Peng Liyuan

Peng Liyuan (simplified Chinese: 彭丽媛; traditional Chinese: 彭麗媛; pinyin: Péng Lìyuán, Mandarin pronunciation: [pʰə̌ŋ lîɥɛ̌n]; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese contemporary folk singer who is the spouse of the President of the People's Republic of China. Peng Liyuan is married to the current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping. Peng is referred to as the "Chinese First Lady" by Chinese media.[1] During 2012 to 2017, Peng was the President of then People's Liberation Army Academy of Art, and from 2005 to 2010, served as Vice President of the All-China Youth Federation.[2]

Madam / Professor Peng Liyuan
彭丽媛
Spouse of the paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 November 2012
General Secretary	Xi Jinping
Preceded by	Liu Yongqing
Spouse of the President of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 March 2013
President	Xi Jinping
Preceded by	Liu Yongqing
President of the People's Liberation Army Arts College
In office May 2012 – July 2017
Preceded by	Zhang Jigang (张继钢)
Succeeded by	Zhang Qichao (张启超)
Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (9th, 10th, 11th)
In office February 1998 – March 2013
Chairman	Li Ruihuan Jia Qinglin
Personal details
Born	20 November 1962 Linyi, Shandong, China
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Xi Jinping ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	Xi Mingze (daughter)
Residence	Beijing
Alma mater	China Conservatory of Music
Occupation	Folksinger, opera actress, professor, health promoter
Profession	"Chinese ethnic vocal music" (中国民族声乐)
Military service
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army
Years of service	1980-2017
Rank	Major general (May 2012-July 2017)
Commands	People's Liberation Army Arts College

Peng gained popularity as a soprano singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed mainland Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year.[3] Peng has won many honors in singing competitions nationwide.[3] Peng's most famous singles include "People from Our Village" (《父老乡亲》), "Zhumulangma" (Mount Everest; 《珠穆朗玛》) and "In the Field of Hope" (《在希望的田野上》). Peng also sang the theme songs of several popular TV series, such as The Water Margin (1998). She also starred in musical productions. In 1986, she received the Plum Blossom Award, China's highest theatrical award, for her lead role in The White Haired Girl.[4]

Peng was a civilian member of China's People's Liberation Army, and held the civilian rank equivalent to Major General before she was appointed the Art Academy's dean, upon which she was given the formal rank.[3] She is known within China for her fashion sense, credited to her personal couturier Ma Ke.[5][6][7][8]

In 2014, Peng was listed as the 57th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.[9]

Biography

Peng and Juliana Awada, the First Lady of Argentina, in the Quinta de Olivos, Buenos Aires, December 2018.

Peng Liyuan is a native of Yuncheng County, Shandong province. Peng joined the People's Liberation Army in 1980, when she was 18 years old, and began as an ordinary soldier. Because of her vocal talent, Peng later performed during frontline tours to boost troop morale during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflicts.[10] Peng first performed nationally and came to fame during the earliest rendition of the CCTV New Year's Gala in 1982, when she performed On the Plains of Hope.

Peng has been married to Xi Jinping for over 30 years.[3] Together they have a daughter named Xi Mingze (习明泽) born in 1992, nicknamed Xiao Muzi (小木子).[11]

For the greater part of their relationship, Peng has enjoyed a very positive reputation within China, comparable to that of her politician husband.[3] Since her husband became General Secretary of the Communist Party (de facto paramount leader) in November 2012,[3] and Chinese President (de jure head of state) in March 2013, the American press refers to her as the First Lady of China.

Xi and Peng were introduced by friends as many Chinese couples were in the 1980s. Xi was reputedly academic during their courtship, inquiring about singing techniques.[3] Xi was the son of famous Chinese revolutionary Xi Zhongxun, and Peng's family obviously accepted the relationship with ease, due to his attitude. After parental consent, the couple married on 1 September 1987 in Xiamen, Fujian. Four days later, Peng Liyuan returned to Beijing to appear in the National Art Festival, and then immediately departed for the United States and Canada to perform. Since that time, Xi and Peng have led largely separate lives, with Peng spending most of her time in Beijing, and her husband spending his time in Fujian and later in Zhejiang.

Peng is actively involved in politics, and is a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Peng is a WHO Goodwill Ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS since 2011.[12]

On 20 November 2014, Massey University in New Zealand conferred Peng an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her international contributions to performing arts, health, and education.[13] Peng sang in a song-and-dance number in 2007 shown on Chinese television, that featured Tibetans thanking the Chinese military for liberating them.[14]

Controversy and criticism

Directly after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in June 1989, Peng Liyuan sang for the martial-law troops. A photo showing the scene in which Peng, wearing a green military uniform, sings to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in rows on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, was swiftly scrubbed from China's Internet before it could generate discussion online. However, the image — seen and shared by outside observers — revived a memory of the leadership's preference to suppress. The image was from the back cover of a 1989 issue of the People's Liberation Army Pictorial, a publicly available military magazine.[15][16][17]

In June 2013, the American Foreign Policy magazine's article Why Michelle Obama Shouldn't Meet With Peng Liyuan, approved the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama's choice not to meet with Peng Liyuan who allegedly sang in support of Chinese troops in Tiananmen Square in 1989, following a crackdown on protesters on 4 June. Nevertheless, Michelle Obama met Peng in a number of highly publicised tours in both Beijing and Washington, D.C.[18][19][20]

See also

• Spouse of the President of the People's Republic of China

References

1. "Guhantai news 3/30/2013". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
2. "Peng Liyuan, a symbol of China's soft power". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
3. Page, Jeremy (13 February 2012). "Meet China's Folk Star First Lady-in-Waiting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
4. "'The White Haired Girl': 70 years on". China Daily. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
5. "Fashion diplomacy: 8 most stylish stateswomen of our times". South China Morning Post.
6. "China's First Lady Peng Liyuan gives Melania Trump a run for her fashion money". The Straits Times. 10 November 2017.
7. "Meet the designer behind China's first lady". CNN Style. 17 November 2016.
8. "Melania Trump takes fashion diplomacy to new lengths in China". South China Morning Post.
9. "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
10. "Peng Liyuan describes her own time in the army" (in Chinese). CE.cn. 1 July 2004. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
11. Staff Reporter (16 February 2012). "Red Nobility: Xi Jinping's Harvard daughter". Want China Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
12. "UN health agency appoints Chinese singer as Goodwill Ambassador". un.org/. 3 June 2011.
13. "Honorary doctorate for China's First Lady". Massey University. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
14. As China Readies for Transition, 7 Tibetan Self-Immolations in 7 Days, Time, 29 October 2012.
15. "彭麗媛六四後舊照曝光 外媒：令中國尷尬的照片". Apple Daily. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
16. "第一夫人觸屠殺敏感話題 彭麗媛六四勞軍照 閃電刪除". Apple Daily. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
17. "中國第一夫人∕彭麗媛 遭爆高歌慰勞六四屠殺部隊". Liberty Times. 30 March 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
18. "彭丽媛同美国总统夫人米歇尔共同参观美国国家动物园大熊猫馆" [Peng Liyuan visits the National Zoo's Giant Panda Pavilion with US President Michelle]. Scitech.people.com.cn (in Chinese). 26 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
19. Why Michelle Obama shouldn't meet with Peng Liyuan, Foreign Policy, 5 June 2013.
20. 不見彭麗媛 陸網友酸蜜雪兒 Archived 13 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Apple Daily, 7 June 2013.

External links

• Kavanagh, Jim. "Peng Liyuan." CNN. 20 January 2011.
• "China's Likely Next First Lady is a Famous Singer". The New York Times. 14 February 2012.
• Makinen, Julie. "China's incoming first lady a challenge for the image makers". Los Angeles Times. 21 October 2012.