In the mid-20th century, two gifted pianists from Shanghai rose to international acclaim — Fu Cong (also known as Fou Ts’ong) and Gu Shengying. Both were hailed as musical prodigies, celebrated for their artistry and promise. Yet, despite their similar beginnings, their lives diverged dramatically, shaped not only by talent but by the political storms of their time.
A life devoted to music and saved by exile
Fu Cong was born in 1934 in Shanghai, the eldest son of renowned translator Fu Lei. Even as a toddler, Fu showed an extraordinary love for music. At the age of seven and a half, he began studying piano under Mario Paci, an Italian conductor and pianist who had studied in the Liszt tradition and was then leading the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra. Three years later, Fu became a student of Soviet pianist Ada Bronstein.
Gifted with rare musical insight and relentless dedication, Fu practiced seven to eight hours daily. His hard work paid off. In 1953, he won third prize in the piano competition at the 4th World Youth Festival in Romania. Two years later, at the 5th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, he again won third place — just a fraction of a point behind the top two — and received the special award for best performance of a Mazurka. It was the first time an East Asian pianist had achieved such distinction at the Chopin Competition, and Fu’s expressive playing made him one of the standout performers. In 1954, he was selected to study in Poland.
But his promising career was soon overshadowed by political upheaval.
A gifted young woman with a poetic touch
Born in 1937 into an intellectual family in Shanghai, Gu Shengying was another rising star of the same era. Her parents were both well-educated, and she began formal piano lessons at age five at Shanghai Zhongxi Primary School. She studied under respected instructors, including Qiu Zhen’ai and Yang Jiaren, received training in music theory from Ma Geshun, and was mentored in literature by Fu Lei.
Gu’s talent shone early. From the third grade on, she consistently won first place in local piano competitions. At 16, she debuted on stage, performing with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to great acclaim. By 18, she was already the orchestra’s principal soloist and held her first solo concert, which was met with glowing reviews.
Her international success followed quickly. In 1957, she won the gold medal in piano at the Sixth World Youth Festival in Moscow, where over 40 judges described her performance as “a miracle.” A year later, she received the top women’s piano prize at the 14th International Music Competition in Geneva. Critics praised her poetic sensitivity and deep emotional expression, calling her “a born Chopin interpreter, a true piano poet.” She was later invited by the Polish government for a concert tour and received one of the greatest honors of her life: a plaster cast of Chopin’s hand.
Torn apart by political persecution
Despite their brilliance, both Fu and Gu were ultimately caught in the turmoil of China’s political campaigns. In 1957, the Chinese Communist Party launched the Anti-Rightist Movement, targeting intellectuals and artists. Both Fu Cong’s father, Fu Lei, and Gu Shengying’s father, Gu Gaodi, were labeled as “rightists.”
Fearing guilt by association, Fu Cong, who was studying abroad in Poland at the time, made the painful decision to flee to the United Kingdom. He lost contact with his family and remained in exile for the rest of his life.
Gu Shengying, still in China, lived in constant fear after her father’s arrest. She rarely left her home except to attend mandatory political meetings at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Music remained her only refuge, but it could not shield her from the storm ahead.
In 1966, the Cultural Revolution erupted. Fu Lei and his wife were publicly humiliated and violently abused by Red Guards. Unable to endure the torment, they both took their own lives. Two months later, Fu Cong received the devastating news from a French friend and wept uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, Gu Shengying was also targeted. In January 1967, she was dragged to a public struggle session at her workplace and denounced as a “bourgeois elitist,” a “traitor colluding with foreign powers,” and “the daughter of a counter-revolutionary.” For a young woman whose life had revolved around music — not politics — these accusations were incomprehensible and terrifying.
That very night, overwhelmed by fear and despair, Gu Shengying, her mother, and younger brother took their own lives. She was only 30 years old.
Remembering a legacy of talent and tragedy
Today, Fu Cong is remembered not only for his talent, but also for his decision to leave — one that likely saved his life. He lived peacefully in London with his wife until his death in December 2020, leaving behind a rich legacy of recordings and performances.
Gu Shengying, by contrast, left behind only haunting echoes of what might have been. Her story is one of extraordinary brilliance, stifled by fear and injustice. In the end, both lives were shaped as much by politics as by art.
Their stories remind us of the fragile line between fate and choice — and the heavy cost of a society that turns on its artists.
Translated article
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