Zhang Meizhen

01 · Lineage & Regional School

At fifteen Zhang Meizhen was admitted to the Luohe Municipal Yuju Troupe and then sent to study at the Xuchang Prefectural Opera School. In 1984 she became a disciple of Yan Lipin and received personal instruction from him, becoming one of the principal successors of the Yan school of Yuju. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yuju (Henan Opera) in Henan: Yuju is popular mainly in Henan Province and is circulated throughout the country. Owing to differences of locality and speech it has formed different vocal styles within Henan, such as Yudong Diao, Xiangfu Diao, Yuxi Diao, Shahe Diao and Gaodiao: Yudong Diao centres on the Shangqiu area and makes much use of falsetto with a high register; Yuxi Diao centres on the Luoyang area, is sung mainly in the natural voice and carries its melodic line downward; Xiangfu Diao is current in the Kaifeng area, while Shahe Diao is current on both banks of the Shahe River in southeastern Henan. The various schools resemble and differ from one another both in repertory and in performing style. Yuju has now been transmitted for more than a hundred years, and as early as the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty it had already become a highly influential operatic genre in Henan.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in 1941 in Kaifeng, Henan. Her acting is restrained and refined, dignified and unassuming, neither overwrought nor underplayed, and is devoted to expressing the inner feelings of her characters. In singing she articulates words correctly and rounds off tones fully, high notes without harshness and low notes without dullness, uniting voice and emotion. Her representative works include Qin Xuemei, Hu Die Bei (The Butterfly Cup) and Gui Han Pu (Kneeling at Han Pu's Gate). Within the documented technical tradition of Yuju (Henan Opera) in Henan: Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Beheading the Son": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "The Shepherd's Scroll": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "Liu Quan Carrying the Melon": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "Embracing the Pipa": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Yuju (Henan Opera), a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhang Meizhen · National Representative Bearer Archive