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Four Dan actressesThe Four Dan actresses (四旦 or 四大名旦 or 四小名旦 or 四大花旦 or 四小花旦) are four most bankable actresses in China. Guangzhou Daily first used the term to reference Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun, and Xu Jinglei in July 2000, when they were all in their 20s.[1] It gained widespread use in China following a series of interviews with them by Southern Metropolis Daily from December 2001 to January 2002.[2][3][4][5] The media have made repeated efforts to elect the "New Four Dan actresses" thereafter, but the acceptance and recognition of these new lists have not matched that of the original Four Dan actresses. Originally, a dan was a male actor who portrayed a leading female character in Peking opera. The term "Four Dan" was first coined in the 1920s to refer to four popular dan actors: Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng. The Four Dan actresses
Li Bingbing (born 1973) and Fan Bingbing (born 1981), two graduates of the Shanghai Theatre Academy who gained fame soon after the quartet in the early 2000s, were sometimes mentioned together as "Four Dan and Two Bing" (四旦双冰).[6][7] Shu Qi (born 1974), a Taiwanese-Hong Kong actress who gained fame in late '90s Hong Kong cinema, and Tang Wei (born 1979), a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama who gained fame through Lust, Caution (2007), were sometimes mentioned together as "Four Dan Two Bing One Shu One Tang" (四旦双冰一舒一汤).[8] New Four Dan actresses and '85 flowersFrom 2005, the media have made repeated efforts to elect "New Four Dan actresses" (新四小花旦).
2013 version by Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly:[10]
Tiffany Tang (born 1983), a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, and Zhao Liying (born 1987) had similar levels of success post 2013. Along with Liu Yifei, they are now usually associated with the new Four Dan actresses of the 2013 list, together known as the "'85 flowers" (85花).[11][12] New Four Dan actresses of the "post-'90s" generationIn August 2016, Southern Metropolis Daily conducted a survey among 173 million netizens and 110 professional media and industry insiders. After a series of voting, four actresses who were born after 1990 (90后四小花旦) were picked.[13]
New Four Dan actresses of the "post-'95s" generationSince 2018, the media have made efforts to elect "New Four Dan actresses" among those were born after 1995 (95后四小花旦). 2018 version by Sohu Entertainment:[14]
2022 version by Sina Entertainment:[18]
Similar titlesThe Chinese media have made similar efforts to elect the "Four Sheng actors" (四大小生), but the acceptance and recognition of these lists have not matched that of the Four Dan actresses. The most popular version of the "Four Sheng actors" includes Chen Kun, Deng Chao, Liu Ye, and Huang Xiaoming, who are now known in Chinese as "Four Middle(-aged) Sheng actors" (四大中生). In addition, in the early 1990s, Hong Kong's most popular male stars were collectively referred to as the "Four Heavenly Kings" (Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai). Later, Taiwan also introduced four male idols labelled "Four Younger Heavenly Kings" (Alec Su, Nicky Wu, Jimmy Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro). References
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