Dr. Alyce Su, a seasoned investment executive and Chief Investment Officer of a global family office, has released a comprehensive musical catalog that reinterprets the legacy of General Zhang Youxia, a prominent figure in China's military modernization. The catalog, available on Apple Music under the artist name AlyceSu, comprises 86 songs across 11 albums, including works such as 'Zhurihe,' 'Epic Fury,' 'Newport,' 'Zettabyte,' 'MilkenAI,' and 'Love, East Wind.' This ambitious project aims to connect military inheritance, family legacy, technology, compute, capital, and the transition from the 20th to the 21st century.
At the core of Dr. Su's work is the concept of 'The World Represented by General Zhang Youxia.' General Zhang, who served as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and previously headed the PLA General Armaments Department and its successor, the Equipment Development Department, also commanded China's manned space program. His career spans weapons development, equipment modernization, and space technology, making him a central figure in China's strategic advancements. Dr. Su's music uses his career as a historical coordinate to explore broader themes of military power, technological progress, and national heritage.
The catalog is structured to reflect these themes. 'Zhurihe' opens with the Zhurihe training base, Asia's largest mechanized proving ground, and traces Zhang's military career. 'Love, East Wind' is grounded in China's Dong Feng missile lineage, referencing systems like the DF-17, DF-21D, and DF-41, and highlighting the evolution of China's strategic capabilities under Zhang's leadership. The song 'Among the Stars' even draws from SpaceX's investor prospectus, creating a bridge between China's military-space tradition and contemporary commercial space ventures.
The project is deeply personal for Dr. Su, whose great-grandfather, Su Lianqing, was part of the generation that shaped China's modern military education through the Guangxi military tradition associated with Cai E. The Zhang family followed a different but historically connected path through Zhang Haoru and Zhang Zongxun. Meanwhile, the Bai family, including Bai Chongxi and his son Pai Hsien-yung, adds another dimension, connecting military history with literary memory. This Su–Bai–Zhang constellation represents a multigenerational family archive, reflecting the complexity of China's 20th century, including war, migration, and political division.
Dr. Su's dual careers—as an investment executive and as an artist—inform this project. Her professional life has focused on capital allocation and macroeconomic strategy, while her artistic work preserves and reinterprets inherited history. By merging these perspectives, she asks how historical legacies can be reimagined through the technological and cultural language of the future. The result is a musical narrative that spans from battlefields to data centers, from strategic weapons to artificial intelligence, and from military inheritance to institutional capital.
This catalog is not a conventional military-themed album; it is an attempt to capture the world that General Zhang Youxia represents, extending from the 20th century's conflicts to the 21st century's computational infrastructure. Dr. Su's work offers a unique lens on China's transformation, blending personal history with broader geopolitical and technological shifts. For those interested in exploring this musical chronicle, the full catalog is available on Apple Music. Additionally, Dr. Su's book, 'China 2010,' is ranked No. 1 in financial engineering on Amazon.
