Wu Zhong

02-0466Jinju (Shanxi Opera)Traditional OperaShanxiBatch 2 (2008)

Lineage & School of Heritage

In 1954 Wu Zhong began his training, taking the laosheng (old male) role. He studied under Ding Guoxian, the paramount master of Jinju and acknowledged king of the xusheng role, and absorbed the essence of the Ding school. He also received instruction from Jinju masters such as Zhang Meiqin and from leading artists of sister genres including Peking opera, Puzhou clapper opera, Henan opera, and Hebei clapper opera, gradually forging a performance style of pronounced individuality.

Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1940 in Wenshui, Shanxi. He has long performed with the Taiyuan Experimental Jinju Theatre. His singing is high and impassioned, full of shifting inflection, and his acting finely observed and vivid. He is especially skilled at portraying characters through such special techniques as the shuaifa (hair tossing), the rankou (artificial beard), the horsewhip, and the boot technique, while his hat-wing and beard techniques are famed throughout Shanxi. His representative works include Mai Hua Pi Men (Selling a Painting and Splitting the Door), Xu Ce Pao Cheng (Xu Ce Runs Through the City), and Hua Rong Dao (The Road to Huarong).

Honors & Recognition

A national representative bearer of Jinju (Shanxi opera), a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project; a first-class actor.

References & Archival Sources

Wu Zhong · National Representative Bearer Archive

Representative Items of This Bearer

Profile

Representative item: Jinju (Shanxi Opera)
Item code: Ⅳ-18
Category: Traditional Opera
Region: Shanxi
Born: 1940.04
Batch: Batch 2 (2008)

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