Tan Weiwei is a Chinese pop singer, but her latest song is not about romantic relationships or finding love. It focuses on female victims of domestic violence.
“Know my name, keep my name in mind. The same tragedy, when will it stop once and for all?” Tan Weiwei sings in “Xiaojuan (a pseudonym)”. The name “Xiaojuan” is the American equivalent of “Jane Doe,” reflecting the namelessness or lack of identity of female crime victims.
Since its release last December, the song has struck a chord with millions of women in China. Its Music video has received more than 110 views on Bilibili, a video site popular with young Chinese netizens.
The lyrics, written by Tan’s collaborator, Yinyao, use a string of horrific allusions to domestic violence cases that have garnered significant attention in China in recent years.
One line refers to the use of fists, gasoline and acid, referring to the murder of Ram last September, in which the ex-husband of a Tibetan farmer was accused of pouring gasoline on her body and setting it on fire. One sentence refers to flushing down the drain and “sinking from the wedding house into the riverbed,” referring to a case in July when the dismembered remains of a woman were found in a public septic tank. The phrase “stuffed suitcases and refrigerated on a balcony” refers to a 2016 sensational murder case in which a man in Shanghai killed his wife and then kept her remains in a freezer for more than 100 days.
China passed an anti-domestic violence law in 2015, but it has not been properly enforced and such cases are still common, especially in small cities and rural areas. Since the law took effect in 2016, Chinese media have reported more than 900 cases of women being killed by their partners, according to women’s rights advocacy group Beijing for Peace, but the group believes the actual number is much higher.
Tan Weiwei, whose English name is Sitar Tan, is one of the few musicians to have touched on a topic that is still taboo in China – other musicians are certainly not as direct as she is and have not generated such widespread interest. Feminism and the “#Me Too” movement are frequently suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities, and culturally, the topic is considered inappropriate for public discussion: many Chinese consider it a Family matter, and “family shame must not be disclosed. In Chinese pop Culture, musicians are not usually critical of social issues.
But this song – from Tan Weiwei’s album of 11 songs dedicated to ordinary women in China – sparked a huge discussion on Weibo about domestic violence, using the hashtag “#TanWeiWei’s lyrics are so bold! ” has been read by more than 36 million Weibo users.
Professor Feng Yuan of Shantou University’s Center for Women’s Studies said the song reveals the deep-rooted inequality and gender discrimination in China’s male-dominated society.
“It resonates with a lot of people and creates discomfort for a lot of people,” Feng Yuan said in a phone interview. “She puts these extreme stories in front of you. You can’t avoid them; you have to look them in the face.”
After the song was released, women began sharing their own stories of gender-based violence they had experienced on social media platforms. There were also stories of grandmothers, mothers and sisters who had suffered partner abuse.
“Her song became a symbol and platform for people to release their emotions and thoughts about gender violence,” said Chen Junmi (phonetic), now 24, who works for an LGBTQ+ rights organization in Beijing. “I think it’s very powerful. It’s a first that a mainstream pop singer is willing to talk about gender violence. It’s brave of her to do that.”
But the singer herself doesn’t call it courageous, writing on her Weibo account, “It’s not brave, it’s just a responsibility.”
In an interview with Chinese lifestyle magazine New Weekly, Tan said, “What has been hidden from Xiaojuan is not just their names, or their suffering, but their dignity as human beings, their joy and sorrow in Life, their once beautiful longing and aspiration for love.”
In the same interview, lyricist Yoon Yoo said she was inspired by Chanel Miller’s book “Know My Name,” a memoir about surviving sexual assault. YoonYo said it only took her three hours to write the lyrics because the thoughts and feelings had been there for years.
Yoon Yoo and Tan Weiwei first collaborated on a song for the Chinese film “X-Men: Apocalypse” (X-Men: Apocalypse) in 2016 – Yoon Yoo wrote the lyrics and Tan Weiwei handled the music. After their first collaboration, they decided to make a new album exploring women’s identities, according to Chinese magazine People.
But with Chinese women becoming more vocal about their rights, it seemed like the song came at just the right Time. As part of China’s “#MeToo” movement, Chinese women – many of them students – have come forward to accuse prominent men in the media industry, universities and religious institutions of sexual harassment. men in the media industry, universities and religious institutions for sexually harassing them. Last month, a female comedian poked fun at men’s egos, sparking a heated debate on social media, and in 2018, a music video based on the American musical Chicago, highlighting six Chinese women retaliating against gender violence, went viral on the Internet.
In an interview with New Weekly, Yin Yao said, “Only when such wounds are truly and widely seen, heard, acknowledged and accepted, and only when these issues are confronted and discussed, will there be a possibility of stopping the tragedy in the future.”
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