Yan Huizhu

Yan Huizhu was an ethnic Mongolian classical Chinese opera singer who performed in the jingju and kunqu genres. She was born into a musical family and learned from her father Yan Jupeng, a jingju actor who had developed his own style of "Yan" singing. She also received training from the jingju master Mei Lanfang, who devoted time to her while he was unable to perform during the Japanese occupation of Beijing. She gained popularity and became known as "Little Mei Lanfang". In 1946, she received high acclaim for her performance in Shengsi hen (Regret for Life and Death) in Beijing, becoming known as the "Queen of Beijing Opera". Following the establishment of Communist China in 1949, Yan Huizhu continued to perform and teach. In 1957, she was appointed vice-president of the School of Traditional Operas in Shanghai and toured in Europe. She married three times, the last one being with the celebrated Yu Zhenfei, with whom she frequently performed in a revised version of Qiangtou mashang. At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, she was denounced by the Red Guards who ransacked her home and accused her of being a counter-revolutionary. She committed suicide by hanging herself on the night of 10 September 1966, while Yu Zhenfei who was in the same room denied any knowledge of what had happened. She was later rehabilitated and recognized as one of the most influential and talented opera singers in China.