Zheng Zhegu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Zheng Zhegu in Zhang Xinsheng (1922) | |||||||||
| Born | Zheng Lian (郑廉) 1880 | ||||||||
| Died | 1925 (aged 44–45) Shanghai, China | ||||||||
| Other names | Zheng Jiecheng (郑介诚) | ||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Actor, entrepreneur | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄭鷓鴣 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 郑鹧鸪 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Zheng Zhegu (simplified Chinese: 郑鹧鸪; traditional Chinese: 鄭鷓鴣; pinyin: Zhèng Zhègū, 1880–1925) was a Chinese actor and entrepreneur. The son of a Qing official, he served in the military before joining the anti-Qing movement. Forced into hiding, he joined the Republic of China military after the 1911 revolution but left government service and moved to Shanghai after growing disillusioned. Long interested in Peking opera and other forms of drama, Zheng joined several troupes while also gaining a reputation as a stage performer. In the late 1910s, he also became involved in publishing through the Xinmin Library.
In 1922, Zheng co-founded the Mingxing Film Company together with Ren Jinping, Zhang Shichuan, Zheng Zhengqiu, and Zhou Jianyun. While heading the company's screenwriting department and teaching at its film school, he starred in several of its early productions, making his film debut with the simultaneously released The King of Comedy Visits Shanghai and Labourer's Love (both 1922). In the next three years, Zheng appeared in several further films, gaining critical acclaim for his diverse roles and, later, his naturalistic performances.