Ma Lianliang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ma.

Ma Lianliang
Traditional Chinese	馬連良
Simplified Chinese	马连良
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mǎ Liánliáng Wade–Giles Ma Lien-liang

Ma Lianliang (28 February 1901 – 16 December 1966) was a Peking opera singer.

Life

Ma was best known for his "old man" roles (老生, lǎoshēng) and was considered one of Peking Opera's "Four Great Beards" (t 四大鬚生, s 四大须生, p Sì Dà Xūshēng), along with Tan Fuying, Yang Baosen, and Xi Xiaobo. He served as a mentor to Li Yuru.[1] For most of his life, he stayed in mainland China, except for 1948–1950, when he lived in Hong Kong (which was still a colony of Britain) for medical treatment.

During Mao Zedong's cultural revolution, Ma was named a "poisonous weed" after having appeared in a production that Mao believed implicitly criticized him. A group of revolutionaries called Red Guards assaulted Ma in the street and broke his leg. Before the end of the year, he would die of his injuries.[2]

References

1. Li Ruru (2010), "2010 Commemorations of the Theatrical Careers of Cao Yu and Li Yuru" (PDF), Chinoperl Papers, vol. 29, Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, p. 226, doi:10.1179/chi.2010.29.1.217, ISSN 0193-7774, S2CID 191673008
2. Weijian Shan (26 January 2019), "China Turned Upside Down Life During Mao's Bloody, Chaotic Cultural Revolution", Foreign Affairs, vol. 98

External links

• "马连良" on Baike.com (in Chinese)