Performers › Stage Performers
Zhu Lianxiu
Yuan zaju actress whose range across emperor, coquette and male roles is recorded in the Green Bower Collection, and who knew Guan Hanqing and Hu Zhiyu
Backstage of a theatre troupe, an open trunk spills embroidered red and blue robes, one worked with a phoenix, beneath a jewelled headdress with long plumes; a mirror stand, a stool and a row of painted drums stand beside it, with a red curtain hanging at the right.
Also known as Zhu Lianxiu (variant writing) · Lady Zhu (name used by later performers)
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Zhu Lianxiu, whose stage name means Pearl Curtain Beauty, was a Yuan zaju actress surnamed Zhu, the fourth child of her family. Xia Tingzhi's Green Bower Collection (Qinglou ji) says she had no equal on the zaju stage of her day and excelled in emperor roles, coquettes and male leads alike. The pacification commissioner Hu Zhiyu and the academician Feng Zizhen both wrote songs for her; Feng's played on the image of a curtain hook because she was slightly stooped. Guan Hanqing addressed a song suite to her. Her pupils Sai Lianxiu and Yanshan Xiu also became known zaju performers, and later actors referred to her as Lady Zhu.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the late 13th century