Dapeng: I Feel Like I've Lived Two Lives—In the First One I Was Always Shooed Away by Security
Dapeng says he's lived two lives: in the first one, wearing shorts at the end of a film festival red carpet, he was scolded by security and trampled by fans at a live broadcast; in this one, he walks red carpets, receives awards, and the ones rushing toward him shouting his name are the same reporters from back then.
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Mom's plastic flowers are the prototype of the modern tipping economy
Dapeng recalls how his mother was one of the first singers to perform regularly at karaoke lounges when they first appeared in China. She earned one yuan for each song and two yuan for each plastic flower fans could give her—but these flowers were reused: after customers took them, they'd be returned and sold again to the next patron. Dapeng draws a direct parallel to today's live streaming tipping: the mechanics are nearly identical—immediate material rewards for performance—except the plastic flowers have become virtual gifts.
— Da PengAt 17 he threw his guitar strap into the sea and went home
In his second year of high school, during summer vacation, Dapeng lied to his family about going to a neighboring city, but actually set out with his guitar, busking his way toward Shanghai. When his money ran out after reaching Dalian, he discovered street busking couldn't generate enough for bus fare. Standing before the seemingly endless sea, he removed the strap from his guitar, threw it into the water, and said: "I can't make it. You go see the world for me." A stranger bought his original cassette tape for 20 yuan, giving him just enough to get home. That person remained in contact with him for years.
— Da PengYoung creators now see short video as the end goal, not film
Dapeng once asked short video creator Tim whether he wanted to make movies. Tim hadn't even considered it. This struck Dapeng deeply: in his generation, anyone working in visual media had one default ultimate goal—film. The cinema was the temple of visual art. But now the most talented young creators find complete happiness making short videos, polishing them to excellence, earning good money from them. Film has never been their necessary endpoint. This means the shared understanding that "getting into the cinema" is the highest honor in visual media is crumbling.
— Da PengPoverty's specific cost to him: his family couldn't buy an electronic keyboard
Dapeng identifies the concrete reason his music career never fully developed: his family was too poor to afford an electronic keyboard when he was young. When forming a band, they had a guitarist and a drummer, but keyboards were the final and most difficult role to fill, since few people learned piano. He says that if his family had possessed even one Yamaha keyboard back then, had he mastered keyboard theory from childhood, given his obsessive personality, his entire path in music would have been different. This is one of the few things he explicitly attributes to economic circumstance.
— Da PengHis father's 38,000 yuan is all they could give toward the 270,000 yuan scam
During his junior year, a record label offered to sign and package him—for 270,000 yuan. He rushed home in tears and told his family. They scraped together every last yuan: 38,000. His father said: "We can help you this much. This is all we have." Dapeng took that money back and begged the two bosses to accept a deposit with the rest paid from performance earnings. They agreed and signed a promissory note. But the record label kept delaying, and when he returned, the office was empty. That money and the promissory note, still unpaid to this day, became his reason for moving to Beijing.
— Da PengWhen Zhao Benshan offered discipleship, he refused until he'd earned it
In 2007, backstage at an event, Zhao Benshan half-jokingly said: "If you keep this up I'll take you as my disciple." Everyone pushed him to accept on the spot. But Dapeng refused publicly: "I don't think I'm worthy of being your disciple yet." He felt both that he wasn't good enough and that the opportunity had come too easily. He spent nearly two years training intensively, aiming to reach the level of the actors in Yearnings in the Countryside. Only after two years did he seek out Zhao Benshan and say "I'm ready now," and only then was he formally accepted.
— Da PengIn his first life he was trampled under foot; now reporters chase him
Dapeng describes feeling like he's lived two lives. In the first, he was a young entertainment reporter: knocked to the ground at premiere screenings, trampled by countless feet; at the Shanghai Film Festival, scolded by security at the red carpet's end for wearing shorts, forced to swap pants with his cameraman just to continue working. In his second life, he walks the red carpet himself, receives awards, attends the Golden Rooster Awards. The people who rush forward shouting his name are the same journalists who stood in those crowds with him back then. This dislocation, he believes, is part of the source of his lasting self-doubt.
— Da PengThe shot he trained a year for—riding a horse on a treadmill—got cut
While filming The Peaches of Chang'an, Dapeng practiced horseback riding for a full year for one shot. The crew built a treadmill for the horse and a circular track, so the horse could run in place while the camera rotated 360 degrees around it, creating the effect of moving through different landscapes. The shot was extremely risky—if the horse's foot slipped off the treadmill, both horse and rider could fall. It was scheduled for the last day of shooting. Dapeng went in with the mindset: "If something happens, I accept it." He completed the shot. But ultimately, because the visual effects cost was too high to achieve photorealism, the entire shot was cut from the final film. All that work for nothing.
— Da PengIn their own words · checked verbatim
In the end, people are small in front of companies; in front of rules, sometimes you feel powerless.
但最后没给 人在公司面前是很渺小的 在规则面前 是有的时候是略显无力的
Da Peng28:25
Contract spirit doesn't mean you can't breach—it means you have to bear the consequences of breach. That's what contract spirit means.
你契约精神的意思不是不能违约 是要承担违约责任 这叫契约精神
Da Peng31:27
I took my guitar strap, removed it, threw it into the sea. I said: I can't make it. You go see the world for me.
我就把我的吉他有个背带 把背带拆了 扔海里了 我说我去不了了 你替我出去看一看
Da Peng38:31
What I think now is: the specific reason my music career didn't develop as well as it could have is that my family was too poor when I was young to buy an electronic keyboard. If back then we'd had even one Yamaha keyboard...
我现在想就是阻碍我最后在音乐上没有发展特别好的一个具体原因是小时候家里太困难 买不起电子琴 我要是但凡那会儿又有一亚马哈电子琴
Da Peng1:23:55
But what I felt was that it was like a line from a movie, so precise. My father said: this is all we can help you with. This is everything.
但我感受上 他就像电影里的台词一样准确 我爸说 我们能帮你的就到这了 这是全部
Da Peng1:34:01
I told Teacher Zhao: Teacher Zhao, I'm especially grateful for your recognition, but I don't think I'm worthy of being your disciple yet.
我就跟赵老师说 赵老师我特别感谢你对我的认可 我觉得我自己现在还不配做你的徒弟
Da Peng2:05:20
I was trampled by so many people—I fell, I fell, so many feet, all I remember is the pain.
我就被 很多人 踩在了脚底下 就是就倒了 倒了 就是无数的脚 我只记得 就是很疼
Da Peng2:36:38
Figures
| Ji'an population change | from over 50,000 to 30,000 | 1:01 |
| Red Cotton guitar price | 80 yuan | 16:16 |
How to listen
Founders and content industry professionals interested in personal growth narratives and conflicts between contracts and personal relationships.
The engineering details of the equestrian stunt scene (3:19-3:24) are highly technical and can be skipped.