This Is Why China’s First Lady Is More Powerful Than Her Husband
This Is Why China’s First Lady Is More Powerful Than Her Husband
According to Forbes, China’s president is considered the most powerful man in the world, but behind every powerful man, there is always a woman. The first lady of China is known for her talents and glamorous style, but why do some people think that she is even more powerful than her husband, and is it true that she outshines him? Keep watching to find out their touching love story. This is a wow channel. Before we continue, make sure to subscribe to our channel and hit the bell icon for notifications. Let’s begin.
Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan have been together for 36 years. For all of China and even for the whole world, this is one of the strongest married couples. They often appear together at official events and still tenderly hold hands. In Chinese culture, this is a completely new phenomenon because former leaders never showed their personal lives, and their wives usually stayed largely behind the scenes. But Peng Liyuan is a completely different matter. She occupies a great position in the life of the country.
In 2014, she was listed as the 57th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Moreover, she is a national icon in China. People just adore her, and some even believe that she overshadows her husband. How did this woman achieve such a high position? Peng was born in Shandong in 1962 to an opera singer mother and an academic father. Since childhood, she was incredibly talented. Thanks to her rare vocals, she entered the Shandong University of Arts aged 14, where she specialized in Chinese folk songs.
At 18, Peng joined the People’s Liberation Army and was appointed a warrior of arts and culture. She now holds the rank of Major General. She later attended the Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and at age 21, Peng performed on a New Year’s Eve television special watched by hundreds of millions of viewers. It was an amazing success. This appearance made her a household name, and she went on to appear on the show regularly. She wanted to devote her whole life to singing and never thought that one day she would become the first lady of China.
But one incident changed her whole life. She met her future husband by chance in 1986 when she was 24 years old. They were introduced by friends, as many Chinese couples were in the 80s. At the time of their first meeting, Peng was a nationally famous singer, and he was an ambitious politician, the deputy mayor of Xiamen city in southern Fujian province. In addition, he was 10 years older and divorced. On the first date, he asked her what kind of songs do you sing, adding, I’m sorry, I don’t watch much television. He also asked her questions about singing technique, which she took as a sign of intelligence.
She later said that he decided within 40 minutes to ask her to marry him, and a year later, they secretly married. For a long time, Peng was much more popular than her husband. Many Chinese still remember her almost yearly appearance on state television’s Spring Festival Gala, which draws 800 million viewers. Peng performed patriotic songs such as On the Plains of Hope, so people started to call her the peony fairy. An interesting fact is that long before marrying Peng Liyuan already knew what kind of husband she dreamed of. In a 1999 interview, she said she wanted a man who was successful, ambitious, and bossy in a relationship.
When asked if her husband Xi Jinping, who was still far away from the pinnacle of China’s leadership, met her requirement, Peng answered, I’ve been married to him for over a decade, of course he is successful. And she was right, because he became president in 2012. Since then, Peng’s role was more complex. The media has followed her even more closely than before because she became the first lady of China and even more popular and adored in the country. Many people began to call her Mama Peng and consider her the mother of the nation.
She is loved not only for her talent, but also for her good taste and elegance. The first lady often accompanies her husband to official events, and every time she shows off elegant outfits from Chinese fashion designers. Each of her appearances is actively discussed on social media. Everyone wants to look like the same style as the first lady. For example, an article in the Los Angeles Times stated that President Xi Jinping may run the country, but his wife’s the real star. When Xi assumed the Communist Party’s top post in 2012, analysts expected a lower profile for Peng.
So they were surprised when Peng accompanied her husband to Russia in March 2013 on his first state visit as president, attracting attention for her sophisticated fashion sense. Since then, she has stood by Xi’s side at several major events. At some point, the popularity of the first lady became a real problem for the Chinese government. The patriarchal value system still prevails in the country, so a woman should not outshine her husband. For this reason, Peng had to leave her career as a singer and make fewer public appearances. She only shows up on very large-scale political performances, and she doesn’t sing new songs.
In her role as China’s first lady, she represents her country abroad as a long-time advocate of fighting poverty among other issues facing Chinese citizens. Peng also serves as China’s Ambassador for TB prevention, Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for TB and HIV/AIDS, and UNESCO Special Envoy for the advancement of girls’ and women’s education. However, she doesn’t have a large political post and doesn’t serve on China’s Politburo, its most important decision-making body, which has only one woman as a member. Some political experts believe that she is just a symbol of China’s soft power because she has an ideal image of a wife and mother.
Although the first lady of China has no real political power, she owns the hearts of the people in her country, who adore her thanks to her singing talent and perfect taste. Many agree that popular performers and singers know how to play with a crowd better than many politicians. It is they who control the minds and hearts of people and influence them, and this power is huge. So perhaps this is the reason why Peng is more powerful than her husband. Do you agree with this statement? Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to share your thoughts with me, to click like, and to subscribe. See you next time.
