Ma Lan (born 23 April 1962) is a Chinese performing artist of

Huangmei opera Huangmei or Huangmei tone ( or , pinyin: or ) originated as a form of rural folk song and dance that has been in existence for the last 200 years and possibly longer. Huangmei opera is one of the most famous and mainstream opera in China (others ...

who usually plays ''

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

'' (female) roles. Before her abrupt (and unannounced) departure from the stage in 2000, Ma Lan was considered the most popular Huangmei opera performer in the country. She has won the

Plum Blossom Award The China Theatre Plum Blossom Award (), more commonly the Plum Blossom Award, is the highest theatrical award in China. It is awarded by the China Theatre Association. Several Taiwanese have also won the award, such as Wei Hai-min. History The ...

, the

China TV Golden Eagle Award The China TV Golden Eagle Award (), commonly known in China as the Golden Eagle Awards, is one of three main national award ceremonies recognising excellence in the Chinese television industry. The award is presented by the China Television Artist ...

, and the Flying Apsaras Award, and performed on the

CCTV New Year's Gala The ''CCTV New Year's Gala'', also known as the ''Spring Festival Gala'', and commonly abbreviated in Chinese as ''Chunwan'', is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Media Group (CMG). It is broadcast annually on the eve of Chinese N ...

in 1984, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1997, and 2005. She is often compared to the 1950s/1960s superstar Yan Fengying, whom she movingly portrayed in a hit 1988 TV series. Ma Lan is married to writer

Yu Qiuyu Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨 in Chinese) (born 23 August 1946) is a Chinese writer and scholar. Life Yu was born in Qiaotou Town (), Cixi County (formerly Yuyao County), Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on August 23, 1946. He finished his elementary schoo ...

. In a 2006 blog post, Yu Qiuyu blamed toxic workplace politics and corruption in Anhui Huangmei Opera Company for his wife's involuntary retirement at age 38. This post generated fervent discussions.

Biography

Ma Lan was born in

Taihu County Taihu County () is a county in the southwest of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei Province to the west. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Anqing and contains its westernmost point. It has a popu ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, in 1962, and graduated from Anhui Acting Performance School in 1975, where she majored in the performance of Huangmei opera. Succeeding in her debut in 1980, she later created some vivid portrayals of famous characters, such as the artist

Zhang Yuliang Pan Yuliang (, 14 June 1895 – 22 July 1977), born as Chen Xiuqing, and was renamed Zhang Yuliang (張玉良) when adopted by her maternal uncle after the early passing of her parents. She was a Chinese painter, renowned as the first woman in t ...

Jia Baoyu Jia Baoyu (, and his surname is a homophone with "false" or "fictitious") is the principal character in the classic 18th century Chinese novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''. Introduction The first chapter describes how one piece of stone was le ...

in ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known for ...

'', Zhu Yingtai in the

Butterfly Lovers The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo () and Zhu Yingtai (), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (). The story was selected as one o ...

, Princess Yunhua in the ''Daughter of the Dragon King'', Yan Fengying in ''Yan Fengying'', and

Cui Yingying Cui Yingying is a fictional character from " Yingying's Biography", a Chinese story by Yuan Zhen (779–831), and ''Romance of the Western Chamber'', a Chinese play by Wang Shifu Wang Shifu (), courtesy name of Wang Dexin (1250-1337?), was a suc ...

in ''

Romance of the Western Chamber ''Romance of the Western Chamber'' (), also translated as ''The Story of the Western Wing'', ''The West Chamber'', ''Romance of the Western Bower'' and similar titles, is one of the most famous Chinese dramatic works. It was written by the Yuan d ...

''. In 1987, she won the

Plum Blossom Prize The China Theatre Plum Blossom Award (), more commonly the Plum Blossom Award, is the highest theatrical award in China. It is awarded by the China Theatre Association. Several Taiwanese have also won the award, such as Wei Hai-min. History The ...

, and in 1988, she won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actress and the

Flying Apsaras Award for Outstanding Actress Feitian Award for Outstanding Actress (中国电视剧飞天奖优秀女演员奖) is a main category of the Feitian Awards. 2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s Notes References {{Flying Apsaras Award for Outstanding Actress A ...

for her portrayal of Yan Fengying. Most of her performances are still considered as among the best examples of the art of Huangmei opera.

Repertoire

Filmography

Awards

Huangmei opera

Ma Lan received the prestigious

in 1987.

TV series

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Lan 1962 births Living people People from Taihu County Actresses from Anhui Huangmei opera actresses Singers from Anhui Chinese television actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses 20th-century Chinese women singers