Mei Baojiu, Chinese Peking opera artist, Died at 82

Mei Baojiu was born on March 29, 1934, and died on April 25, 2016)

He was a contemporary Peking opera artist, also a performer of the Dan role type in Peking Opera and Kunqu opera, the leader of Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe in Beijing Peking Opera Theatre.

His father, Mei Lanfang was one of the most famous Peking opera performers.

Mei Baojiu was the ninth and youngest child of his father.

So he was called Baojiu, because, in Chinese, jiu means nine.

He was the master of the second generation of Méi School descendant, he was also Mei Lanfang’s only child who is now a performer of the Dan role of the Peking Opera.

As a young child, Mei had learned Peking Opera from many artists.

Baojiu’s original opera teacher was Wang Youqing, the nephew of Wang Yaoqing (王瑶卿), who had been the teacher of Mei Lanfang.

He has made significant contributions to cultural exchanges and promoting Peking Opera culture.

Meantime, Mei also trains more than twenty students, such as Li Shengsu (李胜素), Dong Yuanyuan (董圆圆), Zhang Jing (张晶), Zhang Xinyue (张馨月), Hu Wenge (胡文阁) (the only male student), Tian Hui (田慧), Wei Haimin (魏海敏).

Mei Baojiu passed away at 82 yrs old.