Chen Pimei

Biography

Chen Pimei (1908–1993), originally named Hu Shuying, was a famous Cantonese opera actress in the female wen-wu-sheng (civil-male) roles during the 1920s and 1930s. She was known as the "Female Xue Juehou" and later became an official disciple of Xue Juehou to learn wen-chang (civil scenes), while studying wu-chang (martial scenes) under Bai Xiaolou. Chen Pimei served as the wen-wu-sheng of the all-female troupe "Jinghua Yanying," performing with Hu Dieying, Guan Yinglian, Qian Yingnong, Tan Lanqing, and Ren Jianhui on the rooftop of Da Xin Company in Guangzhou. She formed a sworn sisterhood known as the "Twelve Golden Hairpins" with eleven fellow actresses. In 1934, she married a government official from Nanhai County, Guangdong Province, and later settled in the United States. In 1981, she returned to Hong Kong to visit her elderly mother and passed down her art to Pan Hongzhao and Pan Peixuan, teaching them a scene from Xue Juehou's opera "Qiancheng Wanli" and her own "Pinggui Bieyao" in the traditional style. In 1984, she returned again to teach xiaowu martial movements and the traditional staging of "Fengyiting" to Pan Hongzhao for charity performances, in which she had previously performed the role of Lü Bu and occasionally Diaochan. Chen Pimei lived in the United States with her daughter Hu Jia in New York City.