__NOTOC__ Xun Huisheng (5 January 1900 - 26 December 1968) was one of

Peking Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

's "Four Great ''

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'Ivo ...

''", along with

Mei Lanfang Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Chinese Peking opera artist in Chinese theater, modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively know ...

, Cheng Yanqiu, and

Shang Xiaoyun Shang Xiaoyun (; 1900 – April 19, 1976) was one of the four great twentieth-century performers of the Dan role type in Peking opera with Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, and Xun Huisheng __NOTOC__ Xun Huisheng (5 January 1900 - 26 Decem ...

. All four were men who played the female lead roles (''dan'') during the generation when such roles became open to actresses again, after two centuries of exclusively male portrayal.

Life

Xun was one of Peking Opera's "Four Famous Dans" (, ''Sì Dàmíng Dàn''), along with Li Shaochun, Tan Xiaopei, and Li Wanchun's fathers.. Xun was best known for his portrayal of the " flowery girl" (''hua dan'') roles, women who tended to be more vivacious or even of questionable character. He served as one of the mentors and guardians of the actress

Li Yuru Li Shuzhen (25 July 1923 – 11 July 2008), better known by her stage name and also known as was a Chinese opera singer and actress. Descended from Manchu nobility, she is remembered as "one of the great Beijing Opera performers". and p ...

as she began her career. He died in

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

on 26 December 1968.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . 1900 births 1968 deaths Chinese male Peking opera actors Female impersonators in Peking opera 20th-century Chinese male singers 20th-century Chinese male actors People from Dongguang County Male actors from Hebei Singers from Hebei People persecuted to death during the Cultural Revolution {{china-music-stub