"Flowers and Youth" is very popular, and it is widely rumored that the main creator is Wang Luobin, a master of folk music. The author of this article found a more convincing statement -
In the ocean of folk songs in the northwest of our motherland, the colorful "flowers" bloom the most brightly and are the most attractive. Among the stars who sang "Hua'er", Zhu Zhonglu's name, together with his rendition of "Hua'er", is the most familiar and brightest, and people affectionately call him the "King of Flowers in the Northwest".
At 14:10 on December 22, 2007, Mr. Zhu Zhonglu unfortunately passed away in Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital due to respiratory and circulatory failure. His departure is a great loss in China's "flower bed".
November 9, 2007 was the last time I met Mr. Zhu Zhonglu. That day, Ma Daxue, Huo Fu and others, on behalf of all the comrades of the Qinghai Provincial Art Institute, I went to visit Mr. Zhu Zhonglu at Yuhua Zhai, Weimin Lane, Xining City.
Mr. Zhu is eighty-six years old, but he is quick-thinking and cheerful. When visiting Mr. Zhu, I wanted to solve a mystery in my heart, that is, who is the main creator of the lyrical song and dance "Flowers and Boys"? Many media said that in 1946, the first Spring Festival after the Anti-Japanese War, Ma Bufang ordered all division and regimental commanders of the army to pay for a social fire competition in Xining. Ma Bufang invited music instructor Wang Luobin to sing the lyrics of "Four Seasons Tune" written by himself in a strong Hezhou accent. This meant that Wang Luobin was asked to compile a program of this folk song from his hometown and coach his Shehuo team to perform on stage. Get a place in the competition. Wang Luobin had heard the melody of this folk song in the past. He modified the lyrics and adapted the melody, naming it "Flowers and Boys". In the social fire competition, half of the 16 soldiers dressed as women and sang and danced on the stage, which was very lively. Soon, this song became popular among the people in Qinghai. After liberation, this widely sung song was adapted many times and signed and published. Until the late 1980s, the song creation rights belonged to Wang Luobin.
"Teacher Zhu, is this statement true?" I asked. Mr. Zhu answered very clearly: Mr. Wang Luobin adapted and created "In That Distant Place". This is a fact. It is a valuable asset that Mr. Luobin left for the people and brought honor to the people of Qinghai. But "Flowers and Boys" was written in the winter of 1956 in order to participate in the national professional music and dance performance. I wrote the lyrics, Lu Bing composed the music, and collaborated with the dance choreographer Zhang Xinmin. We used Qinghai folk tunes "Meeting on the Blue Bridge", "Four Seasons" and "Wuguang Drum" as the material, and jointly created the lyrical song and dance "Flowers and Youth" (of which "Song of Four Seasons" was basically adopted except for modifications. I wrote the lyrics written by Shi Dianfeng, who was a teacher at Kunlun Middle School in Qinghai at the time), I provided music materials, participated in the rehearsal design (basically adopted the performance movements of the "Eight Singles" in Shehuo in Hehuang area), as well as costumes, props, etc. Then Mr. Zhu took out a book "Flowers and Youth" published by Shanghai Culture Publishing House in 1958 and showed it to us. This book integrates music scores, detailed explanations of dance choreography, and modeling patterns, making it easy to understand at a glance. Mr. Zhu said that because this book was out of print, composer Huang Rongen gave him this beloved book.
After talking about this, Mr. Zhu told us how Mr. Wang Luobin’s youngest son Wang Haicheng and Northern Shaanxi singer Abao came to Qinghai to meet him. Later, we talked about some of the scenes of participating in the National Folk Music and Dance Performance in 1953, as well as other controversial topics in folk songs. Mr. Zhu answered us one by one, and signed and presented to me his monograph "Love Flowers". " and "The Flower King Zhu Zhonglu" written by Mr. Zhang Junren.
Mr. Zhu Zhonglu integrates songwriting, planning, arrangement, singing, stage design and planning. He is one of the founders of the world-popular classic song and dance "Flowers and Boys". This is a fact. We deeply miss Mr. Zhu, not only because of his outstanding musical talent, but also because of his straightforward personality and kind character. Zhu Lao's songs such as "Flowers and Youth", "Going Up to the Mountains to Look at the Plains", "Snow-White Doves" and "Down to Sichuan" will always echo in our ears. (Source: Xihai Metropolis Daily Author: Luo Cheng)