Note: This is an English translation of a Chinese Article I wrote to contribute to the Sino-US Performing Arts Organization’s 2020 Yearbook articles

On March 10, 2020, Disney’s live-action blockbuster Mulan premiered at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Its director Niki Caro called it “A Love Letter to China”.
On that evening, I performed Loyal Brave True, the new theme song of Mulan, with global star Christina Aguilera and eight other highly-skilled musicians on the stage of famous “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” right across the Dolby Theater.
The style of this song continues to be typical of Disney: some Asian elements – Guzheng and Taiko drums – are injected into the mainstream western popular music to reflect the cultural origin of this song and the film. After participating in the original soundtrack recording of Mulan and recording of Loyal Brave True, I felt an upsurge of emotion during our live rendition.

All of this happened a few days before the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. At that time, the American public had started to become panicked, fearful, and uneasy. Daily necessities and PPEs – such as masks, disinfectants, and toilet paper – were sold out or out of stock. On the production site of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, however, no virus prevention measures were taken, with no one wearing a mask and no one social distancing. Thinking back, I am really surprised but also relieved that I was not infected with the virus at that time.
A few months before, at the end of 2019, the post-production music team of Mulan decided to invite me to take part in performing and recording the Guzheng solo for the background music composed by the famous Hollywood composer, Harry Gregson-Williams.

The music was a great challenge to my instrument itself because there were a lot of changes in the tuning and many notes beyond pentatonic scales. I needed to make judgments quickly and arrange a reasonable performing method and multiple key changes to achieve the desired melodies.
Previously, I had taken part in other film and television music recordings by Hollywood composers, so I was accustomed to having to make these kinds of adjustments on the Guzheng and accomplished the task with ease.

During the lunch break, Harry Gregson-Williams told me that his friend, Jamie Hartman, a music producer and composer, was making a song in the studio on the third floor. The melody was evolved from a theme in the Mulan background music composed by Harry. He thought that the Guzheng should be used in the song, so he took me the rest of the team upstairs.

After meeting Jamie, he showed us his song and we all loved it. We decided to go downstairs to record the Guzheng. I did not know this would later become the theme song, Loyal Brave True by Christina Aguilera, because it was still in the process of submission to Disney at that time.
Because Jamie did not write the music score in advance, the music consultant, Chad Cannon, voluntarily wrote down the idea of Jamie’s. While they were working on notating the music, I spent time learning it by ear to be ready for the recording.

In addition to accompanying many parts in the song, the Guzheng also took the lead in the interlude for the main thematic melody. This song itself was not hard, but it requires certain musical literacy and cultivation to appropriately express its style and spirit.

I was proficient in performing such music because of my connection to its origins. As I played, it touched me and my feelings naturally poured from my fingertips to the strings, injecting ancient and traditional Chinese music values into an international hit song in the 21st century. In this way, China and the world, along with the past and future, all blended, converged, and collided in a dazzling shower of sparks.
Everybody was excited at the effect and charm brought to the song by my performance. The recording engineer Alvin Wee quickly mixed and exported a sample for Jamie to send to his contact at Disney. No more than ten minutes later, Jamie got a reply: they loved the new direction with the incorporation of the Guzheng. We were all encouraged by the positive response and were hopeful that this song would be selected as the theme song.

We then returned back to our original task and continued to record the rest of the film music. After recording was over on that day, Harry and his team decided to make Guzheng a bigger part in the music. One month later, I returned to the recording studio to complete these new parts.

I did not know this song was selected as the theme song of Mulan until Christina Aguilera released it on platforms such as Youtube and iTunes on March 6. It was released before the film premiere for publicity and promotion purpose. The song was applauded by audiences and media. Billboard raved, “The star’s powerful vocals take full charge as the production fuses orchestral melodies with classic Chinese instruments like the Guzheng.”

Two days later, I was invited to watch the cast and crew screening at Walt Disney Studios main theater. I was deeply touched by the plot and the spirit of the movie. I cried my eyes out from so many thoughts running through my head. The film depicts how Mulan, masquerading as a man to take conscription from her ailing father, later becomes a soldier who is loyal to her country (“Loyal”), brave enough to fight in the face of dangers and difficulties (“Brave”), and strong enough to be reinvented into a powerful woman who dares to show her true self (“True”). In addition to the virtues of “loyal, brave, true” pursued by Mulan, the film also advocates the concept of “filial piety”, another traditional Chinese virtue of respect and care for one’s parents.
As a Chinese American, China is my root. I am influenced by traditional Chinese culture that I will never forget. I was sincerely proud of China, the Chinese people, and Chinese Americans when I saw that our culture was affirmed and promoted by such a world-class film.

I was especially excited to listen to my own performance in the movie, remembering the hard work in the studio several months before.

I’m lucky because I live in an era when the economic and social status of Chinese people have been improved, racial discrimination has been reduced, and the influence of the Chinese culture has been greatly promoted. More and more Americans have learned about the Guzheng, loved the Guzheng, and now study the Guzheng. It has been increasingly used in films, televisions, and music productions as well as live performances. My success does not only represent my personal achievements; it also represents the success of China and the Chinese culture.

In 2020, the pandemic left a deep mark in our life and disrupted my work. However, I also learnt how to live in a different way: I filmed performance videos at home as there were no live performances; I spent time and energy on learning new things and enriching myself; I recorded at home to continue to serve projects that needed me as I could not record outside my house; I taught students by wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Many friends around me also faced challenges during the pandemic in a positive and optimistic way, which inspired and encouraged me.

At the beginning of 2021, we are still in the midst of the extreme misery of fighting against the outbreak. Fortunately, the advent of vaccines has brought new hope. I lost a lot of the freedom that comes from living a normal life due to COVID-19, but I also understood and learnt how to adapt to my new circumstances and how to create a good life by making full use of my own resources.

The “loyal, brave, true” virtues of Mulan continue to inspire me: loyal to the pursuit of a good life, brave when facing challenges imposed by the pandemic, true to myself while exploring my full potential, and determined enough to keep trying hard to live in the most magnificent way.

Finally, I wish everybody good health and world peace. May the pandemic end soon and harmony between humanity and nature flourish.

January 12, 2021