Wang Luobin is a famous Han Chinese songwriter who specialized in composing Mandarin folk songs. Although it has been a decade since he passed away, Wang is still honored as the Father of northwest Chinese folk songs. With his abundant musical legacy of more than 700 beautiful pieces -he will never be forgotten.

Wang's Life: Romanticism and Frustration

Wang Luobin was born into an ordinary family in Beijing in the winter of 1913. Wang's introduction to music may have come from his father, who was a fan of the Peking Opera. Wang entered the Beiping (what Beijing was called pre-1949) Art School at the age of 18 and began to learn western music from a Russian teacher.

His teacher encouraged Wang's dream of going abroad to study. Unfortunately his dream never came true, and because of financial difficulties, Wang was even forced to leave school. A trip to NW. China in the 30s however, was to be a life-changing event for him. It was there he met a woman nicknamed Wu Duo Mei, or Five Plum Blossoms, whose influence would change his life forever.

In 1938 Wang and some friends traveled to the northwest to collect folk songs. They were stuck in LiuPan Mountain because of bad weather. There he met Wu Duo Mei, who was so good at singing local songs that Wang was shocked by her performance. After listening to Wu Duo Mei's lovely voice, Wang's prejudice against Chinese folk music fell away.

These beautiful, passionate songs, made Wang stay in the northwest. His dreams of France and the Paris Conservatory grew distant.  The power of the songs stole his heart and mind. His dream changed focus. Now he was determined to be a 'song-bearer' a musical collector.

Over the next half century, Wang traveled around the northwest, collecting and adapting more than 700 songs into eight albums, which became very popular not only in China but throughout the world. Overnight, Wang became a folk music superstar.

His works are now considered classic in the Chinese musical world, and in an ironic twist, his old dream of traveling to Europe was partially realized when his most famous tune A half moon climbing the sky was taught at the Paris Conservatory.

The beauty of Wang's music belies his hard life. He experienced many trials during his 81 years.

Wang was taken to prison twice and spent 19 years of his life behind bars. Many have been totally ruined by this kind of experience, but Wang survived. Instead of giving in, he became stronger and more romantic.

The outstanding work he achieved while in prison earned him the title of the Prison Music King.

It was his passion for music that helped him to be positive during the darkest time of his life.

Collecting folk songs from Xinjiang

Although Wang spent his life collecting and composing northwestern folk songs including ones from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, he never set foot there until 1949, ten years after he composed his first Xinjiang-inspired song, The Girl from DaBan City. He was in Lanzhou at that time, and he 'dug out' the tune from a Uygur driver, plying him with several bottles of wine and a few packs of cigarettes. After the lyrics were translated from Uygur into Chinese, the first great Xinjiang folk song was born.

During the ten years before he entered Xinjiang, Wang 'dug out' a number of songs from the region in similar ways plying the tunes from drivers and peddlers who worked in the neighboring Qinghai and Gansu provinces. Wine and cigarettes proved to be useful tools for his digging.

The methods Wang used to collect the songs was plain, but his understanding of the music was precise and his translation of the lyrics was wonderful.

Although folksongs can be light, Wang was extremely serious about his work. Even in his prison years, he never gave up and produced his song collections after he was released.

Where are the girls from?

Among Xinjiang folk songs more than half are love songs. Almost every one of Wang's works features a beautiful girl. They are the magic behind the songs. But where are they from?

The original lyrics provide glimpses of a number of anonymous beauties. Wang combined all of their features, creating a vision of charming, lovely girls who convey the essence of the beauty and kindness Wang saw in Chinese culture.

The famous song Girl of DaBan City has an interesting story of its own. A line in the song says come to me with your dowry and sister, confusing many people who thought it must be a custom unique to DaBan. In truth, the lyric was a mistake. Sister was supposed to be bridesmaid. But by the time the mistake was discovered, the song had become too well known for Wang to correct, and the mistake has added a quirky flavor to the tune, making it even more popular.

(chinaculture April 26, 2006)