Zhao Yuming

Biography

Zhao Yuming was born on 2 May 1929 in southern Beiping, the first child of her parents. She learned to sing Jingyun drum and Meihua drum from her father Zhao Songsan from childhood, and began performing with him at age six. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, she began singing on the streets with Hou Baolin and Gaofengshan to help support the family. In 1941, she briefly studied Baodiao drum and Leting drum under Wei Baohua, but never performed them publicly after 1949. In 1942, she became a disciple of Wang Rui and formally entered performance venues. In 1952, she passed the examination of the PLA broadcasting team and later joined the Central People's Broadcasting Station's singing troupe, performing Xinhua melody, Xihe drum, and Shanzi styles. In 1956, she became a disciple of Tan Fengyuan and specialized in Tan-style Shanzi art. In the late 1950s, she studied Suzhou Pingdan with Ma Zenghui under Yang Zhenyan and Zhou Yunrui, performing Pingdan in Putonghua, which contributed to artistic innovation and North-South artistic exchange. In 1972, she transferred to the Tianjin Quyi Troupe, where she mentored young performers until her retirement in 1987. In 2002, she was appointed guest professor at the PLA Academy of Arts. She received the Quyi Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, the China Golden Disc Award in 2008 for her Shanzi album, the Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage Shanzi inheritor title in 2017, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Lifetime Achievement Quyi Artist title in 2018. She passed away on 20 July 2020 at age 91 after an accidental fall.