Gu Yuezhen (1921–1970) was a Chinese opera singer who performed in the '' huju'' style with the Shanghai Opera Troupe. In 1949, she established her own Nuli Shanghai Opera Troupe, gaining considerable success in 1953 with a reworked presentation of ''Zhao Yiman''. Facing strong criticism during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, she committed suicide in January 1970 but was later rehabilitated.

Biography

Abandoned at birth in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

on 15 November 1921, she was found by a bamboo craftsman who raised her in his poverty-stricken family home. Initially given the name Jinmei, as a child she helped to support the family by singing. When she was 14, she was trained by the artist Gu Quansheng in ''shenqu'' singing, an older form of ''huju''. He gave her the name Gu Yuezhen in memory of the celebrated ''shenqu'' artist Xiao Yuezhen. A keen student, a year later she was able to join a troupe and perform on stage, singing popular songs. After joining the Shijia Troupe and the Yang Jingwen Troupe, she finally became a member of the Shanghai Opera Troupe. She was particularly successful with the sad, plaintive song "Lenggong yuan" (Resentment in the Cold Palace). After retiring from the stage while suffering from

pulmonary tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

in the late 1940s, she returned in 1949 to establish a new troupe known as the Nuli Shanghai Opera Troupe. Her first productions experienced difficulties but in 1953, she staged the highly successful ''Zhao Yiman'' telling the story of the pro-Chinese Japanese heroine

Zhao Yiman Zhao Yiman (; 1905 – 2 August 1936) was a female Chinese resistance fighter against the Imperial Japanese Army in Northeast China, which was under the occupation of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo. She was captured in 1935 by Japanese force ...

in a fully revised style. She continued to perform herself until one of her lungs had to be removed when her tuberculosis returned. As a result, she concentrated on directing. During the Cultural Revolution, she was denounced for her high-ranking positions as head of the Nuli Troupe, as director of the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Theatre Association and as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Council. She committed suicide by jumping from a tall building. Her body was found in the street in the middle of the night on 12 January 1970. Rehabilitated in September 1978, she is now remembered as an important contributor to Shanghai Opera.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gu Yuezhen 1921 births Actresses from Shanghai Suicides during the Cultural Revolution Singers from Shanghai Chinese opera actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses 20th-century Chinese women singers Suicides by jumping in China 1970 suicides