尚小云

简介

Shang Xiaoyun was one of the Four Great Dan actors of Peking Opera, born on January 7, 1900 and died on April 19, 1976. Born as Shang Dequan in Hebei province, he grew up in a financially struggling family after his father's early death, and was sent to work as a servant in the palace of Prince Na Yantu before joining a troupe to learn Peking Opera under the tutelage of Sun Yiyun and Wang Yaoqing. Shang distinguished himself with his unique singing style and martial performance, excelling in the roles of warrior women on horseback, earning the title "Shang School." In 1937 he founded the Rongchun School to teach Peking Opera and personally oversaw it, sacrificing seven of his homes to fund the school in 1942, which earned him the title "sold houses to teach art." After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, he participated in training programs for artists and formed his own troupe. In 1957 he was appointed artistic advisor at the Shaanxi Provincial Opera School, and in 1959 he donated sixty-six pieces of ancient paintings and jade artifacts to the provincial museum. During the Cultural Revolution he was persecuted and denounced before passing away in hospital in 1976. In 1980 he was rehabilitated and his ashes were moved to the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.