Chen Bohua

Also known as Born Chen Peizhen · Stage name Xiao Mudanhua

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.