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Xiao Wenbin
Shenqu and Huju performer of male roles, born Zhang Wenjun, founder of the Wen school of singing, who formed the Wenbin troupe in 1938 to stage plays in modern dress
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 Zhang Wenjun
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Xiao Wenbin, born Zhang Wenjun in Shanghai in 1904, became a pupil of the shenqu singer Shao Wenbin in 1920, learning male roles; his stage name came from his teacher, and he sang at first in amusement halls and at private parties. Building on Shao's manner and borrowing phrasing and diction from Peking opera and pingtan storytelling, he developed a smooth, mellow style that became the Wen school of Huju, and his Three Kingdoms prelude became a standard first piece for male Huju singers. In 1931 he and Xiao Yuezhen formed the Wenyue company, reorganised in 1938 as the Wenbin troupe, for which he adapted and starred in many plays in modern dress; Wang Pansheng was long a member. From 1956 he taught in the Huju class of the Shanghai Opera School. He died in 1986.
Life and times
Dates 1904 CE–1986 CE