Performers › Stage Performers
Ding Guoxian
Jin opera performer of bearded male roles, stage name Guozi Hong, a woman whose singing founded the Ding school; known for The Empty City Ruse and Beating the Princess
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 surname Qian · Stage name Guozi Hong · Also Ding Buyun
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Ding Guoxian, born into a family named Qian at Shulu (modern Xinji) in Hebei, was sold at four to the Ding family of Taiyuan. She learned qingyi female roles from seven, first appeared on stage at thirteen and then switched to bearded male roles, something no actress had done before on the Jin opera stage. Since Shanxi clapper opera calls such roles 'hong', audiences named her Guozi Hong. In the mid-1920s she recorded for Pathé in Shanghai. Drawing on Puju, Northern Clapper Opera and other styles, she developed the Ding school of singing for these roles and was known for The Empty City Ruse, Capture and Release of Cao Cao, Four Scholars and The Butterfly Cup. In 1955 her Beating the Princess became the first Jin opera film. She died in February 1972.
Life and times
Dates 1909 CE–1972 CE