Unfortunately! Famous director passed away at home | Beijing | Director
Zhang Wei, former Vice President and Chief Director of the China Pingju Theater, passed away at home at 9:15 am on July 4, 2023, at the age of 97.
Zhang Wei, born in 1926, is from Haicheng County, Liaoning Province. National first-class director and recipient of the Wenhua Director Award. Enjoying the special allowance of the State Council, he was awarded the commemorative medal for the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti Japanese War and the model worker of Beijing. Member of the Chinese Dramatists Association and former Chief Director of the China Pingju Theater. Zhang Wei is a renowned director and playwright of the older generation who has made outstanding contributions to the Chinese theater industry. He has made important contributions to the prosperity and development of the Pingju industry, as well as the cultivation of generation after generation of Pingju actors.
As early as the Anti Japanese War, Zhang Wei, who was studying at Dihua Girls' High School in Xinjiang, participated in anti Japanese amateur theatrical activities and performed in films such as "Put Down Your Whip", "The Last Victory", and "Night Light Cup". In 1946, he went to study at the Drama Department of the Art College of Northern University in the liberated areas of Jin Ji Lu Yu. After graduating in 1948, he was assigned to the First Art Troupe of North China United University. During this period, she performed operas such as "White Haired Girl", "Red Leaf River", and "Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang". After entering Beijing in 1949, he served as a counselor for Class 1 and Class 2 of the Drama Department at the Third Department of North China University. In 1950, he was transferred to the Opera Troupe of the Central Academy of Drama as an actor, performing plays such as "Good Military Belongers" and "Flowers Blooming Over the Mountain".
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In 1953, he was transferred to serve as a director, director group leader, deputy director of the art department, and vice president of the China Pingju Theater. He has directed traditional plays such as "Zhu Jianji", "En and Chou", "Yuhe Bridge", "Yang Sanjie's Complaint", newly edited historical story plays such as "Zhong Li Sword", "Sun Pang Douzhi", "Wushuang Zhuan", modern plays such as "Jinsha River Bank", "Seizure of Seal", "Xiangyang Store", "Accounting Girl", "South China Sea Great Wall", "Ruan Wen Zhui", "Kucai Hua", "Hua Huan under the Mountain", "Blackhead and the Four Famous Eggs", and has won numerous national and Beijing awards.
Among them, "The God of Joy" won the Director Award for New Creation Drama in Beijing in 1982, "The Flower wreath under the Mountain" won the First Prize for Director of National Opera Observation Performance in 1985, the Excellent Director Award for New Compilation Drama in Beijing from 1983 to 1984, "Black Head and the Four Great Eggs" won the Wenhua Director Award, the Excellent Director Award for New Creation Drama Evaluation in Beijing from 1989 to 1991, and "Love for Ten Thousand Families" won the Director Award for New Drama Evaluation in Beijing from 1993 to 1995.
Zhang Wei has a passion for the drama industry and is one of the members of China's drama expert pool. After retiring, he still works enthusiastically to revitalize the drama industry and plays an important role.
![Unfortunately! Famous director passed away at home | Beijing | Director](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/545fe6b5338b3090ce22f1c0eaf2dae5.jpg)