The four major schools in Peking Opera are

The Dan roles in Peking Opera are mainly divided into four major schools: the Mei School, the Cheng School, the Xun School, and the Shang School.

Expanded Information:

In 1927, Beijing's Shun Tian Times held an election to select the "Best Actor in the First Peking Opera Dan Role," resulting in the selection of Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng, who are known as the "Best Actors in the Peking Opera" and have been recognized as the "Best Actors in the Peking Opera" and the "Best Actors in the Peking Opera" in China.

1. Mei School: founded by Mei Lanfang. Mei Lanfang spent his whole life pursuing the highest state of art, and used his performances to create a large number of ancient women who were kind, gentle, gorgeous, elegant and had a sense of justice.

Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) specialized in Qingyi, and also played the role of Dagger and Horse Dan. In more than fifty years of stage practice, Mr. Mei made many creative reforms and innovations in the singing, performance and costumes of the Peking Opera Dan characters. Mr. Mei's beautiful and generous singing voice and graceful and elegant performance had a great influence on Peking Opera. Mr. Mei has been welcomed not only by the Chinese people, but also by the world.

Mr. Mei Lanfang led the Peking Opera Troupe to Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union for many times, and was an opera performer who spread Chinese opera abroad and enjoyed international reputation. The Mei School was formed as a result of Mr. Mei's great contribution and far-reaching influence on Peking Opera. The masterpieces of the Mei School include The Cosmic Front, The Drunkenness of the Concubine, Broken Bridge, Qi Shuang Hui, Farewell My Concubine, and Mu Guiying Hangs His Commander in Chief.

2. Cheng School: founded by Cheng Yanqiu. It is mainly characterized by a deep and twisted singing style, and the performance of women in ancient times through a serene and dignified stage image. It is especially good at portraying women of the middle and lower classes who have suffered from tragedy and have a character of softness on the outside and firmness on the inside.

Cheng Yanqiu (1904-1958), acting as a blue coat, was brave to innovate and create in his art, paying attention to phonetics, focusing on the four voices, and pursuing a high degree of combination of "sound, emotion, beauty, and water", and according to the characteristics of his own voice, he created a kind of singing voice that is elegant, with undulations and ups and downs, and a varied rhythm. The singing style is unique and is known as the "Cheng School" in the world.

Cheng Yanqiu excelled in tragedy, compiling and acting in plays such as The Tomb of the Mandarin Ducks, Tears of the Deserted Mountain, The Sword of Green Frost, Yingtai's Resistance to Marriage, and Dou'e Grievance, most of which performed the tragic fates of women in feudal society.

3. Xun School: founded by Xun Huisheng. It is good at portraying innocent, lively and enthusiastic young girls, and has a soft and delicate style.

Xun Huisheng (1900-1968), with a deep foundation, was able to draw on the strengths of the art of the Dan role in Bangkok Opera, and melted the performances of the Peking Opera Flower Dan into a single furnace, forming a unique artistic style, which is known as "Xun School" in the world. She was good at playing innocent, lively and gentle women's roles, and was famous for her performances in such plays as Hongniang, Jinyu Nu, Honglou Eryou, Hairpin Phoenix and Xunununiang.

4. Shang School: founded by Shang Xiaoyun. The style is characterized by robustness and gracefulness, and the singing, recitation, acting and fighting are not delicate, but are won by energy and strength, with masculine beauty.

Shang Xiaoyun (1900-1976) was known as "Shangpai" because of his deep skills, wide and bright voice, and strong singing style. His masterpieces include "The Second Palace", "The Sacrifice of the Pagoda", "Zhaojun's Exodus from the Frontiers", "Liang Hongyu", etc., in which he portrayed a number of women heroes and chivalrous heroines.

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Peking Opera Genre_Baidu Encyclopedia