Cheng Yanqiu

Cheng Yanqiu (1 January 1904 – 9 March 1958) was a Chinese Peking opera singer of Manchu descent. He is remembered as one of the 20th-century's four greatest male dan actors alongside Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng. He specialized in the qingyi role and founded the Cheng style of opera singing and acting. Some representative plays of the Cheng style repertoire include The Jewelry Purse, Tears in the Barren Mountain, and Blue Frost Sword.

Life and work Cheng was born in Beijing. He was from a poor family with no background or connections in the Peking opera circle. His mother contracted Cheng - a then six-year old boy - into a nine year apprenticeship contract with Rong Diexian(荣蝶仙), a male dan player senior to Cheng. The apprenticeship provided Cheng with food, accommodation, and training in opera, but at the same time, the young Cheng worked as a servant for the master and was subject to heavy house chores and physical punishment from the short-tempered Rong. Cheng showed talent as a male dan actor in his early teens, however, the restless schedule damaged his voice when he was thirteen. At Cheng's most difficult times, Luo Yinggong (罗瘿公), a scholar, poet, and Peking opera fan came to his rescue. Luo paid Rong a large sum of money to end Cheng's contract, and guided Cheng on a curriculum of Chinese classics, literature, calligraphy, western cinema, and traditional opera training. Luo also acted as a playwright, benefactor, mentor, and show tour manager for Cheng.

With Luo Yinggong's advice and connections, Cheng studied under Mei Lanfang and Wang Yaoqing. He developed his unique vocal techniques and style of acting known as the Cheng style. Cheng's singing style features skillful control of breath and broken music which create vibrant pitch changes and a "trembling voice". Cheng also elaborated his water sleeve movements in his dances, making it a profound tool in expressing the inner feeling of his tragic heroines. His performance was enriched with emotions and he excelled in portraying tragic women characters with inner strength and fighting spirits.

Cheng created and produced several original Peking opera productions in the 1920s and '30s. Notably, he staged 'The Martyrdom of Lady Li'—based on the story of Lady Li of the Three Kingdoms, who chose suicide over surrender—as a metaphor to critique the Kuomintang's non-resistance policy and awaken patriotic sentiment among the Chinese public.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he quit the stage in protest of the Japanese oppression, and led the life of a farmer in the suburb of Beijing. After the war, he was appointed vice president of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Opera.

He died of a heart attack in Beijing at on 9 March 1958.

Cheng applied for membership of the Chinese Communist Party in 1957 and received his official membership on his funeral in 1958. He was buried in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.

Family In 1920, Wang Minghua, the wife of Mei Lanfang, introduced Cheng to Peking Opera qingyi performer Guo Xianglin (果湘琳) and Yu Suxia (余素霞)'s eldest daughter. After Cheng met with the future in-laws, the marriage proposal was instead made to their second daughter, Guo Xiuying (果秀英), but Yu Suxia declined.

In February 1921, Luo Yinggong (罗瘿公) and the Mei family made another attempt to arrange a marriage between Cheng Yanqiu and Guo Xiuying. At that time, it was customary that the parties involved in a marriage proposal would not meet in person. Cheng Yanqiu was taken to a photo studio where a family photo of the Guo family was displayed. Cheng viewed the photograph of his wife-to-be and found it satisfactory. Yu Suxia stipulated that if the two were to marry, the young couple would live separately from the extended Cheng family. Cheng agreed to Yu Suxia's terms, and only then was the marriage arranged.

On April 9, 1923, an engagement ceremony was held, with Mei Lanfang and Wang Minghua acting as matchmakers. On April 26, 1923, the wedding ceremony of Cheng Yanqiu and Guo Xiuying was held. Luo Yinggong gave the bride a new name: Guo Suying (果素瑛).

Cheng Yanqiu and Guo Suying had three sons and one daughter: eldest son Cheng Yongguang, second son Cheng Yongyuan, youngest son Cheng Yongjiang, and daughter Cheng Huizhen. Due to his harsh life experience as an opera actor, Cheng forbade his descendants from pursuing a career in opera.