Peng Liyuan | |
|---|---|
彭丽媛 | |
_(cropped).jpg) Peng in 2025 | |
| First Lady of China | |
| Assumed office 15 November 2012 | |
| Paramount leader | Xi Jinping |
| Preceded by | Liu Yongqing |
| Spouse of the President of China | |
| Assumed office 14 March 2013 | |
| President | Xi Jinping |
| Preceded by | Liu Yongqing |
| President of thePeople's Liberation Army Academy of Art | |
| In office May 2012 – July 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Zhang Jigang |
| Succeeded by | Zhang Qichao |
| Member of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference | |
| In office February 1998 – March 2013 | |
| Chairman | Li Ruihuan Jia Qinglin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-11-20)20 November 1962 (age 63) Yuncheng, Shandong, China |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Xi Mingze |
| Relatives | Xi family (by marriage) |
| Alma mater | China Conservatory of Music |
| Occupation |
|
| Profession | Soprano |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname(s) | Mother Peng (Chinese:彭妈妈;pinyin:Péng māmā)[1][2] |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | People's Liberation Army |
| Years of service | 1980–2017 |
| Rank | Jiang |
| Commands | People's Liberation Army Academy of Art |
Peng delivers a speech to theShanghai Cooperation Organisation Forum on Women's Education and Poverty Reduction Recorded 20 July 2021 | |
Peng Liyuan (Chinese:彭丽媛;pinyin:Péng Lìyuán; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese singer who has served as theFirst Lady of China since 2012, as the wife ofXi Jinping, theGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party andparamount leader of China.
Peng gained popularity as a singer from her regular appearances on the annualCCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed Chinese television program that airs during theChinese New Year.[3] She won honors in singing competitions nationwide.[3] Her most famous singles includePeople from Our Village,Zhumulangma, andOn the Field of Hope. Peng also sang the theme songs of several popular TV series, such asThe Water Margin (1998).[4]
In 1986, she received thePlum Blossom Award, China's highest theatrical award, for her lead role inThe White Haired Girl.[5] She was the president of thenPeople's Liberation Army Academy of Art between 2012 and 2017, and vice president of theAll-China Youth Federation between 2005 and 2010.[6]
She is known within China for her fashion sense, credited to her personal couturierMa Ke.[7][8][9][10] In 2014, Peng was listed as the 57th Most Powerful Woman in the World byForbes.[11]
Peng Liyuan was born inYuncheng County,Shandong Province, China. Her father, Peng Longkun, was the director of Yuncheng County Cultural Center, and her mother Li Xiuying was a major opera singer in the Yuncheng County Yu Opera Troupe. Influenced by her mother, at the age of 4 to 5 years old, she was able to singYu opera excerpts. In 1976, at the age of 14, Peng Liyuan was admitted to the Shandong Province Yuncheng No.1 Middle School. In 1977, she was admitted to the Shandong Fifty-Seven School of the Arts (renamed the Shandong University Of Arts at the end of 1978), under the tutelage of Wang Yinsuan, specializing in folk vocal music.[12] In 1979, she won the Excellent Prize of the Shandong Province Song and Dance Concert.[13][14][15]
In 1980, while participating in a cultural performance in Beijing, she won the Excellent Prize for the songsBaoleng Tune andMy Hometown, Mt. Yimeng, which shook up the Beijing's music scene. Afterwards, she went toFinland,Sweden,Spain,Portugal,Norway andIceland with theChina National Orchestra. In the same year, Peng joined the Avant-garde Song and Dance Troupe of the Political Department of Jinan Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army as a civilian soldier.[16][17]
In 1981, Peng was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music as a tertiary student, where she studied under the famous singerJin Tielin.[18] 1982 was a key year that Peng Liyuan became familiar to the Chinese audience. In that year, while participating in theCMG New Year's Gala organized byChina Central Television (CCTV), she sangOn the Fields of Hope andI Love You, the Snow in Sai Bei, which won the audience's favor and thus established her unique position in the Chinese folk vocal music world. In 1983, she was admitted to the vocal class of theChina Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate under the tutelage of Jin Tielin andGuo Lanying.[19]
In 1983, whenKim Jong Il, a member of thePresidium of the Politburo of theWorkers' Party of Korea (WPK), visited China for the first time, Peng Liyuan sang a bilingual rendition of the well-known North Korean songThe Flower Girl.[20]
In 1984, she was transferred to the Song and Dance Troupe of the General Political Bureau, and in 1985, she rushed to the front line of theBattle of Laoshan to console the soldiers.[21] In the same year, Peng won the gold medal in the National Singing Group of the First National Nie Er - Xinghai Vocal Works Competition organized by theMinistry of Culture. In July of the same year, she joined theChinese Communist Party.[22] In 1985, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory in the war and the 40th anniversary of the premiere ofThe White-Haired Girl, Peng Liyuan appeared in Beijing's Tianqiao Theatre, where she became the third-generation "Xi'er" afterWang Kun andGuo Lanying, and achieved the "Plum Blossom Award" - the highest honor in China's theater industry.[23]
Peng's singing ofOn the Field of Hope, a song about the generational and emotional ties of people who work the land, made the song famous in the 1980s.[24][25] In 1986, she sang a solo version ofOn the Field of Hope, and won the 1st Prize for Professional Ethnic Singing in the Second National Young Singers Grand Prix organized by CCTV.[26] At the end of the same year, she was introduced toXi Jinping by a friend, and after graduating from college in 1987, she was recommended for a master's degree in acoustics at theChina Conservatory of Music (mentoring byJin Tielin).[27][28] On 1 September 1987, she married Xi Jinping, then the Vice Mayor ofXiamen. In May 1990, she defended her thesis and received her master's degree, becoming the first master's degree in folk vocal music trained in China.[29] In November 1991, whenDaughter of the Party premiered, Peng starred in the role of Tian Yumei, the first heroine of the play, which became the first opera portrayal of the opera that had been stamped with Peng Liyuan's original imprint.[30]
In 2002, Peng was appointed as a visiting professor at theShandong University of Arts [zh], and in September 2004, she was appointed as a visiting professor at theChina Conservatory of Music.[28][31] In September 2005, at the invitation of the organizing committee of the 60th anniversary of the founding of theUnited Nations, Peng Liyuan performed the Chinese operaPsalms of Mulan for the first time at theLincoln Center inNew York City, and was awarded the Distinguished Artist Award by the Artistic Committee of the Lincoln Center for the Arts.[32][33][34]
In November 2007, thePublicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, theMinistry of Personnel and theChina Federation of Literary and Art Circles awarded Peng Liyuan and others the honorary title of "National Youth and Middle-aged Literary and Artistic Workers of Virtue and Excellence".[35] In the same year, theMinistry of Health appointed Peng Liyuan as the National Ambassador fortuberculosis prevention and treatment. Since then, Peng Liyuan has been actively involved in tuberculosis prevention and treatment publicity work, participating in national "World Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Day" publicity activities annually, and paying condolences to patients with tuberculosis on many occasions.[36]
Her husband became theGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (paramount leader) in November 2012, andPresident of China in March 2013.[37][3] Since 2012, Peng has served as the director of thePeople's Liberation Army Academy of Art. In mid-April 2017, the academy was officially renamed the Academy of Military Culture of the National Defense University (NDU). Instead of serving as the director of the renamed Academy of Military Culture of the NDU, Peng was transferred to the Accreditation Committee of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission to serve as a senior adjudicator.[38]
She is actively involved in politics and is a member of the 11th National Committee of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Her military rank isMajor-general and she has a role in the Central Military Commission's Cadre Assessment Committee.[39] She has been aWHO Goodwill Ambassador fortuberculosis andHIV/AIDS since 2011.[40] On March 27, 2014, Peng Liyuan, accompanying Xi Jinping during his European visit, was bestowed the honorary title of "Special Envoy for the Promotion of Girls' and Women's Education" byUNESCO at its headquarters.[41] Peng addressed that it is a commendable endeavor for women and girls to attain education. She is committed to maximizing her efforts to assist more children, advocate for the right to education for further girls, and facilitate transformative changes in their lives.[42]
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On March 20–26, 2014, at the invitation of Peng Liyuan,Michelle Obama, thenFirst Lady of the United States and wife of PresidentBarack Obama,[43] traveled toBeijing,Xi'an, andChengdu.[44] This was Michelle Obama's first visit to China, as well as the first solo official visit to China by a US First Lady in history.[45][46]
On 20 November 2014,Massey University in New Zealand conferred upon Peng an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her "international contributions to the performing arts and health and education programmes".[47] On September 28, 2015, in the presence of Peng Liyuan,Joseph W. Polisi, President of theJuilliard School, formally announced the establishment of theTianjin Juilliard School,[48] which would be the a new campus of Juilliard school outside New York City and the first educational institution in China to provide a U.S.-accredited Master of Fine Arts in Performing Arts degree.[49] On 6 December 2017,Juilliard School conferred Peng an Honorary Doctorate at theChina Conservatory of Music in Beijing, in recognition of her accomplishment as an outstanding artist, and also for her contribution to US-China cultural exchanges.[50] On October 26, 2021, Peng Liyuan sent a congratulatory letter to the inauguration of the Tianjin Juilliard School.[51]
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Peng Liyuan was introduced by friends to Xi Jinping in 1986, when Xi was working as the deputy mayor of the eastern port city ofXiamen, Fujian.[52] The couple married on 1 September 1987.[29] 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. For many years after their marriage, the couple spent more time devoted to their respective careers until Xi Jinping was promoted to Beijing. They have one child, a daughter namedXi Mingze, who was born in 1992, nicknamed Xiao Muzi.[53]
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from WikidataArchived 4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine."CNN. 20 January 2011.
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | First Lady of theParamount leader November 2012–present | Incumbent |
| Spouse of the President of China March 2013–present | ||
| |
1 wife ofZhu De /2 wife ofYe Jianying. Both wereChairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, making their wives spouse of thede jure head of state under the1975 &1978 Constitutions |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
