Pingju or Ping opera () is a form of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

from

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

History

Pingju originated in

Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

, near the city of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

.. Among all China's regional operas, it was the most famous in the Republican period for its passionate performances and romantic plots. Movies based upon and incorporating Pingju include

Zhang Shichuan Zhang Shichuan (; 1889–1953 or 1890–1954), also credited as S. C. Chang, was a Chinese entrepreneur, film director, and film producer, who is considered a founding father of Chinese cinema. He and Zheng Zhengqiu made the first Chinese featur ...

's 1936 ''

Red Begonia Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'' ''Hǎitáng Hóng''), starring

Bai Yushuang Li Guizhen p ''Lǐ Guìzhēn''; 1907–1942), better known by her stage name Bai Yushuang ''Yùshuāng'', Jade Frost"), was a Chinese Ping Opera singer and actress. She was one of "The Four Famous '' Dans''" ''Sì Dàmíng Dàn'') and re ...

Performers

was known as the "Queen of Pingju". Other famed performers include

Xin Fengxia Xin Fengxia (; 1927 – 12 April 1998) was a Chinese pingju opera performer, known as the "Queen of Pingju". She was also a film actress, writer, and painter. She starred in the highly popular films ''Liu Qiao'er'' (1956) and ''Flowers as Matc ...

and her mentor

Hua Furong Hua or HUA may refer to: China * Hua, as in Huaxia and Zhonghua, a name of China ** Hoa people, Chinese people in Vietnam * Hua (state), a state in ancient China, destroyed by Qin * Hua (surname), a Chinese surname * Hua County, in Anyang, Hena ...

History

Performers

References

Bibliography

Further reading