Chen Gexin

Chen Gexin was a popular music songwriter.

Biography

Chen was born into an elite family and had a grandfather from India. He was jailed during the occupation of Shanghai by forces during Second Sino-Japanese War for his patriotic songs.

With the seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Chen was labeled a and imprisoned in a ''laogai'' for "reform through labor" in 1957. He died soon after at the age of 47.

Chen Gexin was the father, with a pianist, of Chinese classical composer Chen Gang and grandfather of China's first "Miss Internet," Chen Fanhong.

Music

Chen was the composer of famous mid-20th century popular standards as ''Shanghai at Night'' sung by Zhou Xuan and ''In The Mood For Love'' . His song ''Rose, Rose, I Love You'', sung by singer Frankie Laine in 1951, is the only major popular music hit in the United States by a Chinese composer. When Chen's youngest son went to the United States for advanced education, he was able to meet Laine and thereafter maintained a correspondence. Another of his songs, ''Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity'', originally written to celebrate the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, has become a popular Chinese New Year standard. His music continues to be performed and is featured in films such as ''''.