Yang Hongji (; born 8 February 1941) is a Chinese national-level actor and one of China's most outstanding baritones. He is also a professor at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art. He holds the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

('' Shaojiang'').

Early life and education

Yang was born in Dalian,

Fengtian province Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost c ...

, Manchukuo, on February 8, 1941, while 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 ...

Rongcheng, Shandong Rongcheng () is a county-level city of the prefecture-level city of Weihai, at the eastern extremity of Shandong Province, China, looking out to the Yellow Sea in all directions but the west. History According to historical records, the First Em ...

. After the founding of the Communist State in 1959, he was accepted to the Opera House of Dalian Song and Dance Troupe. In 1962 he entered the CPC Central Military Commission Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, where he studied under Li Mengxiong, Yang Huatang and Shen Xiang. He joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

in June 1979.

Career

In 1994 he sang the theme song of the 1994 historical television series ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD ...

'', adapted from Luo Guanzhong's classical novel of the same title. In 1995 he sang a song titled "Sleepless Tonight" at 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 ...

Personal life

At the beginning of 1972, Yang met Liu Wenmei () and married her half a year later. Their son, Yang Oujiang (), was born on November 14, 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Hongji 1941 births Male actors from Dalian Living people People's Liberation Army Academy of Art alumni Chinese male singers Singers from Liaoning Musicians from Dalian