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Chen Bohua
Han opera dan performer from Wuhan who founded the Chen school of Han opera, known for The Cosmic Blade and Plum Blossoms Bloom Twice, and long head of the Wuhan Han Opera Theatre
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 Born Chen Peizhen · Stage name Xiao Mudanhua
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Chen Bohua, born Chen Peizhen in Wuhan, Hubei, in 1919, entered a Han opera training company at eight, where she bore the class name Xin Huachai and performed as Xiao Mudanhua; she also studied Peking opera for a time. Combining Han opera tradition with Peking opera vocal technique, she formed the Chen school of Han opera, and her signature plays were The Cosmic Blade, Plum Blossoms Bloom Twice and Romance in the Cupboard. Her Cosmic Blade won an award at the national opera festival of 1952. She was director of the Wuhan Han Opera Theatre, was later named a national representative bearer of Han opera as intangible heritage, and died in January 2015.
Life and times
Dates 1919 CE–2015 CE