Changing his tune

Yu Kuizhi plays in the Peking Opera classic The Ruse of the Empty City in Jiangxi province. Jiang Nan / China Photo Press

An acclaimed Peking Opera performer updates the ancient art form. Mu Qian reports.

Yu Kuizhi, one of China's most famous Peking Opera actors and a household name in the country, celebrates the 40th anniversary of his initiation into the genre this year.

However, unlike most colleagues in similar situations and contrary to the suggestions of his friends and fans, Yu has decided not to hold any celebratory activities.

"I think it's not an apt time, as I'm still accumulating my art experience," he says.

"I'd rather audiences pay more attention to the art of Peking Opera than to me."

Yu celebrated in his own way - by starring in Story of Taizhen, a new adaptation of a classic Peking Opera he spent three years creating. The work was staged in Beijing in September.

The 50-year-old enrolled as a student in the Shenyang Peking Opera Company in 1972. It was the beginning of a career in which he'd become one of the top actors in the role of laosheng (dignified old man) in Peking Opera's history.

Over the next four decades, he won every honor an actor in the genre could dream of. He won "best performer" in the televised National Youth Peking Opera Televised Contest; the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theater; the Mei Lanfang Award; and the China Golden Record Award. He was also selected as one of China's 10 Outstanding Young Persons in 2001.

As the China National Peking Opera Company's vice-president and artistic director, Yu still performs more than 100 times a year.