Chan Ho-kau

Biography

Chan Ho-kau (1932–2021) was a renowned Hong Kong Cantonese opera actress, dubbed the "Queen of Opera Art," with a career spanning over eighty years. Her name was derived from the poem "Guan Ju" in the *Classic of Poetry*. Raised in an artistic environment influenced by her father, she developed a passion for Cantonese opera. After WWII, she began learning stage performance through her father's friend Deng Xiao Lan Fang. She was among the earliest to learn stage walking as an understudy under teacher Tsen Yun Xian. In the late 1940s, she performed in Guangzhou and gradually rose from the fourth leading female role to the principal role. She was the first Hong Kong opera performer to study under the renowned master Fen Jua Hua, learning martial arts movements and appearing with him in the 1962 film *Battle of Sizhou City*. Her fellow students included Luo Jia Ying and Chen Bao Zhu. She toured Southeast Asia, the Guangdong-Guangxi region, and in the early 1950s performed in Macau, Zhanjiang, and Vietnam, later traveling to Singapore and Malaysia with Luo Jian Lang. In 1959, she starred in *Sima Xiangru* with He Fei Fei in the "He Fei Fei Troupe." After 1950, she built her career in Hong Kong, rising to leading roles and joining the "Twin Treasure Troupe" with Liang Xing Bo and Fei Long. She collaborated with major opera stars in renowned troupes such as "Embroidered Flower," "Great Dragon and Phoenix," and "New Swallow Voice," and was particularly celebrated in the "New Celebration Voice" and "New Praise Voice" troupes with Lin Jia Sheng, with *The Ruthless Sword and the Loving Sky* being their signature work. In 1967, she toured the United States and Canada with support from the Chen Family Association. She received artistic guidance from veteran performer Ban Ri An, who taught her the Xue school repertoire in classics like *Why Not Return* and *Xi Shi*.