Yao Xuanqiu

Yao Xuanqiu was born in 1935 in Chenghai, Guangdong. Orphaned young, she worked in a match factory until her voice caught the attention of the Lao Zhengshun Teochew opera troupe, which she joined in 1950; her first piece, the scene Sweeping the Window, made her name. In 1956 she went with the troupe to Beijing, playing Su Liuniang, The Tale of the Lychee Mirror and Sweeping the Window, and Mei Lanfang wrote an inscription praising her. A dan specialist, she was also known for Chen San and Wuniang and Cilangzhou, and was later named a national representative bearer of Teochew opera as intangible cultural heritage. She died on 2 July 2022.