Geng Qichang was born in Beijing on March 25, 1947, and was originally from Gengjia Village, Taocheng District, Hengshui City. Famous Peking Opera performance artist, national first-class actor. He is a member of the 9th, 10th and 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
During his childhood, Geng Qichang returned to his hometown with his grandmother. In 1958, he was admitted to the Chinese Opera School. The enlightenment teacher is Mr. Chen Binyu, and he has also been taught by Lei Xifu, Guan Dayuan, Wang Lianping, Ru Fulan, Song Jiting, Guo Zhonglin and other famous Peking Opera predecessors. He has studied "Dingjun Mountain", "Drumming and Scolding Cao", "Shilang Visiting Mother", "Xiaoyaojin", "Catching and Releasing Cao", "Empty City Plan" and other old martial arts dramas. Geng Qichang has performed on stage since he was 12 years old, and has performed dozens of excellent traditional plays, newly written historical Gang, modern Peking Opera, and played major roles.
The strict and standardized training of the eight-year drama school enabled Geng Qichang to lay a solid and solid traditional foundation in both the civil and martial arts aspects. After graduating in 1966, he stayed in school for two years due to the Cultural Revolution. In 1968, he was assigned to the Beijing Peking Opera Troupe (now the Beijing Opera House). He once served as Guo Jianguang of Group B in the crew of "Sha Jiabang" and Yang Zirong, the protagonist of the drama "Wise Tiger Mountain". He has starred in dramas such as "Forced to Liangshan". In 1978, he was transferred to the Peking Opera House of China. He has starred in traditional dramas such as "Red-maned Horse", "Xiaoyaojin", "Lianying Village", "General Xianghe", "Shilang Visiting Mother", and rehearsed the newly edited historical dramas "En Vengeance", "Li Qingzhao", "Baolian Lantern" and modern Peking Opera "Surprise Attack White Tiger Regiment", "Red Lantern", "Daino", "Jie Zhenguo" and other plays. Geng Qichang has performed in more than a dozen countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and North Korea, contributing to international cultural exchanges.
Geng Qichang and Li Weikang, who have been active on the Peking Opera stage for many years, they were born in the same year, and the two were admitted to the Chinese Opera School together, and a year later, they began to go to Zhongnanhai Ziguang Pavilion and Huai Ren Tang to perform together on stage, performing some famous traditional plays for the first generation of central leaders of the country, and the two have been cooperating since then. Geng Qichang and Li Weikang, on the stage, once they have a lifetime, they are united; in life, they are like shadows, they have walked together for nearly half a century, and they have tasted the bittersweet and bittersweet of "life is like a play, drama is like life".
Stills of "Enmity": Li Weikang as Feng Meizi, Geng Qichang as Zhao Quansheng
Geng Qichang's voice is high-pitched and crisp, and his singing rhyme is pure, and he is an outstanding talent who can write and fight in the old life line. He studied the essence of the Yu (Shuyan) school of patriarchy and learned the essence of other schools. The singing style is gentle and bold, simple and generous, and mellow. The performance pays attention to the portrayal of the character of the character and attracts attention. In 1985, in the opera modern drama observation performance held by the Ministry of Culture, Geng Qichang starred in the modern drama "En Vengeance", as Zhao Quansheng, and won the first prize for actor. The play "The History of the Skinny Horse" participated in the 3rd Chinese Peking Opera Festival held in Nanjing in December 2001, in addition to winning the gold medal. At the same time, he also won the first prize for individual performance, the Outstanding Performance Award.
In 1970, Geng Qichang and his party visited the DPRK and performed the modern Peking opera "Wise Victory over The Tiger Mountain" for Kim Il Sung and other DPRK leaders, and were cordially received by Chairman Kim Il Sung.
In May 1976, Geng Qichang participated in the visiting performance troupe of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe in China to Japan, performing the play "Wise Tiger Mountain"; In October 1982, Geng Qichang and Li Weikang were invited to participate in the material exchange conference in Fucheng County, Hengshui City, with the second troupe of the China Peking Opera House, and performed for seven days. During this period, he returned to his hometown to visit and was warmly welcomed by the leaders of the Hengshui County Government; In December 1990, he participated in the Beijing Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Micro Class's Entry into Beijing to revitalize Peking Opera, and performed the play "Shilang Visits His Mother": In April 1992, he participated in the Shanghai Peking Opera Fine Exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Chairman Mao's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art"; In May 1992, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of Hengshui City (county-level), Geng Qichang and his wife, Together with Gao Yingpei, Meng Fangui, Yu Junjian, Jiang Jiajun, Jin Jiaqin and other performing artists, they were invited to Hengshui to participate in the grand celebration, and performed three times before and after. Geng Qichang also visited the "Three Absolutes of Hengshui" with great interest with the artists; In the autumn of 1992, Geng Qichang and his wife were invited to Wuyi County to participate in the county-wide material exchange conference, and the wonderful performance won the applause of the masses.
In 1993, Mr. and Mrs. Geng Qichang and his party of five were invited by Mr. Zhang Xuesen (brother of General Zhang Xueliang) to perform in Taiwan. In addition to watching most of the performances, General Zhang Xueliang also met with Geng Qichang and his wife eight times!
Mr. and Mrs. Geng Qichang also performed in Hong Kong three times and participated in the grand Peking Opera performance in Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, to celebrate Hong Kong's return to the motherland. He also made a special trip to Macao to perform, which was warmly welcomed by the audience from all walks of life. In the summer of that year, Geng Qichang and his wife were invited by the Hengshui Municipal Radio, Film and Television Bureau to participate in the large-scale performance activities of the Hengshui Workers' Club, and ma Yutao, Bai Xue and other famous singers were also performed on the same stage.
Skinny Horse Royal History
In February 1999, he participated in the CCTV 1999 Spring Festival Opera Gala and participated in the performance of "The Great Year of China"; in December 2000, he participated in the 200 New Year Peking Opera Gala of Huairentang and performed the traditional play "Empty City Plan": In September 2001, Anping County held a grand "International Silk Network Festival" activity, geng Qichang and his wife and Pan Changjiang were invited to participate in the performance; on the eve of the Spring Festival in 2002, Geng Qichang and his wife were invited to return to Hengshui to participate in the large-scale festival celebration performance held in the Great Hall of the State Guest House. He also participated in the video performance of the Spring Festival Gala, during which he visited the Hengshui Special Craft Factory.
On December 26, 2005, when New Year's Day was approaching, Geng Qichang performed excerpts such as "Wise Tiger Mountain" and "Three Stores" at the Grand Theater of Hebei Arts Center. In order to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the founding of Yanzhao Evening News and enrich the cultural performance market in the provincial capital, Shijiazhuang Daily Specially planned the "Yanzhao Evening News Night New Year Opera Masters Gathering Concert". The famous opera artists who appeared at this evening have different styles and strengths, and Geng Qichang can be called one of the most eye-catching stars, he has a good temperament, a new style, can write and martial arts, and has been greatly praised.
In February 2008, he participated in the 2008 Snow Disaster Relief Charity Performance of Mei Lanfang Grand Theatre. In May 2008, Geng Qichang also participated in the Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake "Children You are not alone- Mei Lanfang Grand Theater Disaster Relief Charity Performance Gala", performing the play "Farewell to Shaqiao". For decades, Geng Qichang's performances have traveled all over the country.
On September 17, 2009, CCTV's "City Platform" "Hengshui Special" program was successfully held, and Geng Qichang's collaborative performance with the famous theatrical performance artist Lan Tianye and the famous film actor Song Chunli added a beautiful brilliance to the "Hengshui Special".
On December 28, 2017, Geng Qichang was selected into the fifth batch of recommended list of representative inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.
In May 2018, he was rated as the representative inheritor of the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.
Source: Kang Zhanying's "History of Taocheng"