Cui Jian in concert, Zhuhai, October 1991
Photograph © Spike Mafford
In post-Mao China, Cui Jian was Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Kurt Cobain all rolled into one, a one-man rock and roll revolution whose poignant songs of alienation spoke volumes to a generation searching for meaning in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized China. As the reluctant spokesperson for China's disenfranchised youth, Cui Jian is inseparably linked in the minds of many to the democracy movement that was crushed by the tanks at Tiananmen. The image of the rocker defiantly rallying hunger strikers in the square with his stirring outsider anthems symbolized a generation's struggles and aspirations...
The complete text of this chapter and much more can be found in Dennis Rea's book
Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan,
now available for purchase at iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com and orderable through bookstores.
Purchase Live at the Forbidden City at Barnes & Noble
© 2006 Dennis Rea
e-mail: dennis at dennisrea.com
