Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu (4 January 1904-9 March 1958), an actor whose popularity was equaled only by that of Mei Lan-fang, played the tan [female] roles of traditional Peking theater.
 
Of pure Manchu descent, Ch'eng was the son of an impoverished member of the Yellow Banner. His native place was Peking. At the age of six, he became a pupil of the well-known drama teacher Jung Tieh-hsien, under whom he studied the rudiments of Peking-style acting and the k'un-ch'ü form of operatic singing. In 1918 he made the acquaintance of Lo Ying-kung, a Peking playboy and playwright who did much to foster the young actor's talents and who had a marked influence on Ch'eng's later career. Ch'eng frequently referred to the debt he owed Lo Ying-kung for his encouragement and assistance. Ch'eng began working as an actor at the age of 14, but he continued to study under older artists of the Peking theater such as Wang Yao-ch'ing (q.v.), Ch'en Te-lin, and Mei Lanfang (q.v.) and worked diligently to perfect his technique.
 
In the spring of 1919, Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu was a member of the troupe which accompanied Mei Lan-fang on Mei's first visit to Japan, a sign of the esteem in which Ch'eng was held by his seniors. During the 1920's, Ch'eng began to acquire the reputation which finally resulted in his being classed as one of the ssu ta ming tan [big four actors] of the tan [female] roles on the Peking stage. The other three were Mei Lanfang, Shang Hsiao-yun, and Hsün Hui-sheng. At the height of his career, Ch'eng's popularity with Chinese theater audiences was equaled only by that of Mei Lan-fang. His attractive appearance in stage make-up and the refinement of his singing and gestures endeared him to connoisseurs of the old-style theater.
 
After a decade of experience in China, Ch'eng left for Europe in January 1932 to study the theater and opera of the West. This trip was made under the patronage of Li Shih-tseng (q.v.) and was formally sponsored by the Nanking Academy of Dramatic Arts. Ch'eng visited France, Germany, England, Italy, and Switzerland and was well received, particularly in France and Switzerland. In Geneva, Ch'eng gave a course in t'ai-chi ch'üan, a special system of Chinese physical exercise, to college students. A description of these travels is contained in his book, published in August 1932, Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu fu-Ou k'ao-ctia hsi-chuyin-yueh pao-kao shu [Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu's report on his visit to Europe to study drama and music]. In 1934 he was invited to head a dramatic training school in Peking, an institution which broke completely with tradition by accepting both boys and girls as students. Ch'eng originally intended the school to offer courses in Western as well as Peking-style acting, but financial limitations prevented this program from being carried out. The school, the first co-educational school of its kind in China, produced a number of talented actors and actresses before the Sino-Japanese war forced it to close.
 
The outbreak of hostilities in 1937 prevented Ch'eng from carrying out his ambition to take a Chinese theatrical troupe to Europe. He had been invited to Paris, and preparations were well under way when the war forced cancellation of the venture. Ch'eng himself continued to act occasionally during the early war years. On his way from Shanghai to Peiping in 1942, however, he was manhandled by Japanese gendarmes at the Tientsin railway station. Angered and embittered, he returned home, sold all his theatrical costumes, and refused to perform again during the Japanese occupation. He retired to Ch'ing-lung ch'iao in the western suburbs of Peiping and supported himself until the end of the war by farming.
 
He returned to the stage after 1945, but faced with the difficulties that confronted all leading actors in the chaotic postwar period, he made relatively few stage appearances. With the establishment of the Communist regime in 1949, Ch'eng, like Mei Lan-fang, was encouraged to resume his career. During the final decade of his life, he took an active part in the cultural activities of the new government. He was vice president of the Chinese Dramatic Research Institute, headed by Mei Lan-fang; a member of the national committee of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles; and a member of the standing committee of the Union of Chinese Stage Artists, the theatrical subdivision of the Federation. As a senior dramatic adviser, he was particularly active in training the new generation of classical actors. In 1953 he toured west China, where he had earlier had considerable success just before the Sino- Japanese war. In 1956 he made his first color film in Peking, based on the play Huang-shan lei [tears in the wilderness], a drama from his personal repertoire. Although he had no previous record of political activity, he joined the Communist party as a probationary member in October 1957. He died of heart disease and pneumonia in March 1958, at the age of 54. The day after his death the Chinese Communist party admitted him posthumously to full membership, and subsequent official commentary praised his "progressive views," his "resolute character," and his "closeness to the people."
 
Like many men of Manchu descent, Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu was a large man, nearly six feet tall. Noted for his grace and beauty in stage makeup, he grew very stout in middle age, and his increasing plumpness was an unfortunate physical handicap for one playing the fragile women of the Peking theater. While his voice remained sweet and true, Ch'eng had long since passed the zenith of his powers as a stage performer when he died.
 
Ch'eng specialized in the ch'ing-i roles, the traditional faithful and virtuous women. Good singing is an important feature of the technique required in these roles, supported by skill in the graceful gestures with the long silk sleeve characteristic of the costumes worn. Ch'eng excelled in both respects. His greatest contribution to Chinese dramatic art was in the creation of his individual style of singing, marked by a soft, haunting, undulating quality. Although Ch'eng's voice lacked the robustness of Mei Lan-fang's, by constant study, practice, and experiment he turned his disability to advantage in the particular type of role he favored. His singing was especially popular with women. Inseparable from the singing in the Peking drama is the use of stylized gestures to express actions or emotions. Ch'eng's special contribution in this respect was his use of sleeve movements. The actors playing female roles in the Peking-style theater wear garments with long, broad sleeves with white silk cuffs that are more than a foot long. Ch'eng was widely known in China for his distinctive and expressive sleeve movements, gracefully used to convey complex emotions.
 
He made his greatest reputation in a score of plays which were written especially for him and which provided scope for his particular talents. In addition to Huang-shan lei, his repertoire included such plays as ICung-ch'iao p'ing [the peacock screen], Fu-shou ching [the auspicious mirror], Wen Chi kuei-Han [Wen Chi's return to Han], Ch'un-kuei meng [the wife's spring dream], and Yu-ching Vai [the jade mirror stand]. Ch'eng's technique was widely imitated by both professionals and amateurs, and many of his followers are still to be found on the stages of Peking and Shanghai.
 
The frustrations of Ch'eng Yen-ch'iu's professional life were caused by the troubles of his country. A man of integrity in his private life, he was survived by his wife, the daughter of an actor, and by his son, Ch'eng Yung-kuang, who is known to have studied engineering in Switzerland.