Cho Ban

Biography

Cho Ban was a Hong Kong Cantonese opera and film actor and director who was active during the 1930s and 1940s. He specialized in the role of the scholarly martial male lead (文武生) in Cantonese opera. He participated in the premiere of the opera "Princess Changping" (帝女花) in 1934 in Guangzhou with the Siantianhua Troupe. He later transitioned to film and appeared in the comedy "Twelve Beauties in the Golden House" (金屋十二釵) in 1937, produced by the Daguan Company. During filming, he met actress Zhu Jianqin (Zhu Peirui) and they eventually married. In the later stages of his life, he relocated to Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China to continue his artistic career. However, he faced political persecution during the Anti-Rightist Campaign, being labeled as a rightist in the Cantonese opera world and subjected to denunciation at three large-scale mass rallies.