Ma Dehua (; born 11 August 1945) is a Chinese actor best known for his role as

Zhu Bajie Zhu Bajie (), also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Tang Sanzang and a major character of the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. Zhu means " swine" and Bajie means " eight precepts". Buddhist scholars consider that both e ...

in the 1986 television series ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

''.

Life

Ma was born in a family of merchants in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on August 11, 1945, with his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

Wucheng County Wucheng County () is a county in the northwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the northwest. It is administered by Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, he is of

Hui people The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the ...

ethnicity, he is the third child of four children. Ma aspired to act from an early age. At the age of 5, Ma started to studied

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. Th ...

. Ma studied at the High School Affiliated to Minzu University of China. Ma entered the

China National Peking Opera Company The China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC), originally named the National Peking Opera Theater of China, is one of the national ensembles of performance arts directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic o ...

by age 14, he learned

Kunqu opera Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

and

Beijing opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

there. After finished, Ma worked in the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater as an actor. 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 ...

, Ma acted in ''

Shajiabang Shajiabang ( Chinese: ) is a town in Changshu, Suzhou, China; a tourist village located adjacent to Yangcheng Lake in Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal provi ...

'', ''

Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy ''Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy'' (Chinese: 智取威虎山; pinyin: zhì qǔ wēi hǔ shān) is a Peking opera play and one of the eight model plays allowed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The plot is based on parts of the popular no ...

'' and ''Dujuan Mountain''. In early 1982, Director Yang Jie invited Ma to act

in ''

'', by the age of 37. The series was one of the most watched ones in mainland China in that year. Ma retired in 1999, at the age of 54. In 2007, Ma starred opposite

Liu Xiao Ling Tong Zhang Jinlai (; born 12 April 1959), better known by his stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong (), is a Chinese actor, best known for his role as the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) in the 1986 television series '' Journey to the West'' () adapted from the cl ...

Chi Zhongrui Chi Zhongrui or Chi Chongrui (; born 23 December 1952) is a Chinese actor famous for his role as Tang Sanzang in the 1986 television series ''Journey to the West''. Biography Early life Chi was born in a family of Peking opera actors, on Decembe ...

Liu Dagang Liu Dagang (born May 18, 1947) is a Chinese actor best known for his role as Sha Wujing in the 1986 television series ''Journey to the West''. He is a . Biography Liu was born on May 18, 1947, in Beijing, China. He is a former actor at China P ...

in ''

Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West ''Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West'' is a Chinese television series about the life of Wu Cheng'en and his inspiration for writing the 16th-century novel ''Journey to the West''. The series was directed by Kan Weiping and consists of a total of ...

''.

Personal life

Ma married worker Hou Yumin () in October 1972, they have a son, Ma Yang (; born 1973).

Filmography

Film

Television

Ma Dehua at chinesemov.com
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Dehua 1957 births Male actors from Beijing Living people Chinese male television actors Male Kunqu actors Singers from Beijing 20th-century Chinese male actors 20th-century Chinese male singers Chou actors Hui male actors Hui singers