Mo Li Hua
'Jasmine Flower'[a], also called Sinfa[8]) is a Chinese folk song of the "xiǎodiào" ("short tune") genre, from the Jiangnan region (south of the lower Yangtze river, around Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou).
[9][7][independent source needed] The song is usually dated to the 18th century reign of the Qianlong Emperor (Qing dynasty), though some argue it is Ming era (pre-1644).
[12][10] The tune has been adapted and referenced in "various traditional Chinese and international music concert circuits, concerts by pop bands and solo singers, scholarly debates, new choral arrangements, and state-sponsored events as an emblem of national pride"[10] and has been called a "significant national musical and cultural icon" of China, akin to Korea's "Arirang" and Japan's "Sakura Sakura".
[24]: 46– One version of the song describes a custom of giving jasmine flowers, popular in the southern Yangtze delta region of China.
[10] The song descends from the "xiǎoqǔ/xiǎodiào" genre, which have the characteristics of being "usually multistanza in form and with uniform phrase structures and equal numbers of words.
[23]: 84– His publication gave the song a "grand entrance on the world stage" and "widespread international popularity", according to ethnomusicology scholar Frederick Lau.
[26] As such, the melody had already become well known among Western listeners when it was used by Giacomo Puccini in his opera Turandot (1926), boy choir air "Là, sui monti dell'est", where it is associated with 'Turandot's splendor'.
[22] The tune was played during Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meetings,[15] and was widely used as hold music by provincial government offices.
[2] The censorship attracted widespread media attention and was difficult because of the popularity of the song and its association with Chinese culture and history.
[14][28] At least one new version of the song has been developed by the activists as a response, with lyrics translating in part as "You can’t find jasmine flowers in China/If you have one in your hand, Public Security will arrest you".
Hǎo yī duo mòlìhuā, Mǎn yuán huā kāi xiāng yě xiāng bùguò tā, Wǒ yǒuxīn cǎi yī duo dài Yòu pà kàn huā de rén er mà.
The 19th century Russian composer Anton Arensky arranged the tune in the 1890s in one of his character pieces, Étude sur un thème chinois, Op.
[31] Puccini began working on his (ultimately incomplete and final opera piece) Turandot in March 1920 after meeting with librettists Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.
[32] As with Madama Butterfly, Puccini strove for a semblance of authenticity by using music from the region, even commissioning a set of thirteen custom-made gongs.
The Chinese-American composer Tan Dun's[26] Symphony 1997, which commemorated the handover of Hong Kong, uses a setting inspired by Puccini's.
[8] His 1990 Nine Songs: Water Spirit performance, where "Mo Li Hua" was referenced, has also been argued by composer Christian Utz to be an evolution upon Puccini's quotated version rather than having drawn from the original folk tune itself.
[26] The song is said to have been a favourite of former paramount leader Jiang Zemin (CCP general secretary, 1989-2002), and was used in the 1997 Hong Kong handover ceremony at his request.
[22] At the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Mo Li Hua was sung, partially unaccompanied by a young Chinese girl, and partially accompanied by the music by a Peking University students (whose version has been described as infused with a techno beat), to introduce the next Olympic Games site.
[9][37][38] An adaptation of the melody by Tan Dun and Wang Hesheng, chosen from more than 4,000 pieces, was played during the medal ceremonies at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as the introductory motif of the victory theme.
[40] The song has been adapted by many artists around the world, for example by Kenny G.[23]: 84– The YouTube comments for his performance later became an outlet for Chinese protesters to express support for democracy.
[17] In 2009, Russian singer Vitas, during the Chinese premiere of his program Sleepless Night, at least has also performed "Mo Li Hua" (never included in digital download until then).
