa.
Her Chinese name is Teng Li-chun. She was born on Jan 29, 1953 in Yunlin county, Taiwan. Her family was originally from the Hebei province in mainland China.
She began her singing career unofficially in front of the mirror at the age of five when she rendered those old Chinese opera songs.
When she was in primary school, her vocal prowess began to make people sit up as she could really bring the "house down", so to speak.
Consequently, she began to find herself singing at evening engagements and informal functions.
Soon thereafter, she entered a singing contest and walked away with the grand prize when she sang an old Hubei opera number entitled Visiting Ying Tai.
By the time, she was in her third year in middle school (probably Form Three), her singing talents compelled her to stop her formal education and go on the road.
Taiwan television soon noticed this sweet young thing who had more than a voice to match her looks. Teresa began to make appearances in the TV show Galaxy of Stars.
This boosted her career and she later got her own show called Each Day One Star.
By the time, Teresa Teng reached 21, her fame had spread across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Japan.
I was just climbing onboard the adult wagon at that time, and I remembered Teresa very well because almost every evening when I walked past the record shops that littered Pudu in KL, her voice swept across the night air.
Even when I strolled along supermarket lanes, those ever popular mandarin tunes were dominated by Teresa Teng.
She had such a sweet and melodious voice that any young man with even an iota of romantic feeling in his blood would have succumbed to the first sweet female face that crossed his path.
I recalled that at one stage, I was such a big fan of Teresa that I had her picture plastered in the main hall of my residence so that I could look at her everyday.
The only problem was hundreds of thousands of young men harboured that thought of seeking a companion who would look just like Teresa Teng. Of course, nobody expected any girl to match Teresa's voice.
At the height of her fame, Teresa even eclipsed the dominance of China's then leader Deng Xiaopeng. People were comparing the influence of senior Deng to "little Teng" of Taiwan.
It was a joke, of course but in the hearts of all Chinese who loved songs of love and other sentimental tunes, there was no contest, Teresa won hands down!
Some of Teresa's more popular tunes were When Will You Be Back, As Gentle As A Breeze, Fragrance of the Night, How Would You Explain, The Moon Represents My Heart, On The Other Side of the Water, Stroll On the Road of Life and Do You Know Who I Love.
My apologies to those who are Mandarin literate. The song titles here may not be immediately recognisable to you because of the nuances of translation may not be as accurate as the Chinese titles.
Beginning from 1973, this Taiwan songbird ventured into Japan to seek fortune and fame. Little wonder that these wondrous twins were waiting eagerly for her. When Teresa won the top prize in the Best New Singing Star contest in Japan, there was nothing to hold her back.
Besides her native tongue Mandarin, Teresa also sang in Cantonese, English, Japanese and Indonesian. Her Hokkien songs were of course quite popular, especially for those who could speak the dialect.
Teresa Teng was no stranger to Malaysia because her fans were legion in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak. As I recall, she must have had held several concerts in Malaysia but I had only been to one, at Stadium Merdeka.
The stadium was filled to the brim. She made her grand entrance in a white Mercedes and promptly delivered a sterling two-hour performance with her major hits as well as Michael Jackson's then mega hit Beat It.
I was actually quite surprised that she could sing so well in English. Needless to say, my respect for Teresa Teng went up several notches. It was a memorable occasion for a young man who had long admired this Chinese nigthingale from across the seas.
By the mid-1980s, Teresa's singing career began to take a backseat to her fading health. It was not a big secret that she was asthmatic. But she continued to sing for Taiwanese troops. Coming from a background of military officers in her family, she was naturally patriotic towards the nationalistic cause.
Her popularity among Taiwan soldiers earned her the nickname "soldiers' sweetheart". Unlike her contemporaries who usually took fame and fortune rather seriously, Teresa had her feet planted firmly on the ground of reality. Her sweet face and gentle demeanour won her loyal fans across the world, including America and mainland China where she had held concerts.
Alas, a songbird who was destined for musical greatness normally doesn't have long lives as we Chinese sometimes say. And so it came to pass on May 8, 1995, at the age of 42, Teresa Teng suffered a sudden asthmatic attack that claimed her life. She was holidaying in Thailand at that time.
Her untimely demise brought a major groundswell of media attention on her career and her life. For months, newspapers and magazines stretching from China to Thailand highlighted her amazing career and her voice that many said would never be equalled.
Indeed, the media were right. It has been 11 years since Teresa's death and no singer has emerged to claim her crown. She is indeed irreplaceable. But her songs continued to be played over the airwaves.
Last year on the 10th anniversary of Teresa Teng's passing, the media again switched their attention on this marvellous songtress who had provided many years of listening pleasure to her listeners who inhabit half of the earth.
Teresa's voice is likened to a gift from God, and she had not disappointed the Big Man upstairs on how she had used it to bring happiness and joy to millions around the world. And in many ways, she continues to do so till today.
SHE A GREAT SINGER OF THIS ERA OF "SUPER STARS" GONE TOO EARLY IF ONLY SHE AROUND
NOW GUESS WHO WILL BE THE TOP GUN OF THE CHINESE SONGS BIRDS> TIME PLAY ITS FORTUNE ON HUMAN KINDS.
I could go on for hours about Deng Lijun (aka "Syau Deng")!
For most of the 1970s I had a home and an office in Taichung. My work took me from Taichung north to Linkou, Taipei, and Keelung and south to Tainan and Kaoshung. As I drove I could always find Deng Lijun on the radio! When I heard her delivery and the lyrics of her songs in those days, I thought of her as a "Taiwan Country Singer" who could easily make it in Nashville, Tenn.
In 1995 I was at a checkout counter in a Chinese grocery store in Richardson, Texas and saw a Chinese-language newspaper with her picture on the front page. I hadn't seen or heard her (except for on tapes I had bought at the night market in Taichung) for years. I said, "Oh! Syau Deng! Wo ai Deng Syaujye!" That's when I learned she had died.
I've missed her. She sang like the most beautiful of birds!
I grown up with her song while I was young in Hong Kong, it is indeed sad nowaday even the best singers in the East can't come close to her vocal talent. When she sings she is absolutely intoxicating, you cannot help but fall in love. I did recently found a new female singer - Yuquan Chen (yuquanchen.com) is actually very good.
I fell in love with her on a visit to PRC in 1986, where, quite surprisingly, even though her music was officially banned, she seemed to be everywhere, particularly in the tape player of my driver’s fancy Japanese car. On the way to the Institute from the hotel in the morning and during the return trip in the evening, the driver played an infinite loop of Deng Lijun’s Greatest Hits, Vol. II. When I made my admiration of Deng Lijun known to the graduate student who was assigned to translate for me and generally look after me, the next day the graduate student showed up with a ‘present from his sister’: Deng Lijun’s Greatest Hits, Vol. II. I treasured the old cassette for years thereafter, and though I speak no Chinese, nor understand any, I loved every one of the songs and spent hours creating phonetic representations of their lyrics. To me, it was absolute music. My phonetics were a musical notation which allowed me to recreate Teresa’s music in my head.
I am an American 'sinophile' -- someone who loves Chinese people and culture, and I unabashedly adore Teresa Teng/Deng Lijun; she lives on in my ears and in my heart. I will pass on that love to my children and to anyone I can in the remaining years of my life. I am currently scouring the web to find as many mp3's of her songs as possible. I would appreciate any guidance that readers of this tribute could provide. I can be reached at malkus@engr.wisc.edu
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, professor.
I enjoyed reading your tribute to Teresa Teng.
Info on Teresa can be found in a number of Asian websites.
I am a fan of Teresa Teng from Australia.
She is like my sister all the time.
I love you teresa teng
Any one want to share all about Teresa Teng can email me at ihwan_hu@yahoo.com
May her songs live forever.
We have created an online memorial tribute to Teresa Teng. Please visit and pay your respects to this great singer. Thank you.
http://memorial.moonlightchest.com/display.asp?id=2
http://memorial.moonlightchest.com/2/default.asp
I knever knew she was this great singer behind the songs that i randomly sing until my dad gave me a copy of her album. her mellow voice equalled her soft face and probably,her personality too. she's awesome and i will do remember her. i love you descriptions about her, lovely
I found Teresa on a whim, while searching the web for some 'educational music'. Until then, I had absolutely no knowledge of this woman.
Some of my favorite tracks are: Tian Hei Hei / Tian Wu Wu, Hoeng Jat Kwai, Qing Hua, Kuukou, Yume Shibai, Kokoro Koorasete, Jiu Zui De Tan Ge, Si Ge Xi-Wang, Nagaragawa Enka, Koibitotachi no Shinwa and Hisame
I'm definitely entered into the realms of the obsessed now. She turned from 'educational material' to something else.
First time I listened to Teresa Teng's sweet and amazing voice was in July 1997 while checking an asia market in Mannheim/Germany. I prepared a long journey - and the only music I listened to was the one on the tape I bought then in this little market, not knowing, what a paradise will open its gates trouth her voice. Till today I love this lady deeply, I want to cry and lough same time, when I hear her songs - now about 80 that I have. The VCD has had fixed my eyes on her beautiful face for hours. Nothing compares to her. Absolutely nothing. I am a german woman with french, polish, swedish and hungarian roots - but I like her music like an Asian. I would wish I could express my emotions better, but I feel limited because of my little english. I just know that peace rules in my heart, when I listen to her, and I feel like in heaven...
Thanks Regina for sharing your thoughts with us.
I am constantly surprised that the late Teresa Teng still has fans from such faraway places.
I first listened to Teresa cassette tape in 1980, I was just 20 years old that time. And I have found that she was the best singer I ever known and still she was, though she has passed away. Is there anyway I could some of her Japanese songs in CD or cassette tape? Thanks.
Oyang, actually Teresa Teng's Japanese songs are not difficult to find.
If you were to visit the most reputable music shop, you will probably be able to find some.
With my limitations in my own language capabilties, I nevertheless, have always find Chinese songs extremely enjoyable.
With so many talented great singers with equally great voices during that generation that included Theresa Carpio, Jenny Yen, Yu Yar, Francis Yip and Tracy Huang, the one that I am most happy to be able to continue enjoy in the latest CD format which could be literally purchased in any good music store is Theresa Teng!
She has the most enduringly sweet and beautiful voice where I can never get tire of listening over and over again. How would one gets tire listening to the beautiful voice of an Angel?
I am in my 70's and a music fan all my life.
Only recently, just by chance I heard the beautiful voice of Teresa Teng for the first time, and I am really saddened that firstly, I heard this wonderful singer was dead, and secondly, that I did not know of her existance all my life.
I am now trying to make up for lost time by collecting most of her CD's & DVD's that I can find. What a loss to music at the age of 42.
So for the short time I've left I intend to swamp myself listening to the wonderful voice of Teresa Teng.
Rest in Peace, Teresa. Sorry I missed you all this time.
It's never too late to listen to good music or to listen to great singers.
Teresa was clearly one of the best. No equal.
You have made the right choice, Mike.
There have been few singers who could ever leave such indelible memory as Teresa Teng.
Every time I hear her song "qian yan wan yu" played I experience a sense of lovesick nostalgia from my younger days. There after I enjoy listening to her songs.
Despite her passing over a decade ago, I still love her songs that are timelessly relevant and beautiful.
Unforgettable is her voice that is not only uniquely sweet and soothing but warm, serene and elegant. I will listen to her songs and remember her for the rest of my life.
When Teresa visited Hong Kong, I was about to leave for the U.S. for college, thus missing her meteoric rise in the music stardom. Somehow, I always remembered a couple of her songs, and her gentleness, grace, poise, talent, and beauty. When the news of her death came in 1995, I felt a personal loss. These days, as I get much older, :) I remember the past often and Teresa Teng's songs come full circle. I am not tired of any of them. In fact, I go to the Internet and listen/watch as many Teresa Teng's songs as possible. My only regret is that I have never been to any of her concerts, or seen her in person. I would have liked to tell her that I wish her well, and that I love her and miss her dearly, everyday.
Since I watched the Ghosts by Nick Bloomfield on Thurs.. my mind keeps going back to the song which accompanies the film.. I think it is one of Teresa Teng's.
Ghosts is the story of the illegal Chinese cockle pickers who died at Morecombe Bay (UK) a few years ago.
That song is so haunting.. I would like a copy of it but I dont know what it's called. help !
Rose, the song from "Ghosts" is called Shui Lian Yi, which is translated as "Ripples". I love the song too and like you, am struggling to find an MP3/CD of it.
I believe this "Shui Lian Yi" is what you are looking for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtcDHFkRWXQ
Since I listened to Teresa , that song is vietnamese music, but she did very wonderful better than somone I listened
that vietnamese name is KHONG, I would like a copy of it but I cann't find that one, i don't know what it's called, Please help me !
Some of the comments about Teresa Teng are so eloquent that they are hard to follow, but I love reading them as much as I do listening to her. Talent like that does not come along every day. I am sorry I never got to see her in person
She sang so well love songs. Did she met love and a man who loved her as she deserved it ? It is said that her last lover was a Frenchman, who had nothing special and who did not understand her, her song's meaning deeply as a Chinesesman might have done it. It is a pity that her private life was not so successfull than her artistical life.
I do not missed her songs by I missed her.
canta usted muy bonito saludos desde mexico en especial la cancion Wo Ai Ni
Atte: Andrea
I first heard about Deng Lijun/Teresa Teng this way: About 1990 I was helping a new-found Chinese friend move from his apartment to go back to Taiwan. To lighten his load, he gave me a box full of cassette tapes. Some Cantonese, some Mandarin. As I was attending college and just learning Mandarin I could tell the tapes apart. But some tapes among the Mandarin ones were sung in such a way that I could actually understand the words. And they were nice to listen to. As I identified the tapes that were of that caliber, I noticed that on each tape were the same three Chinese characters: The characters for Deng Lijun. I found the common connection between those tapes and discovered Teresa Teng at the same time. I have been in love with her ever since. I still treasure those Teresa Teng tapes, all imported from Taiwan by my first-ever Chinese friend, now back in Taiwan for some 15 years.
I cried the day I heard that she died, but she lives on in the hearts of so many.
I was lucky enough to see Teresa Teng at a concert in Victoria Park in Hong Kong. It was the Mid Autumn Festival so must have been September or October 1980.
She was amazing, very elegant, sang wonderfully and wore a long blue cheongsam. I was very lucky to have seen her.
After that, I went to Taiwan in 1992 and spent 14 years there. I remember when the news came that she had passed away. All the buses played her songs that day. People came up to me in the street and talked about her to me, even though my Mandarin wasn't great.
She's such a special part of Taiwan.
Can I ask if anyone knows the name of her song that was number one in September 1980 in Hong Kong? I heard it on the radio all the time then. Someone bought me her double album, the one where she's wearing a gold and white outfit. Unfortunately I lent it to a friend and he lost one of the tapes. I'm still trying to find that song.
Let me know if you have an idea which one it is.