Mei Baojiu

In this Chinese name, the family name is Mei.
Mei Baojiu
梅葆玖
Poster announcing Mei Baojiu's appearance at the Sunbeam Theatre in Hong Kong
Born(1934-03-29)29 March 1934
Shanghai, China
Died25 April 2016(2016-04-25) (aged 82)
Beijing, China
OccupationPeking opera artist
Parents

Mei Baojiu (Chinese: 梅葆玖; pinyin: Méi Bǎojiǔ) (29 March 1934 – 25 April 2016)[1] was a contemporary Chinese Peking opera artist, also a performer of the Dan role type in Peking Opera and Kunqu opera, the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre. Mei's father Mei Lanfang was one of the most famous Peking opera performers. Mei Baojiu was the ninth and youngest child of Mei Lanfang. For this reason, he was called Baojiu, since in Chinese, jiu means nine.[2] Mei Baojiu was the master of the second generation of Méi School descendant, he was also Mei Lanfang's only child who was a performer of the Dan role of the Peking Opera.[3]

From childhood, Mei had learned Peking Opera from many artists. Mei Baojiu's first opera teacher was Wang Youqing (王幼卿), the nephew of Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), who had been the teacher of Mei Lanfang. Tao Yuzhi (陶玉芝) was his teacher of martial arts, while Zhu Chuanming (朱传茗), the famous performer of the Dan role type in Kunqu opera, taught him Kunqu. After that Mei learned the Dan role from Zhu Qinxin (朱琴心). Mei's regular performances of traditional opera include The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell, Guifei Intoxicated (貴妃醉酒), Lady General Mu Takes Command (穆桂英挂帅), The story of Yang Guifei (太真外传), Luo Shen (洛神), Xi Shi (西施), etc. Mei has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture. Meanwhile, he also trains more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu (李胜素), Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (胡文阁) (the only male student),[4] Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin.[5]

  1. ^ Mei Shaowu (梅绍武), Mei Weidong (梅卫东), Biography of Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳自述) :Appendix - studies (附录：年谱简表)
  2. ^ Wu Ying (吴迎), From Mei Lanfang to Mei Baojiu (从梅兰芳到梅葆玖) Page 50
  3. ^ "梅氏家族 (May Family)". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  4. ^ "胡文阁被梅葆玖"看"得紧紧的(组图) (Mei Baojiu keeps a close watch on Hu Wenge (photo))". 9 January 2012. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  5. ^ "梅葆玖简介 (About Mei Baojiu)". July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2012.