Li Shaochun

Li Shaochun, of a Hebei family, was the son of the Peking opera actor Li Guichun (stage name Xiao Dazi) and the dan actress Hou Yulan. Trained from childhood in both singing and martial roles, he became a pupil of Yu Shuyan in 1938 and later learned from Zhou Xinfang and Gai Jiaotian. His signature plays include Wild Boar Forest, which he scripted and in which he played Lin Chong, later filmed, The General and the Minister Reconciled, as Lin Xiangru, and The Bandit Tale, as Qin Qiong; he also helped design their vocal music. When the dance drama The Magic Lotus Lantern (premiered 1957) was being created, he was invited to coach its martial movement. He died on 21 September 1975.