The forever “Sister Lin” is gone!Famous Yue Opera artist Wang Wenjuan passed away this morning

The forever “Sister Lin” is gone!Famous Yue Opera artist Wang Wenjuan passed away this morning

Wang Wenjuan, a well-known Shaoxing opera artist loved by Shanghainese, died of illness at the East China Hospital at 0:25 today at the age of 95. The forever “Sister Lin” is gone!

Wang Wenjuan was born in Shengxian County (now Shengzhou City), Shaoxing, Zhejiang in December 1926. His original name was Wang Caijuan. National first-class actor, representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project “Yue Opera”. For decades, she has played the roles of Cui Yingying in “West Chamber”, Chunxiang in “Chun Xiang Chuan”, carp essence in “Chasing Fish”, Wu Zetian in “Emperor Zetian” and Lin Daiyu in “A Dream of Red Mansions”. The outstanding personality and clear image left a clear impression in the hearts of the audience.

In particular, Lin Daiyu in the classic Yue opera “Dream of Red Mansions” starring in her is a household name, and she is the “Sister Lin” in the hearts of Shanghainese. She is also the founder of the “Wang Pai” of Danjiao art of Yue opera and the “goddess” in the hearts of generations of Yue opera people.

Wang Wenjuan is not only a performer of Yue Opera, but also a 64-year party member. From 1952 to 1953, she braved the artillery fire and went to the front line of North Korea to show condolences, and brought traditional Chinese art to volunteer soldiers who defended their homes.

To revitalize Yue Opera, she also took the lead in reforms. In 1985, under the impetus of her and her old partners such as Xu Yulan, the “Honglou Theater” came into being with the mission of producing good plays and educating new talents.

After bidding farewell to the stage, Wang Wenjuan was still thinking about how to pass on the good show and good work. At the age of 70, she filmed the opera TV series “Meng Lijun”; at the age of 90, she held a special performance of Wang Pai, personally appeared on the stage and ordered generals, sorted out the traditional repertoires of Yue Opera and also unearthed a batch of repertoires that had been lost for many years. The earth shows the essence of Wang School art. In 2019, Wang Wenjuan of Deyi and Yixin was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 7th Shanghai Literature and Art Awards.

Wang Wenjuan exemplified how a people’s literary and art worker and an outstanding Communist Party member can closely connect his artistic life with the destiny of his family and the country and with the responsibilities of the times. In 2017, Wang Wenjuan won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 27th Shanghai Magnolia Drama Performance Art Award. In 2019, the 93-year-old Wang Wenjuan also won the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the 7th Shanghai Literature and Art Awards and the title of “Lifetime Achievement Dramatist of the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles”.

(Xinmin Evening News reporter Shao Ning)