page_title: Zhou Xinfang
section_title: Hai Rui Submits His Memorial
hierarchical_section_title: Zhou Xinfang / Hai Rui Submits His Memorial
caption_attribution_description: 中文: 1962-03 1962年 演员周信芳与导演应云卫
context_page_description: Zhou Xinfang, also known by his stage name Qilin Tong was a Chinese actor and musician. He was a Peking opera actor who specialized in its "old male" role. He is considered one of the greatest grand masters of Peking Opera of the 20th century, and the best known and leading member of the Shanghai School of Peking Opera. He was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution.
  Over 650 Peking Operas performed by Zhou have been identified by the Zhou Xinfang Arts Research Centre in China by 2015, topping all actors in recorded Chinese performing arts history in terms of known number of repertoire titles.
context_section_description: Between 1958 and 1963, "new historical drama" became a prominent form of theatre in China, and such drama was often used for indirect critique of contemporary politics.  In 1959, Zhou was asked to write a play for the 10th anniversary celebration in Shanghai of the founding of the People's Republic of China.  The story would be about Hai Rui, a Ming Dynasty official noted for his integrity but was dismissed from office for criticizing the Jiajing Emperor.  Zhou wrote the play Hai Rui Submits His Memorial (海瑞上疏, Hai Rui Shangshu) with Xu Siyan (许思言), and the play was performed by the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe.
  In Beijing, Wu Han also wrote another opera based on the same theme, Hai Rui Dismissed from Office.  This opera was attacked by Yao Wenyuan in 1965, accusing the play of being a veiled criticism of Chairman Mao Zedong.  The attack by Yao on Wu Han's work about Hai Rui is often considered the opening shot of the Cultural Revolution, and would eventually led to the persecution and death of Wu Han. Zhou was also criticized for attacking Chairman Mao in his portrayal of the Jiajing Emperor in his opera, Zhou however countered by saying that those who suggested any similarity of Jiajing Emperor to Mao were the real detractors of Mao. Zhou and his son were arrested and imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution, but he refused to recant. He was released a year later and placed under house arrest until his death in 1975.
caption: Zhou Xinfang and film director Ying Yunwei in 1962.
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