The Beijing Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Promotion Association issued an obituary: Zhang Yuwen, a famous Kunqu performing artist, a national first-class actor, one of the "Four North Kunqu Opera Dancers" of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater, and a representative inheritor of the n

Beijing Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Promotion Association issued an obituary: Zhang Yuwenyin, a famous Kunqu performing artist, a national first-class actor, one of the "Four Dans of North Kunqu Opera" in the Northern Kunqu Theater, and a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage representative project (Kunqu Opera) Treatment of the disease failed and he died in Beijing at 2:10 am on November 14, 2024 at the age of 79. The farewell ceremony for Zhang Yuwen's body is scheduled to be held at 8:00 a.m. on November 16 in the Mei Hall of Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing.

Zhang Yuwen was born on February 24, 1945. In 1956, he joined the Beijing Kunqu Opera Research Club and practiced music with Zhou Quan'an, Li Jinshou, Shen Pansheng, Zheng Bin and other famous artists. In 1958, she was admitted to the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater and studied under Han Shichang, Ma Xianglin, Fu Xueyi and other senior masters.

Zhang Yuwen has profound artistic skills in Kunqu Opera, with a grand stage style, delicate performances and vivid portrayals of characters. He is good at acting in "Zhaojun Leaving the Fortress", "Chessboard Party", "Sifan", "Qin Tiao", "Crazy Dream", " A Dream in the Garden", "Jinshan Temple", "Broken Bridge", "Yao Tai", "Strike the Beam", "Stick the Tiger" and "Surprise" "Wu Song Kills His Wife", "Borrowing a Fan", etc. In the 1960s, she played important roles in "Princess Wencheng", "Wu Song", "The Legend of White Snake" and "Red Clouds". After the second establishment of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater in 1979, she played the role of the Red Lady in "Beauty Splattered with Blood" and starred in "The Three Madams" as Liang Hongyu in 1983, both of which won individual performance awards.

In 1987, she formally became a teacher of Master Ma Xianglin, whom she had studied with for many years. She twice served as Ma's assistant teacher at the Suzhou Kun Opera training class and the Jietai Temple training class organized by the Kun Opera Revitalization Steering Committee of the Ministry of Culture. Zhang Yuwen has made great achievements in education, and has taught students and descendants all over the country, as well as in Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries and regions. Her excellent teaching ability has enabled her to achieve outstanding results in cultivating talents, and the best among them have become the backbone talents on the Kun Opera stage. There are dozens of students and successors including Yue Penghui, Ha Dongxue, Wang Liyuan, Pan Xiaojia, Tan Mingxin, Guo Fanjia, Feng Yun and so on.

Zhang Yuwen was hired by the Central Academy of Drama in 1990 to teach foreigners Kunqu opera and trained more than ten Kunqu opera talents including Japanese students Maeda Naoka, Yamada Junko and Yamada Kozo. In his later years, he spared no effort to inherit and promote the art of Kunqu Opera. He not only taught art and opera among professionals in the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater, the Chinese Academy of Opera, the National Peking Opera Company, the Beijing Peking Opera Company, and the Beijing Vocational College of Opera Art, but also served as a long-term member of the Beijing Kunqu Opera Academy. He teaches Kun Opera classes in training schools and has been promoting the art of Kun Opera in Beijing Taoran Kun Opera Society for 20 years, which has a great social influence. On February 20, 2005, Zhang Yuwen was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Inheritance and Development of Kunqu Opera Art and International Cultural Exchange by UNESCO for his continuous research on the art of Kunqu Opera and his teaching work on an international scale.

Source: Beijing Daily