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Blue and White Porcelain

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"Blue and White Porcelain"
Single by Jay Chou
from the album On the Run!
Released2 November 2007 (2007-11-02)
Recorded2007
Length3:59
LabelJVR Music
Composer(s)Jay Chou
Lyricist(s)Vincent Fang
Jay Chou singles chronology
"Listen to Mom"
(2006) 		"Blue and White Porcelain"
(2007) 		"Rainbow"
(2007)
Music video
"Blue and White Porcelain" on YouTube

"Blue and White Porcelain" (Chinese: 青花瓷; pinyin: Qīng huā cí) is a song recorded by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou. It was released on 2 November 2007, as part of the singer's eighth studio album, On the Run! (2007). "Blue and White Porcelain" was written by Vincent Fang, arranged by Baby Chung, and composed by Chou himself.

Fang and Chou drew inspiration for "Blue and White Porcelain" from friends who appreciated traditional Chinese art, motivating both songwriters to use porcelain—a national treasure in China—as the theme of the piece. The song's production contains elements of traditional Chinese opera and utilizes the main melody of the Chinese pentatonic scale "Palace mode" (宮調式).[1] At the 19th Golden Melody Awards in Taipei, the song won three accolades including Song of the Year.

The accompanying music video for "Blue and White Porcelain" stars actor Baron Chen and actress Cherry Hsia; it features Chen as a knight who must exchange a rare treasure blue and white porcelain for his lover Hsia who is kidnapped. On 6 February 2008, Jay Chou sang "Blue and White Porcelain" at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which was met with praise from viewers. For additional promotion, the song was performed on several concert tours by Chou, including The Era World Tour (2010–2011).

Background and history

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Originally, Vincent Fang wanted to name the song "Bronze", because bronze is not romantic enough to change the Song dynasty's "Ru ware" for the song title. However, the Ru ware of the word "Ru" would give rise to unflattering associations, and coupled with the romantic elegance of porcelain, Vincent Fang finally decided to use porcelain as the title of the song.[2][3] At first, the word "porcelain" (青花瓷) was misheard by Jay Chou as "frog pond" (青蛙池).[3][4]

Music video and live performances

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In the music video for "Blue and White Porcelain", Baron Chen portrays a knight who must exchange a rare blue and white porcelain treasure to rescue his kidnapped lover, played by Cherry Hsia. Despite the exchange, the villain kills the knight’s lover. The video then transitions through time and space to a modern antique auction house, where Hsia's character bids on the same blue and white porcelain. She encounters the knight once again, but their reunion ends in tragedy.[5]

On 6 February 2008, Jay Chou sang "Blue and White Porcelain" at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in Beijing.[6] It was watched by more than 2 million people, with Chou's performance receiving the highest viewership ratings for the event. The performance was well-received by netizens.[7]

Accolades

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At award ceremonies in Taiwan, the song won the 19th Golden Melody Awards for Best Song of the Year,[8] Best Lyricist of the Year, and Best Composer of the Year, while Jay Chou won the awards for Best Composer and Best Album Producer,[8] with Vincent Fang receiving the awards on his behalf due to Jay Chou's absence.[9]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2008 Golden Melody Awards Song of the Year Won [10]
Best Composer Won
Best Lyricist (for Vincent Fang) Won

Usage in education and controversies

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In December 2007, a high school in Wuhan, China, used the lyrics of "Blue and White Porcelain" as a topic for a language exam where it asked students to recite the lyrics from memory.[11] On 13 June 2008, the lyrics were used to examine the long history of Chinese porcelain on a college entrance exam question in Shandong, China.[12]

"Blue and White Porcelain" received criticism from scholars due to errors in its lyrics.[13][14] In the line, "Written in Han Li on the bottom of the bottle to imitate the elegance of the previous dynasty", author and antique collector Ma Weidu pointed out that since the creation of blue and white porcelain, the Han Li style has never been inscribed on the bottom of vases. It was only during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty that some blue and white porcelain occasionally featured Li style inscriptions. He remarked, "It is evident that the writer did not know much about the history of porcelain." Another mistake was in the line, "I was thinking of you when I copied the Song style signature". According to Ma, Song style signatures were only found on enameled porcelain from the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties, and have never appeared on blue and white porcelain.[15][16]

In the Peking University admissions test held in Chengdu, China on New Year's Day 2009, a question asked students to point out grammatical errors in the lyrics of the song.[15] Professor Xiong Du from Chongqing Technology and Business University explained that one line, which translates to "the blank outlines the blue and white, the brushstrokes vary in thickness", contained missing directional prepositions leading to unclear subjects. Xiong emphasized that while it is common to omit certain components in poetry and lyrics for the sake of parallelism, rhythm, and harmony, such omissions should not lead to ambiguity or grammatical errors.[17]

Adaptations

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"Blue and White Porcelain" has an unofficial adapted version of the chemistry version,[18] adapted by Qiu Wei, a teacher at Leshan No. 1 Middle School, to which Jay Chou said, "This chemistry teacher is great!" and invited him to sing the chemistry version of Celadon with him on stage.[19] There is also a tribute to Steve Jobs.[20]

Impact

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The song triggered craze for collecting "blue and white porcelain" and celadon. In 2008, celadon collection enthusiasts in the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing steeply increased to tens of thousands of people from a few hundred in 2007.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "《青花瓷》《秋风渐》探讨中国风歌曲本质". 网易娱乐. 21 August 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  2. ^ "周杰伦《青花瓷》差点被毙 公司：唱青蛙池？". 腾讯. 28 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "方文山称养分来自阅读 青花瓷曾被误为"青蛙池"". 中国日报网. 23 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017.
  4. ^ "方文山：周杰伦曾将"青花瓷"理解成"青蛙池"". 中国新闻网. 23 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019.
  5. ^ "周杰伦力邀陈楚河出演MV 钦点其出演《青花瓷》_影音娱乐_新浪网" [Jay Chou invites Chen Chuhe to star in the MV and selects him to star in "Blue and White Porcelain"]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 10 December 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  6. ^ "周杰伦春晚要唱《青花瓷》" [Jay Chou to sing "Blue and White Porcelain" at the Spring Festival Gala]. 网易. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  7. ^ "200万人手机看春晚 周杰伦让收视瞬间翻番(图)-搜狐新闻" [2 million people watched the Spring Festival Gala on their mobile phones; Jay Chou's ratings instantly doubled (Photo)]. Sohu News (in Chinese). 8 February 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b 华商报 (6 July 2008). "金曲奖落幕 周杰伦《青花瓷》获最佳年度歌曲". 腾讯.
  9. ^ "获最佳年度歌曲奖：周杰伦《青花瓷》". 新浪娱乐. 5 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019.
  10. ^ Yi, Ho (22 June 2008). "Many a golden melody played on an old fiddle - Taipei Times". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  11. ^ "周杰伦《青花瓷》成考题引质疑". 钱江晚报. 6 December 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  12. ^ "周杰伦《青花瓷》歌词上2008年山东高考考题". 中国新闻网. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original on 20 December 2017.
  13. ^ "歌曲《青花瓷》有语病？". 宝安日报. 6 January 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ "周杰伦《青花瓷》歌词中有病句吗". 解放日报. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016.
  15. ^ a b "《青花瓷》错误有几多？" [How many errors are there in "Blue and White Porcelain"?]. China Youth Daily (in Chinese). 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  16. ^ "收藏家：《青花瓷》歌词有错" [Collector: There is something wrong with the lyrics of "Blue and White Porcelain"]. Qianjiang Evening News (in Chinese). 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  17. ^ "辞赋专家指出《青花瓷》错在哪_影音娱乐_新浪网" [Cifu experts point out the mistakes in "Blue and White Porcelain"]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 5 January 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  18. ^ "化学版青花瓷：记住这首歌就记住了中学化学知识点". 搜狐. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  19. ^ "乐山一中老师受邀与周杰伦同台演绎化学版《青花瓷》". 四川新闻网. 13 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019.
  20. ^ "网友改编歌曲《青花瓷》向乔布斯致敬". 凤凰网. 8 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019.
  21. ^ "周杰伦引发青花瓷收藏热 爱好者人数翻几百倍" [Jay Chou sparked a craze for collecting blue and white porcelain, and the number of enthusiasts increased by hundreds of times]. Sina Finance (in Chinese). 30 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
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