Chyi Chin (Chinese: 齊秦; pinyin: Qí Qín), born January 12, 1960, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter.

Early life

Chyi Chin was born in 1960 in Taiwan. When he was young, his father had a strict daily regimen of study that started at 5 AM. His studies varied from English music and literature to classical Chinese literature and Tang Dynasty poetry. Chyi, however, did not enjoy reading, and once he reached his teenage years, his father’s pushing came to perdition, and Chyi joined a local faction in defiance of his father. This decision landed him in jail for three years. During his stint in prison, Chyi Chin learned to be introspective and kept a diary. Prison was also the first place where he earned an appreciation for music. The prison had a guitar in the courtyard for “juvenile delinquents’” recreation, and Chyi taught himself how to play on it.

After his time in jail, Chyi Chin and his older sister, Chyi Yu, often sang together at home. Chyi Yu, already a famous singer, gave Chin his start in the field. After every time she sang "The Olive Tree" (橄榄树), she would tell the audience that her brother could sing it even better than she could. After a duet in Hong Kong with her brother, she gave him an expensive guitar, which he practiced on every day.

Career

Chyi started his formal career in 1981 with the album See her Slip Away Again (又见溜溜的她). From there, his popularity grew. He released the smash hit "Wolf" in 1985 and opened up Rainbow Studios the same year.

Chyi groups his music career into two periods: the wolf period (pre 1992) and the deer period (after he converted to Buddhism in 1992). He attributes the titles of the two periods to "Wolf", the hit single he released in 1985, and a poem that a fortune-teller told him. "The deer bleats/gently the hunter’s rifle muzzle it greats/gently it topples down/ still looking at the hunter with gentle emotion in its eyes" ("鹿哨呦呦/ 温柔地走近猎人的枪口/ 温柔地倒下/ 依然用温柔的眼神看着猎人").

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