Hero

Known as the “Father of Chinese Rock,” Cui Jian broke through in Chinese music alongside the revolutionary students who broke through in Chinese history with the Tian’anmen Square protests of 1989. These two events parallel each other in the way that they represent courage, liberty, politics and love. Cui Jian was one of few who dared to venture outside China’s musical borders and experiment with genres that strayed from China’s traditional music, such as jazz, punk, dance, and eventually rock. Cui Jian felt that when he first heard rock music he immediately knew it was his kind of music—“music with a message” is what he described it as.
The apex of his career was when he came out with the song “Nothing to my Name” at the height of the Tian’anmen Square protests of Beijing, China in 1989. The Tian’anmen Square protests marked a great moment in history where Chinese students decided they wanted to voice their opinions for once and protest for liberty and more rights. Nothing like this had been done before and the courage the students displayed mirrored the courage it took Cui Jian to show China, and the world, his passion for rock music. Against many odds, the students and Cui Jian exercised their right to protest, to speak, to sing about their feelings and their desire for more freedom. The protesting students and Cui Jian were equally not liked by the Chinese government and caused them to worry and take action. Like how the government violently quelled the students in an attempt to silence them, it similarly attempted to silence Cui Jian by banning his music from Chinese state radio and television stations.
Although he does not say it explicitly, Cui Jian’s song “A Piece of Red Cloth” was a strong political message to the Chinese people and government about the blindness they live their lives in. He does, however, say that he believes politics and love are in many ways one in the same. The lyrics from the song, “The day you used a piece of red cloth to blindfold my eyes and cover up the sky. You asked me what I had seen; I said I saw happiness. This feeling made me comfortable; made me forget I had no place to live” attest to this combination of politics and love. With the very powerful action of covering his eyes with a piece of red cloth—red symbolizing communism—he is portraying the government covering up “the sky” or the opportunities and possibilities that exist in the world. The Chinese people feel comfortable and happy because they are not able to see or know of the things they do not have. In addition, the love the people have for their country make it hard for them to think or go against their traditions. When you love someone you become blind to everything around you and to how much the love is actually hurting you.
Watching Cui Jian’s performance and reading his lyrics was very moving and helped me really understand why the students of Tian’anmen Square sang his songs as anthems to their protest. His music is full of passion, love, truth, and realness—something the students were trying to exhibit and fight for. Cui Jian’s music has been legendary for China as well as for all of us throughout the world because it holds a message, inspires many, and fights social injustices.