Qiao Qingxiu

Also known as Born Yuan Jinxiu · Called the Queen of Zhuizi

Qiao Qingxiu, born Yuan Jinxiu in Neihuang, Henan, became the pupil of the zhuizi performer Qiao Liyuan at thirteen, took his surname, went on stage at fifteen and later married him. Performing in Tianjin from 1929, she rose to fame as the 'Queen of Zhuizi' and from 1935 sang on Tianjin radio. Building her tunes on the Lihua drum-song and adding the most distinctive phrases of zhuizi, she created a female vocal style for Henan zhuizi; her Qiao school ranks with the Cheng and Dong schools as one of the genre's three main styles. Her pieces include Wang Erjie Sifu, Yutang Chun and Lanqiao Hui. After her husband's death around 1939 she fell ill and stopped performing, and she died in Tianjin in 1944.