Eight forty-eight; No. 4; Unbreakable Spirits. Teens-Professionals
- Series
- Eight forty-eight
- Episode Number
- No. 4
- Producing Organization
- Artistic Circles (Organization)
- WBEZ (Radio station : Chicago, Ill.)
- Contributing Organization
- The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip-526-hd7np1xn8k
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- Description
- Series Description
- "For audiences bored with the same stories about Chinese spies, bombs, and failed diplomacy, 'Anti-Japanese Protest Songs' showcases the human side of China. Through personal stories and music, this program takes listeners to the heart and soul of China's women musical artists and citizens. This program, which is part of the 12-part Unbreakable Spirits series, features three women: China's first woman conductor Zheng Xiaoying, 77-year old composer Qu Xi-xian; and Li Xiu Ying, a survivor of the Nanking massacre. Music provides a vehicle for these Chinese women to express their views on the Japanese Invasion of the 1930s and 40s; and for outsiders to be touched by sound, as well as words. "Conductor Zheng describes how the Chinese National Anthem whipped up patriotic sentiment in the 1930s; and composer [Qu Xi-xian] explains her famous anti-Japanese protest song, written at age 18: 'We sang anti-Japanese songs to arouse the ordinary people to say that our country's now in danger.' At the same age, a pregnant Li Xiu Ying (now 80) was brutally attacked in Nanking's safety zone: 'I was laying on the cot covered by a quilt, and a Japanese soldier squatted down and started to unbutton my coat. To his surprise, I snatched his bayonet from his belt, jumped up from the cot, and flung my back against the wall. He didn't expect a woman would fight back.' She sustained 37 bayonet wounds and a miscarriage of her baby boy. The Yellow River Concerto and the Yellow River Cantata accompany the harrowing eye-witness account. Yet music also served to heal the wounds of war, as Qu Xi-xian's setting of Walt Whitman's poem 'Mother and Child' shows: 'We had Japanese invaders [during] eight years of war. So we are thirsty about peace. When I read the Whitman, I see a sleeping baby, nestling in the breast of the mother. You can't let the war destroy such peaceful and loving life.' "The personal trials and sacrifices of these three Chinese women warrant Peabody consideration, because they provide insight into one of the major conflicts of the 20th century that still impacts Sino-Japanese relations today. These stories show the human side of the conflict. Since these women are elderly and living in Beijing and Nanking, this program may be the only opportunity to broadcast their courageous protests using their own voices. Dissemination of the music also warrants consideration, because it softens the horror of the events, and invites a direct emotional reaction from listeners who are increasingly immune to war accounts."--1999 Peabody Awards entry form.
- Broadcast Date
- 1999
- Asset type
- Episode
- Media type
- Sound
- Duration
- 00:20:47.208
- Credits
-
-
Producing Organization: Artistic Circles (Organization)
Producing Organization: WBEZ (Radio station : Chicago, Ill.)
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the
University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-09048147f03 (Filename)
Format: 1/4 inch audio cassette
Duration: 0:21:26
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Eight forty-eight; No. 4; Unbreakable Spirits. Teens-Professionals,” 1999, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed November 21, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-hd7np1xn8k.
- MLA: “Eight forty-eight; No. 4; Unbreakable Spirits. Teens-Professionals.” 1999. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. November 21, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-hd7np1xn8k>.
- APA: Eight forty-eight; No. 4; Unbreakable Spirits. Teens-Professionals. Boston, MA: The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-hd7np1xn8k