Tan Xinpei (23 April 1847 – 10 May 1917) was a Chinese

Peking 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 ...

artist who specialized in ''sheng'' roles. A disciple of Cheng Changgeng, Tan Xinpei was undoubtedly the most important Peking opera performer of his generation. Some of his audio recordings have survived. He was also the only actor in China's earliest film '' Dingjun Mountain'' (1905). More than 40 of his family members have, over seven generations, worked as Peking opera performers, including his son Tan Xiaopei, grandson

Tan Fuying Tan Fuying (15 October 1906 – 22 March 1977) was a Peking opera singer. __NOTOC__ Life Tan was best known for his "old man" roles ''lǎoshēng'') and was considered one of Peking Opera's "Four Great Beards" , along with Ma Lianliang, ...

, great-grandson Tan Yuanshou, and great-great-grandson Tan Xiaozeng.

In popular culture

In the 1993 TV series ''Niu Zihou and Fu Lian Cheng'' (牛子厚與富連成), Tan Xinpei is portrayed by Peking opera artist Li Fuchun (李甫春). In the 2000 film ''

Shadow Magic ''Shadow Magic'' () is a 2000 historical fiction film about the introduction of motion pictures to China during the early 20th century. The film was directed and co-written by Ann Hu. It was a US- China co-production starring Xia Yu, Jared Harr ...

'', the character Tan Linmei is clearly based on Tan Xinpei. He is played by Peking opera artist Li Yusheng (李玉声). In the 2005 film ''Dingjun Mountain'' (定軍山), Tan Xinpei is portrayed by his great-grandson Tan Yuanshou,

's son and a notable Peking opera artist in his own right.

References

* * * Chinese male Peking opera actors Chinese male silent film actors Male actors from Wuhan Singers from Hubei 19th-century Chinese male actors 19th-century Chinese male singers 20th-century Chinese male actors 1847 births 1917 deaths 20th-century Chinese male singers {{China-actor-stub