Tenzing Tsondu

Tenzing Tsondu[1] (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་; Chinese: 丁真珍珠; Pinyin: Dīngzhēn Zhēnzhū; born 7 May 2001), known professionally as Ding Zhen (Chinese: 丁真[2]), is a Tibetan singer, Internet celebrity and businessman from Litang, Sichuan Province, China.[3][4][5]

丁真
བསྟན་འཛིན་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་
PronunciationTenzing Tsondu
Born (2001-05-07) 7 May 2001
NationalityChinese
CitizenshipChina
EducationHigh school
OccupationSinger
Years active2020 to present

Early life

He was a Khampa herdsman[6] who did not finish primary school and barely speaks Mandarin.

Ding Zhen Phenomenon

On 11 November 2020, he became famous on the Internet for a 7-second TikTok video clip,[7] and was named 'Sweet Wild Boy (Chinese: 甜野男孩; Pinyin: Tianye Nanhai)' by Chinese netizens.[8] Within a few days, his related message was read by over millions people on Sina Weibo.[9] On 18 November, he was recruited by Litang Culture, Tourism and Sports Investment Development Corporation Limited, a local state-owned company to promote the local tourism industry.[10][11] Other East Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, have also covered him. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also reposted photos of Ding Zhen on Twitter.[12] The "Ding Zhen phenomenon" has led to a large number of Chinese tourists travelling to Tibetan areas,[13] with a significant increase in orders for destinations such as Kangding airport and Daocheng Yading airport.[14]

However, the Central Tibetan Administration criticised the Chinese government's use of Ding Zhen as propagandistic and not really promoting Tibetan culture, especially their religion.[15][16]

Works

On 4 February 2021, Ding Zhen released his first album 1376 All Wishes Come True (1376心想事成) in collaboration with a Tibetan band, ANU.

Controversy

Ding Zhen has caused great controversy in China since obtaining a position in a Chinese state-owned enterprise requires fierce competition, including low pass rate exams. Many highly educated job seekers express their dissatisfaction with this.[17][18]

References

  1. Xu Jun (22 January 2021). "Ding Zhen and the Myth of the True Khampa Man". Sixth Tone. Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  2. 底伊乐. "《丁真的世界》背后,那些"丁真式"美景都在哪?". 界面新闻. Archived from the original on 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  3. 吴丹. "丁真也当歌手了,越来越多"小镇青年"成为音乐人". 第一财经. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  4. Wu, Charlotte (2021-07-06). "Ding Zhen, the Tibetan Viral Sensation, Starts His Own Business". RADII China. Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  5. "丁真直播首秀:一小时观看人数10万+点赞100w+ 已成"顶流网红"". 每日经济新闻. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  6. "Opinion: Tibetan Identity snubbed by China. Choeyang Kyi, the Tibetan Olympic Silver medallist is not Chinese". Phayul. 2021-08-07. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  7. Jacobus, Luke. "Meet Ding Zhen: Khampa Tibetan "Horse Prince" Becomes Social Media Sensation". What's on Weibo. Archived from the original on 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  8. "Tibetan herdsman becomes online celebrity for eye-catching image, lifestyle". SHINE. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  9. "文旅产业指数实验室发布"丁真"现象级爆红舆情分析报告". 中国旅游新闻网. Archived from the original on 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  10. 施郁韻 (2020-11-30). "吳彥祖翻版!藏族男孩7秒影片霸屏 1.3億熱度征服網友". 三立新聞網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  11. "'Handsome' Tibetan man in China gets job offer after finding fame online". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  12. "四川藏族丁真爆红 藏人:中国主导去西藏化的西藏热". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  13. 郭建伟. "为什么是丁真?". 新华网. Archived from the original on 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  14. "四川藏族青年丁真意外爆红 分析警示他恐很快被资本榨干 | 早报". 联合早报. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  15. "藏族甜野男孩扎西丁真爆紅 不忘宣傳家鄉". 聯合新聞網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  16. ""丁真"的身后,藏族元素真的缺席了吗?". 中新网. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  17. 杨鑫宇. ""做题家"们的怨气,为何要往丁真身上撒?". 中国青年报. Archived from the original on 2020-12-21. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  18. Zhao, Lu (2020-12-14). "This Tibetan Boy Has Dominated Social Media for a Month". RADII China. Archived from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
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