Jin Wanchang

Also known as King of Meihua Dagu

Jin Wanchang, a Manchu from Beijing, first learned bajiaogu, drum-song and qingkou dagu and sang in the city's teahouses. On the advice of the string players Han Yonglu and Su Qiyuan and of Liu Baoquan he reworked the slow northern meihua tune, giving it ornate melody and varied metres, and after 1912 he moved between Beijing and Tianjin, taking pupils in both and forming the Jin school. In 1926, billing Erdu Mei at the Sihai Shengping hall in Beijing, he first used the name meihua dagu. With a broad, ringing voice and a gentle, lyrical manner he excelled in Dream of the Red Chamber pieces such as Daiyu Zanghua, Baoyu Tanbing and Daguan Yuan, and his skill at the drum earned him the title King of Meihua Dagu; he recorded for several labels between 1929 and 1936. He died in 1943.