Zhang Junqiu

Zhang Junqiu (October 14, 1920 – May 27, 1997) was a singer of Peking Opera. He played a female, or ''dan'' role. His hometown was Dantu, Jiangsu, and he was born in Beijing. His vocal style is called "Zhang ''pai''." It became popular in the 1970s and it is now the most widespread genre of Peking Opera."Zhang Junqiu," Character Zhang Junqiu
(人物：张君秋), ''A Hundred Years of Notes'' (梨园百年琐记). He was once one of the "four small famous ''dans''." He is far better remembered than the other three.

Zhang's family was poor. His mother was a star in the opera of Hubei Province. She encouraged him to study Peking Opera. When Zhang was 13, Li Lingfeng adopted him as an apprentice. Recognizing Zhang's talent, Li later sent him to Wang Yaoqing, an opera star and Li's teacher. Zhang first appeared on the stage in 1935. In 1937, Zhang became an apprentice of Mei Lanfang, the best-known Chinese opera star of the time.

In 1942, Zhang created his own troupe. In 1943, he met Wu Lizhen. Although Zhang was already married to Zhao Yurong, the two fell in love at first sight. Even though Zhang was successful in his career, Wu's relatives looked down him as an actor. Wu herself acted resolutely, packed her bags, and moved from Shanghai to live with Zhang in Beijing.
Qing Han Mo Ke,
Zhang Junqiu: He broke with his master before he was a teacher, and later founded the "Zhang Pai", where the two wives get along well
(张君秋：未出师就与师傅决裂，后创立“张派”，两位妻子相处融洽)," ''Baidu,'' April 2016.

Rise to celebrity

With the Chinese Civil War raging, Zhang fled to Hong Kong in 1948. When the war was over, Mao Zedong's Communists ruled from Beijing and the KMT was exiled to Taiwan. Zhang returned to the mainland in 1950 to join the Wuhan Peking Opera Troupe.

His 1962 show with martial artist Gao Shenglin was a sensation that played to packed audiences. The two performers were equally renowned and were both at the height of their powers. There was stormy applause after every performance and the curtain had to be called each time. In a state that discouraged celebrity, Zhang was a top celebrity.

Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, traditional forms of entertainment were banned. Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, denounced cross dressing. Premier Zhou Enlai told Zhang to stop performing female roles.
"This was confirmed to me by Zhang unqiuhimself when I met him through the Ministry of Culture in 1997, a few months before he died." Zhang promised Zhou to stop training boys to be female impersonators.

Men dressing as women for Peking Opera and women dressing as men for Yue Opera was a major feature of Chinese culture at this time. Mao is not known to have made any pronouncements on cross dressing. Jiang was concerned primarily with women dressing as men. So the ban on female impersonation is likely to have been Zhou's initiative. Zhou himself, known for his good looks, had played numerous female roles with the drama club of Nankai Middle School, his all-boys high school. Young female impersonators were often involved in abusive relationships, and Zhou may have been compensating for his own past, according to Bao Huai, a gender studies researcher.

On June 4, 1966, Zhang and Ma Lianlang performed the modern opera ''More Every Year'' at a school in Beijing. The opera was broadcast on Central People's Radio. Zhang played a peasant woman. Just before the performance, Ma heard the news that Zhou Xinfang had been denounced as a counterrevolutionary. Ma was concerned because he had starred in ''Hai Rui Dismissed from Office'', a play denounced by the Maoists. During the performance, his anxiety was evident to the audience. Zhang did not perform again until February 8, 1979.

Later life

Wu left Zhang in 1969. Zhao died soon afterward. In 1974, Zhang married Xie Hongwen, a student of opera star Mei Lanfang. She was ten years younger than Zhang.

In the mid-1980s, Zhang was teaching at the National Academy of Theatre Arts.Bao, p. 35 He participated in a project of the Tianjin Chinese Cultural Promotion Council to have young actors dress as the old masters and lip synch to their recordings. Videos of 355 plays were created this way. Zhang also served an art adviser.

Zhang's children are Zhang Xuejin, Zhang Xuehai, Zhang Xuehao, and Zhang Xuemin. Most of them are successful Peking Opera performers.

Notes

References

Further reading

*An, Zhiqiang 安志强. 1996. Zhang Junqiu zhuan 张君秋传 (The Biography of Zhang Junqiu), Shijizhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe. Online PDF file: http://bjzc.org/lib/51/wxls/ts051020.pdf
*Editorial Committee, 2005, 京劇大師張君秋 (Peking Opera master Zhang Junqiu), Tianjin City: Tianjin Yangliuqing Publishers, 349 pages.
*Zhang Junqiu; Xie Hongwen; An Zhiqiang, 1983, 张君秋戏剧散论 (On Zhang Junqiu's Drama), Beijing : Zhongguo xi ju chu ban she.
The wealthy daughter fell in love with the actor Zhang Junqiu's half-life love (豪门千金爱上戏子 张君秋的半世情缘)
2016-01-06.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Junqiu
1920 births
1997 deaths
Chinese male Peking opera actors