第一篇:王力宏牛津大学励志演讲稿
以下内容是王力宏受邀在牛津大学以认识华流为主题的一篇演讲稿,他在现场也跟大家分享了不少生活轶事,其中不乏切身感受。谈到中西方融合时,他也深感自己肩负的使命。在演讲最后,王力宏还不忘将优秀的华人音乐带给大家。
谢谢波琳娜,谢谢君,谢谢珮姗帮我组织这一切。
谢谢在座的各位,谢谢晚来的同学,也谢谢你们悄悄的进来。
今天开始之前,我想要先为四川地震的灾民们以及波士顿马拉松爆炸事件的受害者们默哀。让我们用一分钟时间,为他们祈福。
谢谢你们。
尊敬的各位牛津大学辩论会和牛津大学亚太学生会的同学们,万万想不到会以这样的方式跟你们相聚。没有吉他和二胡,没有夸张的舞台装也没有火力全开头。不过上周确实在伦敦的O2体育馆表演过了。不知道大家有没有去看呢。但是,从各方面来说,这些跟我们今天的话题都有密切的关联。那就是-介绍华流音乐。
其实无论我喜不喜欢,我都被认为在代表者华流音乐以及电影。那么今天,我就要来做一次国情咨文报告了。但是,这个国不是牛津,而是东西方的一个联合体。我想跟你们聊一聊,我们在将华语音乐引入西方社会方面所做的事情,无论是成就,还是不足。我都会坦诚布公。同时,我也想借此机会给你们留下这样一个印记:软实力交流的重要性以及它同我们每个人的相关程度。
软实力这个词我相信大家都不陌生。这个概念是由Rhodes Scholar 和牛津校友Joseph Nye 提出的。
被定义为一种吸引和说服的能力。
Shashi Tharoor 在最近的一次TED演讲中把它定义为一种文化让其他文化在听了他动人的故事之后受到影响并爱上这种文化的能力。
我很喜欢这个定义。
但是我想用贴近你们在做大学生们的方式来解释这个词。在我看来,东方跟西方在某种程度上,像是两个大一刚入学的新生舍友。
两个几乎陌生的人,突然来到同一个屋檐下,其中一个总是怕另一个会跟他抢洗澡的时间,或者在他想要学习的时候大开趴体。
这种关系很可能就变成跟地狱一样了,不是么?我的室友是极品的故事大家都讲得出来。这些事我都有耳闻。还有我知道牛津这儿的很多同学都一人一间的对吧,但是,在我刚上威廉姆斯学院的时候,我并不幸运,而且人身安全堪忧。
哇,你还真的是我们学校的!好吧,好棒!我当时就有一个这样的极品舍友,让我们暂且叫他frank。这个frank 就是那种好像除了抽大麻没有别的爱好的人。而且他每天都抽。
他床底下有一个两英尺长的烟斗,持续不断的得点着。给在做讲中文的同学们形容下,就是他每天会对着那个烟斗火力全开好吧。
我可能在这点上算是跟Bill Clinton 相反吧。Bill Clinton 是那种我试过大麻,但我不上瘾。我不抽大麻,但是我每天都在吸啊吸,而且还是二手的。奇怪的是,只要我在我们的卧室里,我最后都会稀里糊涂地上课迟到。我也不知道怎么回事。我当时就是那副吸了大麻的样子,嘿,已经十点了吗? 你们中有多少人有过frank那样的舍友呢?或者,你们也像他一样。所以有一个室友可能是一场灾难的开始。但也可能会酿造一段非凡的友谊。Frank第二年就辍学了。于是我换了两个新的舍友,Stefan 和 Jason。如今,我们三个是铁哥们。
回过头来看我的那个类比,我们东方和西方的舍友。是应该成为frank那样的存在,还是想像Stefan 和 Jason那样呢?我认为在当时当下,在2013,我们应该努力成为后者。我们应该,我是说,我想在这一目标上我们是可以达成共识的,对吧? 那么,回过头来,正视我们在现实中的处境。看看最近的新闻头条:《外交政策》杂志上的,中国的受害者情节:为何中国领导人如此猜忌美国或者法新社的财经杂志《彭博商业周刊》上说,没错,中国军队正在测探你。
这个特别逗,我来给你们展示一下这封面。是的,特别恐慌有木有!方向那对的吧,嗯,对的。当今对于中国有太多的负面东西。恐华情绪很严重。我觉得这种现象不仅是一种误传同时也是一种误导。这是很可怕的,超级可怕。
那么,中国人又是如何看待西方的呢?我们对西方人的称呼五花八门。大家熟知的有:香港人叫他们鬼佬,字面上就是老妖。大陆人叫他们老外,字面上就是蛮夷。还有台湾人叫他们红毛。还真说不完呢。这看上去像是能发展成一段最佳友谊的舍友关系吗?我认为我们得治治病。随着中国实力不断强大,看清楚应该相信什么这一点空前重要。因为,归根结底,这就是高等教育的目的。
这就是我们坐在这里的原因:有能力独立思考,自主选择。中国当然不能通过那些新闻头条来定义。也不只是所谓的特殊政策下快速增长的经济。中国不仅仅是一个世界工厂,也不仅仅是未来超级大国。中国的意义价值远大于此。一个拥有十几亿人口,丰富悠久的历史文化与传奇故事的民族。作为中西两种文化的共同产物,我特别想要帮忙在两种文化之间培养起一种互相的理解,建立起一种很美好的情谊。
但凡事都有两面,所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我说爱情故事不完全在说笑。因为我相信,这些关于爱的故事能够拯救我们,把我们凝聚在一起。我今天讲的主题就是,通过流行文化修复东西方世界的关系。好宏伟的计划有木有啊!我会想办法讲明白的。
联合国秘书长潘基文说过,在音乐的世界里,沟通时无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量。这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术,我们才能够更好的了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安,人与人之间不甚宽容的年代,我们需要利用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。
联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐。这一点我很赞同。音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能够帮助建立人与人之间的关系,用包容,友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。在不同文化之间推广音乐这一点上,我自己的童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。
第二篇:王力宏牛津大学演讲稿
篇一:王力宏牛津大学演讲稿中英文全篇 leehom wang oxford union speech exception。。because knowing both of a coin i really think thatthere’s a love story willing to be told and willing to unfold。i’m willing to tointerpret the love story because i believe it is the story that will save us,will bring us together。and my thesis statement for today’s talk is that the relationship between east and west needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture。
(laughing。。)i’m going to try to back it up!
the united nations secretary general ban ki-moon said:“there are no languages required in a music world。that is the power of music and that’s the power of the heart。through this promotion of arts we can better understand the culture and civilizations of the other people。in this era ofinstability and intolerance we need to promote better understanding through the power of music。” the un secretary general thinks we need more music,and i think he’s right。music and arts have always played the key role in my life,in building relationships,replacing what once was ignorance fearing of hatred with acceptance,friendship and even love。so i have strong case for growing in music between cultures because it happened to me earlier in life。i was born and raised up in new york,barely spoke a word of chinese。i didn’t know the difference between taiwan and thailand。
(laughing。。)i was american as。。until one day on a third grade playground,the inevitable finally happened。i got teased for being chinese。every kid just teased for making fun on the playground,but this was fundamentally different and i knew it right then and there。thiskid,let’s call him brayan the cowboy。。he started making fun for me,saying“chinese,japanese,dirty kneess,look at these!”(laughing„)the kids started laughing at me and it hurts!i can still remember how i can felt,i felt shamed,i felt barrased,but i laughted along with them,with everybody。i didn’t know what else to do。i was like having out-body experience,as if i could laugh at that chinese kid on the playground with all the other american kids because i was one of them。right?wrong!on many levels。
and i was facing first but definitely not the last time the harsh reality that i was minority。in rochester,which in those ages asian population was about 1%。and i was confused。i wanted to punch bryan,i wanted to hurt him for hunting me in that situation。but he was masculine,stronger than me and he will kick my butt and he would do that so i just took it in。and i didn’t tell anyone with these feelings and i just held them in and let them repressed.those feelings trough surface in a strangely therapeutically for me through music。it was no coincident that around that time i started paly violion,guitar and drums,i soon discovered that playing music or singing,other kids would,for a brief moment,forget about my race of colour and they be able to see who truly i am,as a human being who’s emotional spiritual curious about the world and has a need for love just like everyone else。and by the sixth grade,guess who asked me if i could join him for his band。
(bryan)bryan!
i said yes and that’s bryan and me together,from the elementary school rock band called“nirvana”(laughing)i’m not kidding,i was a rock band called“nirvana”before kurt cobain’s band。so when nirvana came out,bryan and i werelike:hey,he’s stealing our name!what really attracted to me is that music at this young age and still i love about it is that it breakes down the walls between us and show us so quickly the truth that we are much more alike than we are different。then in high school,i learnt that music was not just about connecting with others,like bryan and i were connected through music。it was a powerful tool of influence and inspiraton。
sam nguyen was my high school janitor。he was an immigrant from vietnam who barely spoke a word of english。sam swept the floors and cleaned the bathroom of our school for twenty years。he never talked to the kids and the kids never talked to sam。but one day,before the opening night before our school’s annual,he walked up to me and holding a letter。
i was taken to the back and i was thingking;why sam the janitor would approaching me? he gave me this letter that i was draw off in a shaky hand and written in all capitals,and i read it: in all my years of working as a janitor at sutherland,you are the first asianboy who plays the rock,i will bring my six-year-old daughter to。。。但凡事物都有两面,所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我更倾向于这样的解释是因为我相信,这些关于爱的故事可以拯救我我们,把我们凝聚在一起。我今天演讲的主题就是:通过流行文化修复东方世界与西方世界的关系(众人笑)(我知道这题目很大)我会想办法讲明白的!
联合国秘书长潘基文说过:在音乐的世界里,沟通是无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量,这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术,我们才能更好地了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安,人与人之间不慎宽容的年代,我们需要用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。
联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐,这一点我很赞同。
音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能帮助建立人与人之间的关系,用包容,友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。
对于在不同的文化背景下在音乐中成长这件事,我自己童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。我在纽约长大,几乎连一句中文都不会说,以前我连“台湾”和“泰国”都分不清。
(大笑)
知道我上了三年级,有一天在操场上,不可避免的事情终于发生了。因为是中国人的血统,我第一次被人取笑了。当然,平时一起玩的小孩子都会互相戏弄开玩笑,但是这次绝对不同,这点我在彼时彼地就感觉到了。我们暂且管那孩子叫牛仔布莱恩吧!他嘲笑我说:“chinese,japanese,dirty knees,look at these!
大家都开始嘲笑我,我真的很受伤!我依然能够记得我当时的感觉,我觉得特别丢脸和惭愧,但是我当时跟着所有其他人一样在笑。年幼的我并不知道该怎么办,似乎觉得如果我能跟操场上其他美国孩子一样嘲笑“中国人”,我就能置身事外了,我就是他们当中的一员了。这种想法可取吗?当然不可取,而且是大错特错。篇二:王力宏牛津大学演讲稿 王力宏牛津大学演讲稿 thank you.谢谢你们。i never thought i would be addressing you, the esteemed members of the oxford union, without a guitar or an erhu, without my crazy stage hair, costumes.but i did perform in the o2 arena in london last week.i am not sure if any of you were able to make that.but in many ways, that was similar to what i’m talking about today, that is, introducing chinese pop music here.尊敬的各位牛津大学辩论会和牛津大学亚太学生会的同学们,万万想不到会以这样的方式跟你们相聚。没有吉他和二胡,没有夸张的舞台装也没有“火力全开”头。不过上周确实在伦敦的o2体育馆表演过了。不知道大家有没有去看呢。但是,从各方面来说,这些跟我们今天的话题都有密切的关联。那就是-介绍华流音乐。
其实无论我喜不喜欢,我都被认为在代表者华流音乐以及电影。那么今天,我就要来做一次“国情咨文”报告了。但是,这个“国”不是牛津,而是东西方的一个联合体。我想跟你们聊一聊,我们在将华语音乐引入西方社会方面所做的事情,无论是成就,还是不足。我都会坦诚布公。同时,我也想借此机会给你们留下这样一个印记:软实力交流的重要性以及它同我们每个人的相关程度。
soft power, a term i am sure you are all familiar with this point 软实力这个词我相信大家都不陌生。这个概念是由rhodes scholar 和牛津校友joseph nye 提出的。
被定义为一种“吸引”和“说服”的能力。
shashi tharoor 在最近的一次ted演讲中把它定义为“一种文化让其他文化在听了他动人的故事之后受到影响并爱上这种文化”的能力。but i want to put it in collegiate term for all you students in the audience: the way i see it, east and west are kinda like freshman roommates.但是我想用贴近你们在做大学生们的方式来解释这个词。在我看来,东方跟西方在某种程度上,像是两个大一刚入学的新生舍友。两个几乎陌生的人,突然来到同一个屋檐下,其中一个总是怕另一个会跟他抢洗澡的时间,或者在他想要学习的时候大开趴体。这种关系很可能就变成跟地狱一样了,不是么?“我的室友是极品”的故事大家都讲得出来。这些事我都有耳闻。还有我知道牛津这儿的很多同学都一人一间的对吧,但是,在我刚上威廉姆斯学院的时候,我并不幸运,而且人身安全堪忧。
(you are kidding me.woo-hoo!all right, all right!great.)哇,你还真的是我们学校的!好吧,好棒!
我当时就有一个这样的极品舍友,让我们暂且叫他frank。这个frank 就是那种好像除了抽大麻没有别的爱好的人。而且他每天都抽。and frank had a two-foot long bong under his bed that was constantly being fired up.for those chiese speakers in the audience.frank would “火力全开” on that bong every day.他床底下有一个两英尺长的烟斗,持续不断的得点着。给在做讲中文的同学们形容下,就是他每天会对着那个烟斗火力全开
all right 好吧。我可能在这点上算是跟bill clinton 相反吧。bill clinton 是那种“我试过大麻,但我不上瘾。”我不抽大麻,但是我每天都在吸啊吸,而且还是二手的。奇怪的是,只要我在我们的卧室里,我最后都会稀里糊涂地上课迟到。我也不知道怎么回事。我当时就是那副吸了大麻的样子,嘿,已经十点了吗?你们中有多少人有过frank那样的舍友呢?或者,你们也像他一样。所以有一个室友可能是一场灾难的开始。但也可能会酿造一段非凡的友谊。frank第二年就辍学了。于是我换了两个新的舍友,stefan 和 jason。如今,我们三个是铁哥们。
那么,回过头来,正视我们在现实中的处境。看看最近的新闻头条:《外交政策》杂志上的,“中国的受害者情节:为何中国领导人如此猜忌美国”或者法新社的财经杂志《彭博商业周刊》上说,“没错,中国军队正在测探你。”这个特别逗,我来给你们展示一下这封面。是的,特别恐慌有木有!方向那对的吧,嗯,对的。当今对于中国有太多的负面东西。恐华情绪很严重。我觉得这种现象不仅是一种误传同时也是一种误导。这是很可怕的,超级可怕。
那么,中国人又是如何看待西方的呢?我们对西方人的称呼五花八门。大家熟知的有:香港人叫他们“鬼佬”,字面上就是“老妖”。大陆人叫他们老外,字面上就是“蛮夷”。还有台湾人叫他们“红毛”。还真说不完呢。这看上去像是能发展成一段最佳友谊的舍友关系吗?我认为我们得治治病。随着中国实力不断强大,看清楚应该相信什么这一点空前重要。因为,归根结底,这就是高等教育的目的。这就是我们坐在这里的原因:有能力独立思考,自主选择。中国当然不能通过那些新闻头条来定义。也不只是所谓的特殊政策下快速增长的经济。中国不仅仅是一个世界工厂,也不仅仅是未来超级大国。中国的意义价值远大于此。一个拥有十几亿人口,丰富悠久的历史文化与传奇故事的民族。作为中西两种文化的共同产物,我特别想要帮忙在两种文化之间培养起一种互相的理解,建立起一种很美好的情谊。
但凡事都有两面,所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我说“爱情故事”不完全在说笑。因为我相信,这些关于爱的故事能够拯救我们,把我们凝聚在一起。我今天讲的主题就是,通过流行文化修复东西方世界的关系。好宏伟的计划有木有啊!我会想办法讲明白的。联合国秘书长潘基文说过,在音乐的世界里,沟通时无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量。这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术,我们才能够更好的了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安,人与人之间不甚宽容的年代,我们需要利用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。now the un secretary general thinks we need more music, and i think he is right.music and arts have always played the key role in my life in building relationships, replacing what once was the ignorance, fear and hatred with acceptance, friendships and even love.so i have a strong case for promoting music between cultures because it happened to me early in life.联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐。这一点我很赞同。音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能够帮助建立人与人之间的关系,用包容,友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。在不同文化之间推广音乐这一点上,我自己的童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。
我在纽约的罗切斯特长大,几乎不会说中文。我连“台湾”和“泰国”这两个词都分不清楚。那是真的!我那时是个地地道道的美国人。直到我上了三年级,有一天在操场上,不可避免的事情终于发生了。因为中国人的血统,我第一次被人嘲笑了。当然一起玩的小孩都会互相戏弄开玩笑,但这次绝对不同。这点当时我立马就感觉到了。我们暂且管那个孩子叫bryan m吧。它开始嘲笑我说,中国人,日本人,脏膝盖,快来看。(英文还押韵)你们居然还笑,我太受伤了!好吧,我只是开个玩笑。我依然能够记得我当时的感觉。我感觉特别丢脸,特别尴尬。
但是我当时跟着所有其他人一直在笑。年幼的我并不知道该怎么办。当时感觉好像灵魂出窍一样。好像我能够和操场上其他美国孩子一起嘲笑中国人,我就是他们当中一员了。这种想法可取吗?当然不可取,而且是大错特错。那是我第一次感受到一件残酷而现实的事实。我属于一个少数群体,但那绝不是最后一次。在那个时代的罗切斯特,亚洲人口特别少,几乎之占当地人口的百分之一。
我当时心里很乱,我很想把bryan 打一顿。他让我陷入那种窘境,因此我也要让他难过。但是他身材比我壮,出手也比我快。如果和他打架,我一定会被揍得更惨。这一点我们篇三:时尚雅思听力:王力宏牛津大学魅力演讲
摘要:本次为大家带来的是男神王力宏牛津大学魅力演讲视频,希望大家感受一下男神王力宏的英语演讲魅力。
编辑的话:
烤鸭们快来感受以下你心目中的男神王力宏在牛津大学纯英文的演讲魅力吧。此次王力宏演讲的主题是“认识华流”,与他的身份相当契合,也是他深深关心更是上升为使命的话题。从小时候在纽约长大到台湾建立起职业生涯,他在现场也跟大家分享了不少生活轶事,其中不乏切身感受。谈到中西方融合时,他也深感自己肩负的使命。在演讲最后,王力宏还不忘将优秀的华人音乐带给大家。
更多英语公开课视频:英语公开课视频集锦:提升的不仅是听力(不断更新)1
第三篇:王力宏牛津大学演讲稿中英文全篇
Leehom Wang Oxford Union speech
exception
。。because knowing both of a coin I really
think thatthere’s a love story willing to be told and willing to
unfold。I’m willing to tointerpret the love story
because I believe it is the story that will save us,will bring us
together。
And my thesis
statement for today’s talk is that the relationship between east and west needsto be and can be fixed via pop culture。
(laughing。。)
I’m going to try to
back it up!
The United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said:“There are no languages required in a musicworld。That is the power of music and that’s the power of the
heart。Through this promotion of arts we can better understand the
culture and civilizations of the other people。In this era
ofinstability and intolerance we need to promote better understanding throughthe power of music。”
The UN Secretary
General thinks we need more music,and
I think he’s right。
Music and arts have
always played the key role in my life,in building relationships,replacingwhat once was ignorance fearing of hatred with
acceptance,friendship and even love。
So I have strong
case for growing in music between cultures because it happened to me earlier inlife。
I was born and
raised up in New York,barely spoke a
word of Chinese。I didn’t know the difference between Taiwan and
Thailand。
(laughing。。)
I was American
as。。until one day on a third grade
playground,the inevitable finally happened。I got
teased for being Chinese。
Every kid just
teased for making fun on the playground,but this was fundamentally different and I knewit right then and there。Thiskid,let’s call him Brayan
the Cowboy。。
He started making
fun for me,saying“Chinese,Japanese,Dirty
kneess,Look at these!”
(laughing…)
The kids started
laughing at me and it hurts!
I can still
remember how I can felt,I felt
shamed,I felt barrased,but I laughted along with
them,with everybody。I didn’t know what else to
do。I was like having out-body experience,as if I could
laugh at that Chinese kid on the playground with all the other American kids
because I was one of them。
Right?Wrong!On many
levels。
And I was facing
first but definitely not the last time the harsh reality that I was
minority。
In
Rochester,which in those ages Asian
population was about 1%。And I was confused。I wanted to
punch Bryan,I wanted to hurt him for hunting me in that
situation。But he was masculine,stronger than me and he
will kick my butt and he would do that so I just took it in。And I
didn’t tell anyone with these feelings and I just held them in and let them
repressed.Those feelings
trough surface in a strangely therapeutically for me through music。
It was no
coincident that around that time I started paly violion,guitar and drums,I soon discoveredthat playing music or singing,other kids would,for a
brief moment,forget about my
race of colour and they be able to see who truly I am,as a human
being who’s
emotional spiritual curious about the world and has a need for love just like
everyone else。
And by the sixth
grade,guess who asked me if I could
join him for his band。
(Bryan)
Bryan!
I said yes and
that’s Bryan and me together,from the
elementary school rock band called“Nirvana”
(laughing)
I’m not
kidding,I was a rock band
called“Nirvana”before Kurt Cobain’s
band。So when Nirvana came out,Bryan and I were
like:Hey,he’s stealing our name!
What really
attracted to me is that music at this young age and still I love about it is
that it breakes down the walls between us and show us so quickly the truth thatwe are much more alike than we are different。
Then in high
school,I learnt that music was not
just about connecting with others,like Bryan and I were connected
through music。It was a powerful tool of influence and
inspiraton。
Sam Nguyen was my
high school janitor。He was an
immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English。
Sam swept the
floors and cleaned the bathroom of our school for twenty years。
He never talked to
the kids and the kids never talked to Sam。
But one
day,before the opening night before
our school’s annual,he walked up to me and holding a
letter。
I was taken to the
back and I was thingking;why Sam the janitor would approaching me?
He gave me this
letter that I was draw off in a shaky hand and written in all
capitals,and I read
it:
In all my years of working as a janitor at
Sutherland,you are the first Asian
boy who plays the rock,I will bring my six-year-old daughter to
watch you perform because I wanted her to see the Asian communities and inspireher。
。。。但凡事物都有两面,所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我更倾向于这样的解释是因为我相信,这些关于爱的故事可以拯救我我们,把我们凝聚在一起。
我今天演讲的主题就是:通过流行文化修复东方世界与西方世界的关系
(众人笑)
(我知道这题目很大)我会想办法讲明白的!
联合国秘书长潘基文说过:在音乐的世界里,沟通是无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量,这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术,我们才能更好地了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安,人与人之间不慎宽容的年代,我们需要用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。
联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐,这一点我很赞同。
音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能帮助建立人与人之间的关系,用包容,友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。
对于在不同的文化背景下在音乐中成长这件事,我自己童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。
我在纽约长大,几乎连一句中文都不会说,以前我连“台湾”和“泰国”都分不清。
(大笑)
知道我上了三年级,有一天在操场上,不可避免的事情终于发生了。因为是中国人的血统,我第一次被人取笑了。当然,平时一起玩的小孩子都会互相戏弄开玩笑,但是这次绝对不同,这点我在彼时彼地就感觉到了。我们暂且管那孩子叫牛仔布莱恩吧!他嘲笑我说:“Chinese,Japanese,Dirty
Knees,Look at these!
大家都开始嘲笑我,我真的很受伤!我依然能够记得我当时的感觉,我觉得特别丢脸和惭愧,但是我当时跟着所有其他人一样在笑。年幼的我并不知道该怎么办,似乎觉得如果我能跟操场上其他美国孩子一样嘲笑“中国人”,我就能置身事外了,我就是他们当中的一员了。
这种想法可取吗?当然不可取,而且是大错特错。
那是我第一次感受到一件残酷而现实的事实:我属于一个少数群体。但那绝对不是最后一次。
在那个时候的罗切斯特,亚洲人口特别少,几乎只占当地人口的百分之一。我当时心里很乱。我想揍那个孩子,他伤害了我因此我也想要伤害他。但是他很结实,比我壮得多。如果我揍了他一定会被揍得更惨。所以我就忍下来了。那件事我从来都没有告诉任何人,一直自己忍着,压抑着那些难受。
我心里的这些感觉十分其妙的被音乐治愈了。我正好在那个时候学习小提琴,弹吉他,打鼓。。。当然这不是巧合。我渐渐发现,当我演奏或者唱歌的时候,其他的孩子便会忘记我的种族,我的肤色而真正的接受我,了解真正的我,哪怕只是一些小会儿。每当这个时候,他们就会发现,我也跟他么一样,对世界充满感性的好奇和想象,我也需要爱。
到了六年级的时候。猜猜谁拉我加入他的乐队?
(众人:布莱恩!)
对,布莱恩。
我答应了,于是布莱恩和我一起组了我们小学的摇滚乐队:涅槃乐队。
(大笑)
是真的我没开玩笑。我们的乐队在科特科本的“涅槃乐队”之前就有了。所以后来“涅槃”出道的时候,我和布莱恩还嚷嚷:嗨,他盗用我们的名字!
所以在那么小的时候我就发现了音乐的迷人之处音乐能打破人与人之间的隔阂,能让我们那么快就看清彼此之间的相似点,而不是那些不同之处。当然这也是我至今热爱音乐的原因之一。
后来上了高中,我学到了更多:音乐不仅能沟通彼此,就像我跟布莱恩通过音乐结缘一样,他同时也是一股强大的影响他人,激励他人的力量。
阮萨木是我们学校的门卫,他是越南侨民,几乎从来都不说英语。萨姆在我们学校做了二十年的清洁工作,却从来没跟学生说过话,学生们也从来不跟他说。
但是突然有一天,在我们学校一年一度的音乐节前夕,萨姆找到我,手里拿着一封信。我被带到后台,心里琢磨,门卫萨姆会有什么事儿找我?
他递给我那封信:潦草的字迹,全部大写的字母:我在这个学校工作了这么多年里,你是我见到的第一个上台表演的亚洲男孩。我要带我六岁的女儿来看那你的演出,因为我想要他看到我们亚洲人的群体,让她感受一下这种激励。
第四篇:王力宏牛津大学演讲中文译稿
谢谢在座的各位,谢谢晚来的同学,也谢谢你们悄悄的进来。
今天开始之前,我想要先为四川地震的灾民们以及波士顿马拉松爆炸事件的受害者们默哀。让我们用一分钟时间,为他们祈福。
谢谢你们。
尊敬的各位牛津大学辩论会和牛津大学亚太学生会的同学们,万万想不到会以这样的方式跟你们相聚。没有吉他和二胡,没有夸张的舞台装也没有“火力全开”头。不过上周确实在伦敦的O2体育馆表演过了。不知道大家有没有去看呢。但是,从各方面来说,这些跟我们今天的话题都有密切的关联。那就是-介绍华流音乐。
其实无论我喜不喜欢,我都被认为在代表者华流音乐以及电影。那么今天,我就要来做一次“国情咨文”报告了。但是,这个“国”不是牛津,而是东西方的一个联合体。我想跟你们聊一聊,我们在将华语音乐引入西方社会方面所做的事情,无论是成就,还是不足。我都会坦诚布公。同时,我也想借此机会给你们留下这样一个印记:软实力交流的重要性以及它同我们每个人的相关程度。软实力这个词我相信大家都不陌生。这个概念是由Rhodes Scholar 和牛津校友Joseph Nye 提出的。
被定义为一种“吸引”和“说服”的能力。
Shashi Tharoor 在最近的一次TED演讲中把它定义为“一种文化让其他文化在听了他动人的故事之后受到影响并爱上这种文化”的能力。我很喜欢这个定义。但是我想用贴近你们在做大学生们的方式来解释这个词。在我看来,东方跟西方在某种程度上,像是两个大一刚入学的新生舍友。
两个几乎陌生的人,突然来到同一个屋檐下,其中一个总是怕另一个会跟他抢洗澡的时间,或者在他想要学习的时候大开趴体。
这种关系很可能就变成跟地狱一样了,不是么?“我的室友是极品”的故事大家都讲得出来。这些事我都有耳闻。还有我知道牛津这儿的很多同学都一人一间的对吧,但是,在我刚上威廉姆斯学院的时候,我并不幸运,而且人身安全堪忧。哇,你还真的是我们学校的!好吧,好棒!
我当时就有一个这样的极品舍友,让我们暂且叫他frank。这个frank 就是那种好像除了抽大麻没有别的爱好的人。而且他每天都抽。
他床底下有一个两英尺长的烟斗,持续不断的得点着。给在做讲中文的同学们形容下,就是他每天会对着那个烟斗火力全开
好吧。我可能在这点上算是跟Bill Clinton 相反吧。Bill Clinton 是那种“我试过大麻,但我不上瘾。”我不抽大麻,但是我每天都在吸啊吸,而且还是二手的。奇怪的是,只要我在我们的卧室里,我最后都会稀里糊涂地上课迟到。我也不知道怎么回事。我当时就是那副吸了大麻的样子,嘿,已经十点了吗?
你们中有多少人有过frank那样的舍友呢?或者,你们也像他一样。所以有一个室友可能是一场灾难的开始。但也可能会酿造一段非凡的友谊。Frank第二年就辍学了。于是我换了两个新的舍友,Stefan 和 Jason。如今,我们三个是铁哥们。回过头来看我的那个类比,我们东方和西方的舍友。是应该成为frank那样的存在,还是想像Stefan 和 Jason那样呢?我认为在当时当下,在2013,我们应该努力成为后者。我们应该,我是说,我想在这一目标上我们是可以达成共识的,对吧?
那么,回过头来,正视我们在现实中的处境。看看最近的新闻头条:《外交政策》杂志上的,“中国的受害者情节:为何中国领导人如此猜忌美国”或者法
新社的财经杂志《彭博商业周刊》上说,“没错,中国军队正在测探你。”这个特别逗,我来给你们展示一下这封面。是的,特别恐慌有木有!方向那对的吧,嗯,对的。当今对于中国有太多的负面东西。恐华情绪很严重。我觉得这种现象不仅是一种误传同时也是一种误导。这是很可怕的,超级可怕。
那么,中国人又是如何看待西方的呢?我们对西方人的称呼五花八门。大家熟知的有:香港人叫他们“鬼佬”,字面上就是“老妖”。大陆人叫他们老外,字面上就是“蛮夷”。还有台湾人叫他们“红毛”。还真说不完呢。这看上去像是能发展成一段最佳友谊的舍友关系吗?我认为我们得治治病。随着中国实力不断强大,看清楚应该相信什么这一点空前重要。因为,归根结底,这就是高等教育的目的。
这就是我们坐在这里的原因:有能力独立思考,自主选择。中国当然不能通过那些新闻头条来定义。也不只是所谓的特殊政策下快速增长的经济。中国不仅仅是一个世界工厂,也不仅仅是未来超级大国。中国的意义价值远大于此。一个拥有十几亿人口,丰富悠久的历史文化与传奇故事的民族。作为中西两种文化的共同产物,我特别想要帮忙在两种文化之间培养起一种互相的理解,建立起一种很美好的情谊。
但凡事都有两面,所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我说“爱情故事”不完全在说笑。因为我相信,这些关于爱的故事能够拯救我们,把我们凝聚在一起。我今天讲的主题就是,通过流行文化修复东西方世界的关系。好宏伟的计划有木有啊!我会想办法讲明白的。
联合国秘书长潘基文说过,在音乐的世界里,沟通时无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量。这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术,我们才能够更好的了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安,人与人之间不甚宽容的年代,我们需要利用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐。这一点我很赞同。音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能够帮助建立人与人之间的关系,用包容,友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。在不同文化之间推广音乐这一点上,我自己的童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。
我在纽约的罗切斯特长大,几乎不会说中文。我连“台湾”和“泰国”这两个词都分不清楚。那是真的!我那时是个地地道道的美国人。直到我上了三年级,有一天在操场上,不可避免的事情终于发生了。因为中国人的血统,我第一次被人嘲笑了。当然一起玩的小孩都会互相戏弄开玩笑,但这次绝对不同。这点当时我立马就感觉到了。我们暂且管那个孩子叫Bryan M吧。它开始嘲笑我说,中国人,日本人,脏膝盖,快来看。(英文还押韵)你们居然还笑,我太受伤了!好吧,我只是开个玩笑。我依然能够记得我当时的感觉。我感觉特别丢脸,特别尴尬。
但是我当时跟着所有其他人一直在笑。年幼的我并不知道该怎么办。当时感觉好像灵魂出窍一样。好像我能够和操场上其他美国孩子一起嘲笑中国人,我就是他们当中一员了。这种想法可取吗?当然不可取,而且是大错特错。
那是我第一次感受到一件残酷而现实的事实。我属于一个少数群体,但那绝不是最后一次。在那个时代的罗切斯特,亚洲人口特别少,几乎之占当地人口的百分之一。
我当时心里很乱,我很想把bryan 打一顿。他让我陷入那种窘境,因此我也要让他难过。但是他身材比我壮,出手也比我快。如果和他打架,我一定会被揍
得更惨。这一点我们都知道。所以我就忍了下来。我从来没有告诉过别人。也没发泄什么感受。一直自己忍着,想让他们烂在心底就好了。后来慢慢地,这些感受在音乐里竟然十分巧妙地把我治愈了。我那个时候对小提琴,吉他,鼓都越来越得心应手,当然不是巧合。我渐渐发现,当我演奏或者唱歌的时候,其他孩子便会忘记我的种族或我的肤色。而真正接受我,了解真正的我,哪怕只是一小会。每当这个时候,他们就会发现,我跟他们都是一样的人。我也对世界充满感性的好奇和想象,我也需要爱。
到了六年级的时候,猜猜谁拉我加入他的乐队当鼓手?对,就是Bryan,我答应了。于是Bryan跟我一起,组成了我们小学的摇滚乐队:涅槃乐队。是真的我没开玩笑。我们的乐队在科特柯本的涅槃乐队之前就有了。所以后来涅槃乐队出道的时候,我跟Bryan还嚷嚷,嘿,他盗用我们的名字!所以在那么小的时候,我就发现了音乐的迷人之处。当然这迷人之处也是我至今热爱音乐的原因之一。那就是,音乐能打破人与人之间的隔阂,能让我们那么快就看到彼此的相似点,而不是那些不同之处。后来上了高中,我学到了更多,音乐不仅仅能够沟通彼此,就像我跟Bryan通过音乐结缘一样。它同时也是一股强大的影响他人,激励他人的力量。
Sam Wayne是我们学校的门卫。他是越南侨民。几乎从来不说英语。Sam在我们学校做了二十几年的清洁工,擦地板,扫厕所。却从来没跟学生们说过话。学生们也从不跟他说话。但是一天,我们学校一年一度的音乐节前夕,sam找到我,手里拿着一封信。我吓坏了,心里琢磨,门卫sam找我会有什么事?于是他递给了我那封我至今保存的信。一看就是用颤抖的手写下的潦草字迹。全都是大写字母,信上写着,我在这个学校当了那么多年门卫,你是我见过的第一个担纲主唱的亚洲男孩。我今晚要带我六岁的女儿来看你的演出。因为我想要她看到,我们亚洲人也可以带给人好多正能量。我真的被那封信震惊了。十五岁的我当时就惊呆了。我第一次意识到,原来音乐如此重要。
在Bryan那儿,他让两个本来是敌人的孩子成为了朋友,然而在sam这里,音乐的意义超过了个体的范畴,达到了一个更好的层次。音乐以我想不到的方式影响到我甚至完全不认识的人。我从头至尾对门卫sam的感激是无法用语言来形容的。他真的算是帮助我发掘人生目标的人之一。我从来不知道我的一个小小的行为,能够对这样一位甚至从来不说英文的越南侨民产生如此大的影响。流行文化,音乐以及任何一种讲述故事的方式包括电影,电视剧,他们都是如此的重要,连接着我们。比如Bryan和我,又真的在影响着我们,激励着我们。回过头来再看看这个东西方的联合体,是存在一种软实力偏向的。东方和西方这两个“舍友”之间的软实力交流会是什么样子的呢?有没有在中国很红的英文歌呢?当然有。英文电影呢?那就太多了。多到中国不得不限制好莱坞电影的引入,来给本土电影制造些成功的机会。那么反过来,又在西方很红的华语歌曲吗?观众:江南style!王:哈哈,没错,还有电影。比如卧虎藏龙,那也是十三年前的事了。我觉得这当中有一种不平衡存在。我认为这是一种软实力赤字,就这么叫吧。当我们放眼这个方向的时候,也就是说,西方对东方的影响远远大于东方对西方的。原谅我这里把东方和西方这两个词用的这么随意。因为这比说,以英语为第一语言的国家,讲中文或讲粤语的地区,这样的话方便点。我在使用一种概况化的表达方式。希望你们能理解。
这种在流行文化影响方面的不平衡其实是个很有趣的问题。试想在任何一段健康的关系中,无论是友谊还是婚姻,双方彼此努力去了解对方都再重要不过了,对吗? 这种软实力交换需要一种平衡。
那么如何做到这一点呢?作为中国流行文化大使,我必须问自己这样一个问题,为什么会存在这种软实力赤字?是因为华语音乐真的很烂吗?求你们了别回答这个问题。我看得出你们当中肯定有人在嘀咕:别发牢骚了!写首劲歌吧!鸟叔不就做到了吗?事实上这背后是有点道理的。一种说法是,我们所创作的内容,没有足够的国际竞争力。为什么就没有呢?那么,我们以韩流音乐为例。韩国的经济是以出口为导向的。他们的眼光是面向世界的。事实上他们也必须面向世界。而华语流行音乐,仅凭借在中国国内发展以及在华语国家和地区举办巡演,就能够坚挺下去。而中国,正是由于是一个泱泱大国,市场潜力巨大,又有着160万个人口超过百万的城市,华语音乐确实有内化和固步自封的倾向。
所以华语流行音乐缺乏在国际市场竞争的敏感性这一观点是成立的。不过我认为这一议题的另一方面,更为有趣,更发人深省也更为真实。那就是西方听众并不熟悉华语音乐。因此并不懂得如何去欣赏华语音乐。哦好伤人啊!
我之所以认为这种论调其实站得住脚,是因为我本人恰巧有过这般经历。因此我对“西方人如何学着欣赏华语流行音乐”这个问题还是要一定发言权的。在17岁之前,我是一个身处美国的亚洲小孩。17岁之后,我变成了一个身处亚洲的美国孩子。情况完全颠倒了过来。
以前我是听着Beatie Boyz, Led Zeppelin,枪花长大的。但是到了台湾之后,我常边听音乐边想,这音乐怎么一点节奏感没有!华丽的吉他独奏在哪里!所以,作为一个在亚洲的美国孩子,我刚开始接触到华语音乐的时候心里的想法是,这音乐太逊了,我不喜欢。我觉得这些歌都太不给力了。制作价值太低。这些歌手就是没有Axl Rose(枪花主唱)或者Mariah Carey 那么会飙高音。直到有一天,我听了人生中第一场华流演唱会。是庾澄庆,哈林。在台北音乐中心的那场。当他表演时,我看到台下观众脸上的表情,眼神 和他们对音乐的那种热烈响应。我总算知道问题出在哪里了。并不是华语音乐缺少什么,而是我不能够正确的聆听和欣赏它。看到台下的人群跟着哈林一起唱并且完全沉浸在他的音乐里的时候,我顿悟到,我起初没有很好的理解。我现在应该开始学着如何领悟它们。如何用“当地的”耳朵去听音乐。我开始解构,分析,是什么让华语听众对某种旋律,歌曲的结构或者歌词产生共鸣。在过去二十年我一直在做这样的工作。真是路漫漫,至今我还在学习中。
而从某刻开始,我不仅能欣赏华语音乐了,而且能够开始做出自己的贡献。开始尝试和创造自己的风格。作为外观者,每个人都会这样。如果仅从自己的角度出发看问题,你总是会觉得外面的世界很奇怪。你总会觉得别人是异类。他们是怎么了?怎么会听这些东西?而我想说的是,只要你跨出去一步,就会有收获。并且我用自己的亲身经历证明,这是能够做到了。作为华语音乐大使,我一直在努力让人们开放接受,那些也许最初听上去并不喜欢的音乐,那么我们还能做些什么,来减少这种流行文化中的不平衡呢?
比如说,为牛津亚太学生会做演讲,或者在中国以外的地方开演唱会?但说真的,其实我觉得这种不平衡的趋势,正在开始发生微妙的,缓慢的,小心的,谨慎的变化。你们能够看到目前中国有很多跨文化的交流,外商渐渐视中国为宝地,近年来不乏很多跨国公司和合作成果,钢铁侠3,无数部变形金刚,生化危机……真的已经形成一种世界流行文化了。这正是我期待看到的,也是我最近专注的内容。之前我们有日流,韩流,华流,现在这种世界流正在慢慢兴起。这就是世界流,我觉得。。是的,我很喜欢这么个说法,就是世界流并不是世界音乐,不是像。。HMV之前有一个类别叫世界音乐。有点像音乐学院的“民族音乐学”课程的分类方式。
但世界流不是这样的,这个概念打破了陈规旧俗,冲开了艺术上那些一直阻碍在我们之间的界限。这就像一个大熔炉,一个马赛克拼图。如果我们仔细看,是可以领略到每种文化的不同风格和特色的。那么我们通过什么途径可以听到“世界流”音乐呢?并不存在这样一本世界流音乐杂志或一个平台,很不幸,当然这些是应该有的。
不过还好,我们有互联网,比如油管就是一个推广世界流音乐的中坚力量。苏珊大妈是通过英国达人秀走红的,她的成功不是通过唱片公司或者音乐圈的网络,而是走的草根路线。江南style也是一个很棒的范例,能成为一种掀起全球狂潮的文化现象。所以世界流,意味着一种世界范围内的流行文化,能让全人类共享,给我们提供了一个共通点。
于是今天,我的号召是什么呢?我想要帮助推进东西方之间的多元文化交流。这一点我想我已经表达的很清楚了,但是如何做到呢?我觉着吧,你们都可以出道嘛,这样就好了。我开个玩笑。不过如果成为歌手真的是你想做的事情那就另当别论了。我在此,号召各位,请务必在东方与西方横亘的隔阂间,建立一种室友般的情谊。并且能尽所能及的保护这份情谊,珍惜它,拥有它。千万不要千里迢迢从台湾跑来牛津大学当交换生还一天到晚只和中国学生聚一块。你说你这是干嘛对吧?这些事你在武汉,在南京,在老家的时候都能做对吧。
那些标题党,那些陈词滥调,那些超民族主义,别买他们的账。你应当学会自己判断,这个原则同样适用于研究东西方。把一件件来龙去脉搞清楚,独立思考,对那些天花乱坠的东西不要偏听则信。要是哪一天,你能做到漠视政府的鼓吹,忽视媒体的通稿,据理力争只为真理,动用“批判思维”的武器,是不是就能建立起那份情谊了呢?到那时,每个人都是独立的个体,个人不再是隶属于某个种族或是国家的无脸人?我们当然能做到。这是目标,也是理想。这是浪漫艺术家和音乐人亘古不变的初心。也是我想要极力撮成的一种情谊。正因如此,音乐和艺术的力量才这样强大,这样真切。正是这些力量让横亘期间的壁垒土崩瓦解。那些我们在彼此之间人为制造的隔阂,政府或者国籍,肤色。黑色,棕色,黄色和白色,无论哪一种肤色。也是这些力量让我们能够单程我们的内心,我们的恐惧,我们的希望,我们的梦想。最终我们就会发现,“远东”也并没有那么遥远。西方也并非都是蛮荒一片。
通过了解彼此的流行文化,探到彼此的内心,触碰彼此的灵魂。如果你们正想踏上这条贯通东西的征途,我诚挚的邀请你们和我一起加入这场奇幻之旅。作为在这条联通东西方之间的路上还算有点经验的人,我为你们准备了一只合集的卡带,里面收录了十首我爱的华语流行音乐。看,你们感受一下。本来今天我是给你们每人准备了CD的,但是我的团队好心提醒我说,这么做是不合法的。作为专业的专辑制作人,我可不能做这种事。不过这里的链接还是很好用的,因为这样你们还能看到这些歌曲相应的MV。
这10首我最爱的歌曲,来自不同的很棒的中国音乐人。我们就从他们开始了解入手中国的流行音乐吧!我觉得这些音乐人都很棒,希望你们也能喜欢。最后的最后,我只想说,现在置身于牛津大学校园,真的让我不由的回忆起我在威廉姆斯大学的那段时光。当我回首那四年,我发现最值得回忆的,就是于室友Stephan Papiano和Jason Price共处的时光了。事实上呢,Jason就在观众席中。
他专程从伦敦赶来看我。我在想,刚开始大家还是陌生人,我们对彼此不了解,有时候我们还会抢淋浴,甚至互相侵犯别人的隐私。但是我一直喜欢听Stephen讲他在一个希腊家庭里成长的故事。还有他眼里原汁原味的希腊菜应该长什么样子。或是Jason的故事,说他渴望以做小提琴为生,生活在意大利的克雷默那,像安东尼奥特拉迪瓦那样,而他的梦想后来真的实现了。
多年之后,我都无法忘记,我第一次拉“Jason Price”手工制作的小提琴时的场景,还有当时我内心的触动。他们也总是那样聚精会神,十分尊重的倾听我的成长故事,如何在一个中国传统家庭里长大。我的父母很严格,一直逼我学习。我们会互相分享各自的故事但是我们之间的纽带系的最牢的时候却是当我们单纯的围坐在一起听音乐的时候,我真心觉得我们的例子,就是东西人互相理解并和谐共处的典范。因此,这就是为何我今天要与各位分享中国的音乐。因为据我所知,这是最好的一种方式,让友谊地久天长。而这份友谊超越了所有的界限,让我们真真切切的了解彼此,展现最真实的自己。
谢谢大家!
第五篇:王力宏牛津大学演讲英文全文
王力宏牛津大学演讲英文全文
I never thought I would be addressing you, the esteemed members of the Oxford Union, without a guitar or an erhu, without my crazy stage hair and costumes, but I did perform in the O2 Arena in London last week.I’m not sure if any of you [x]…
But in many ways that is similar to what I’m talking about today, that is, introducing Chinese pop music.See, I’m actually an ambassador for Chinese pop, whether I like it or not, for both music and movies, and today I’m here to give you a State of Union address.It’s not the Oxford Union, it’s the union of East and West.I want to frankly and openly and honestly talk about how we’ve done a good job, or how we’ve done a bad job, of bringing Chinese pop to the West.And I also want to impress upon all of you here today the workings of that soft power exchange and how each of us is involved in that exchange.Soft power, a term I’m sure you’re all familiar with, coined by Rhodes Scholar and Oxford alumnus Joseph Nye, is defined as the ability to attract and persuade.Shashi Tharoor called it, in a recent TEDTalk, “the ability of a culture to tell a compelling story and influence others to fall in love with them”.I like that definition.But I want to put it in collegiate term for you students in the audience.The way I see it, East and West, are kinda like freshmen roommates.You don’t know a lot about each other aside that you’re living with each other in the same room.And each one is scared the other’s gonna steal his shower time or wants to party when the other wants to study.It has the potential to be absolute hell.We all have horror stories of that roommate, we all heard about those stories.I know a lot of students here in Oxford have their own separate bedrooms.But when I was a freshman at Williams College [crowd interjects] You’re kidding!Woohoo!Well I had a roommate.And he was that roommate.Let’s just call him Frank.So Frank was my roommate and Frank liked nothing more than to smoke weed.[laughter] And he did it every day.And Frank had a 2-foot long bong under his bed that was constantly being fired up.For those Chinese speakers in the audience, Frank would 火力全开 on that bong.So I guess I was kinda the opposite of Bill Clinton, who tried marijuana but didn’t inhale: I didn’t try marijuana but I did inhale.Every single day.Second hand.And strangely enough, every time I go into our bedroom, I mysteriously end up being late for class.I was like, dude is it already 10 o’clock?
So, how many of you have lived with that Frank, or be a Frank? Having a roommate can be a recipe for disaster, but it also can have the potential of being the greatest friendship you’ve ever had.See, Frank, he didn’t make it to second year.And I got two new roommates instead: Stephan and Jason, and these days the three of us are the best of friends.So going back to my analogy, East and West, as roommates, do we want to be Frank, or do we want to be Steph and Jason, and I think in this day and age, in 2013, we should all be striving for the latter.I’m assuming we all agree that this is the goal that we all strive for.Now, let’s look at where we are in reality, in recent headlines, in the media include, Foreign policy [maybe?], China’s victim complex, Why are Chinese leaders so paranoid about the United States or the [AP, the Associated Press?], Human rights in China worse than US.Bloomberg says, on the cover of this magazine, Yes, the Chinese army is spying on you [laughter] And it’s such a great one that I want to show you the cover of the magazine [laughter][Ed:check out the photo on the right!] Yes, be very afraid![laughter]
There’s actually an extremely high amount of negativity and fear and anxiety about China, Sinophobia, that I think is not just misinformed and misleading and ultimately dangerous.Very dangerous.And what about how Westerners are viewed by Chinese? Well, we have terms for Westerners.The most common of which are gwailo, in Cantonese which means “the old devil”, laowai, meaning “the old outsider” in Mandarin, ang moh, which means “the red hairy one” in Taiwanese, and the list goes on and on.So are these roommates heading for a best friend relationship? I think we need a little help.And as China rise to power, I think it is more important than ever for us to more discerning about what we believe because after all, I think, that’s the purpose of higher education, and that’s why we are all here, to be able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions.China’s not just those headlines.The burgeoning economy with unique politics.It is not just the world’s factory or the next big superpower, it’s so much more, a billion people with rich culture, amazing stories, and as a product of both of those cultures, I want to help foster an understanding between the two.And [x] that incredible relationship, because knowing both sides of the coin, I really think that there is a love story waiting to be told, ready to unfold.And I’m only half joking when I said love story because I believe it is the stories that will save us and bring us closer together.And my thesis statement for today’s talk is that the relationship between East and West needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture, and I’m going to try and back it up.Now, the UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki Moon said, “There are no languages required in the musical world.That is the power of music.That is the power of heart.” Through this promotion of arts we can better understand the culture and civilisation of other people.And in this era of instability and intolerance, we need to promote better understanding through the power of music.The UN Sec-Gen thinks that we need more music, and I think that he is right.Music and arts have always played a key role in my life, in building relationships, replacing what once were ignorance, fear and hatred, with acceptance, friendship and even love.So I have a strong case for promoting music between cultures because it happened to me early in my life.I was born in Rochester, New York, I barely spoke a word of Chinese.I didn't know the difference between Taiwan or Thailand.[laughter] I was as American as apple pie, until one day on the 3rd grade playground, the inevitable finally happened: I got teased for being Chinese.Now every kid gets teased or being made fun of in the playground, but this was fundamentally different and I knew right then and there.So this kid let’s call him Brian [x].He started making fun of me, saying “Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these!” [laughing] We’re laughing now but it hurt!
I could still remember how I felt, I felt ashamed, I felt embarrassed.But I laughed along with everyone.And I didn't know what else to do.It was like having an out of body experience.As if I could laugh at that Chinese kid on the playground with all the other Americans because I was one of them, right? Wrong, on many levels.And I was facing the first and definitely not the last time the harsh reality was that I was minority in Rochester, which in those days had an Asian population of 1%.And I was confused.I wanted to punch Brian.I wanted to hurt him for putting me in that situation but he was faster than me, and he was stronger than me, and he would kick my butt and we both knew that, so I just took it in.I didn't tell anyone or share with anyone these feelings, I just held them in and I let them fester.And those feelings would surface in a strangely therapeutic way for me through music, and it was no coincidence that around at that time I started getting good with the violin, and the guitar and the drums.And I’d soon discovered that by playing music or singing that the other kids would for a brief moment forget about my race or color and accept me and then be able to see me for who I truly am: a human being who is emotional, spiritual, curious about the world, and has a need for love just like everyone else.And by the sixth grade, guess who asked me if I would the drummer of their band? Brian.And I said yes.And that’s when we together formed an elementary school rock band called… Nirvana.I’m not kidding, I was in a rock band called Nirvana before Kurt Cobain's Nirvana was ever known… So when Nirvana came out, Brian and I were like, hey he’s stealing our name!But really what attracted me to music at this young age was just that, and still is what I love about music, is that it breaks down the walls between us and shows us so quickly the truth that we are much more alike than we [think?].And then in high school, I learned that music wasn’t just about connecting with others, like Brian and I were connected through music.It was a powerful tool of influence and inspiration.Sam [Nguyen?] was my high school janitor.He was an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English.Sam scrubbed the floors and cleaned the bathrooms of our school for twenty years.He never talked to the kids, and the kids never talked to Sam.But one day before the opening night of our school’s annual musical, he walked up to me holding a letter, and I was taken aback and I was thinking, why is Sam the janitor approaching me? And he gave me this letter that I’ve kept it to this day, it was scrawled in shaky hand written in all capitals and it read, in my all years working as a janitor at Sutherland, you were the first Asian boy to play the lead role.I’m going to bring my 6-year-old daughter to watch you perform tonight because I want her to see that Asians can be inspiring.And that letter just floored me.I was 15 years old and I was absolutely stunned.That was the first time I realized how music was so important.With Brian, it helped two kids who were initially enemies to become friends, but with Sam, music went beyond the one-on-one.It was an even higher level;it influenced others I didn’t even know, in ways I could never imagine.I can’t tell you how grateful I am to Sam to this day, he really is one of the people who helped me discover my life’s purpose, and I had no idea that something I did could mean more than ever imagined to an immigrant from Vietnam who barely even spoke English.Pop culture, music, and the other methods of storytelling, movies, TV dramas, they are so key, and they do connect us, like me and Brian, and do influence us, and inspire us.Then let’s take another look at this state of union, the East and West union, with this soft power bias.How is the soft power exchange between these two roommates? Are there songs in English that have become hits in China? Sure.How about movies? Well, there are so many that China has had to limit the number of Hollywood movies imported into the country so that local films could even have a chance at success.What about [x], well, [inaudible exchange with an audience member], yeah, and movies, well there was Crouching Tiger [Hidden Dragon], that was 13 years ago.Well, I think there’s a bit of an imbalance here.It’s called “soft power deficit”, that is to say the West influences the East more than vice versa.Forgive me for using “East” and “West” kinda loosely, it’s a lot easier to say than “English-speaking… language” or “Asian-speaking… language/Chinese”, I’m making generalisation and I hope you can go with me on this.And it’s just intrinsically a problem, this imbalance in pop culture influence.And I think so.In any healthy relationship, friendship, marriage, isn’t it important for both sides to make an effort to understand the other? And that this exchange needs to have a healthy balance? And how do we address this? As an ambassador for Chinese pop music and movies, I have to ask myself a question: Why does this deficit exist? Is it because Chinese music just [is lame?].Do you want me to answer that? [laughter] Yeah I think I see some of you are like, stop complaining and write a hit song!Psy did it!But there’s truth in that.The argument being that, the content that we’ve created just isn’t as internationally competitive.But why shouldn’t it?
Look at Korean pop, look at K-pop for example.Korean is an export-based economy and they are outward looking and they must be outward looking.Chinese pop on the other hand can just stay domestic, tour all over China, stick in territories and comfortably sustain.So when you’re that big and powerful, with over 160 cities in China with a million or more people, you tend to kinda turn inward and be complacent.So this certainly can be made an argument made for Chinese pop not being marketed with international sensibilities, but the other side of the argument I think is more interesting and thought provoking and even more true, is that Western ears aren’t familiar with and therefore don’t really understand how to appreciate Chinese music.Ouch!
The reason I think that the argument holds water though is because that’s exactly what I went through, so I happen to know a thing or two about learning to appreciate Chinese pop as a Westerner.'Cos I was 17 years old when I went from being an Asian kid in America to being an American kid in Asia, and the entire paradigm suddenly got flipped on its head.I grew up listening to Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin, Guns and Roses, and I found myself in Taiwan listening to the radio and thinking, where’s the beat? Where’s the screeching guitar solos? Here I am as an American kid in Asia listening to Chinese music for the first time and thinking that “this stuff is lame.I don’t like it!” I thought it was cheesy, production value was low, and the singers couldn’t belt like Axl Rose or Mariah Carey.But then one day, I went to my first Chinese pop concert, and it was Harlem Yu performing at the Taipei Music Centre, and as he performed, I looked around the audience and I saw their faces and the looks in their eyes and their response to his music, and it was clear to me finally where the problem lay.It wasn’t that the music that was lacking, it was my ability to appreciate it and to hear it in the right way.The crowd, they would sing along and be totally immerse in his music, and I thought that it was significant, that I was missing the point and from now on, I was going to somehow learn how to get it, I was gonna learn how to hear with both ears, and I deconstructed and analysed what it was that made Chinese audiences connect with certain types of melodies, and rhythms, and song structures, and lyrics, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past almost twenty years, and it took me a long time and I am still learning but at some point, I not only began to be able to appreciate the music but I started being able to contribute to it and create my own fresh spins on the tried-and-true.And I think this happens to everyone, really, who is on the outside looking in.It always looks strange if you looked at things from your perspective, you’re always going to think that these people are weirdos, what’s wrong with them, why are they listening to these stuff? And I’m saying that you can make the effort [x], it can be done, and I’m living proof of that.And as an ambassador of Chinese pop, I’m trying to get people to open up to a sound that they may not feel is palatable on the first listen.So what else can we do to reduce this imbalance in our popular cultures? Well, maybe we could talk a lot, tour more outside of China? But seriously, actually I think the tides have already started to change, very slowly, very cautiously, almost calculatedly.You see more cross-cultural exchange now, more interest in China, definitely a lot of joint ventures, a lot of co-productions in recent years, Iron Man 3, Transformers, [53?][laughter], Resident Evil, really it’s beginning to be kinda like a world pop, and that’s what I’m looking forward to and focusing on these days.There’s J-pop, there’s K-pop, there’s C-pop, and there’s like this W-pop that’s kinda starting to emerge.It’s world pop, and I love that idea.It’s not World Music.There used to be section in HMV called World Music, and I was like Ethnomusicology class in college.But world pop is more about breaking and tearing down age-old stereotypes, the artificial confines that have kept us apart for way too long.It’s a melting pot, and it’s mosaic, that even if we looked up close, we’d still see the colours and flavours of each culture in detail.And where can we go to listen to world pop? I don’t think there’s a world pop station or magazine, unfortunately, there are none--there should be.There is the internet, and YouTube has proven to be a driving force for world pop.Britain’s Got Talent made Susan Boyle the hottest act in the world, and she achieved that not through the record labels or the networks, but through grassroots sharing.Gangnam Style is another great world pop, and how that just took over became huge worldwide world pop phenomenon.So world pop as it suggests is a worldwide pop culture is something that can be shared by all of us and gives us a lot of common ground.So today, what’s my call of action? I’ve already proven multicultural exchange between the East and West, I think I have made that clear, but how? I think… you can all become pop singers, really, I think that’s the [x], unless that’s what you really want to.My call of action is this: build and protect that roommate relationship between the East and West.Value this relationship and take ownership of it.Don’t come to Oxford as an exchange student from Taiwan and only hang out with other Chinese students.Why would you do that? You could do that in [x] or Nanjing or wherever you came from.Don’t buy into the headlines or the stereotypes or in the hypernationalism.Think for yourselves, and this goes for the East and the West, both.Get to know one another and think for yourselves and don’t believe the hype.For just a moment, if we could just disregard the governments and what the media are saying, just for the sake of the argument, with our own tools of critical thinking, can we build relationships that actually see one another as individual human beings and not faces or members of a particular ethnicity or nationality? Of course we can do that.And that’s the goal and dream, I think of the romantic artists and the musicians, I think it’s always been there.And that’s what I reach for, and that makes music so powerful and so true, that breaks down instantly and disintegrates all the artificial barriers that we create between each other, government, nationality, black, brown, yellow, white, whatever colour you are, and shows each other our hearts, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, and it turns out in end that the East isn’t that far after all, and the west, well the west, ain’t so white.And through understanding each other’s popular cultures, we gain insight into each other’s heart and true selves.And for those of you who are just beginning that journey, the West and East, I want to invite you today on this amazing journey with me, and I, as an experienced traveller on this road, on this West and East road, I’ve prepared a mixtape for all of you today, of ten songs that I love.There, that’s a C-pop mixtape that you can check out.I was gonna bring you all CDs but my publicist reminded me lovingly that that would be illegal, that as a professional recording artist, I shouldn’t do that.But I still think that it works out nicely because you get to see the music videos as well on a lot of these songs.These ten songs are songs that I love and ten different Chinese artists to start you off on getting to know and love Chinese pop and I think these guys are awesome.I just want to wrap up by saying that being here on the Oxford campus really makes me nostalgic for my days at Williams.And when I look back on those four years, some of my fondest memories are spending time with my roommates Stephan Papiano and Jason Price.In fact Jason is here in the audience today, and made a special trip from London just to see me.And I suppose in the beginning we were strangers, we didn’t know much about each other, and sometimes we did compete for the shower and there were times we did intrude on each other's privacy, but I’ve always loved listening to Stephan’s stories about growing up in a Greek family and his opinions about what Greek food really was.Or Jason’s stories, about wanting to make violins and to live in Cremona, Italy like Antonio Stradivari and he did do that, and I will never forget many years later when I played a Jason Price handmade violin for the first time, and how that felt.They were always attentive and respectful when I told them what it was like for me growing up in a Chinese household with strict parents who always made me study.So we shared stories, but the strongest bonds between us were formed just sitting around and listening to music together.And I really do see that as a model for East and West.So I really want to share Chinese music with you today because it’s the best way I know how to create a lasting friendship that transcends all barriers and allow us to know each other truly, authentically and just as we are.