Chang Baohua

Chang Baohua (simplified Chinese: 常宝华; traditional Chinese: 常寶華; pinyin: Cháng BǎoHuá; born 1930) is a crosstalk (Xiangsheng) comedian. He was born in Tianjin and is of Manchu ethnicity. He is regarded as one of the sixth generations of well-known Chinese crosstalk actors. He is a Chinese communist as well as a first-level national actor, who enjoys special government allowances. Around a hundred and seventy works yet including various forms are attributed to him, over fifty of which were published in national magazines and newspapers. After retirement, he still continues to produce a number of works, making contributions to the arts.

Character Profile

Chang Baohua's father Chang lianan and his brother Chang Baofang taught Chang Baohua crosstalk as his master when Chang was young. Once he had been an apprentice in crosstalk convention in Qi Ming Tea House, Xi Dan Shopping Mall in Beijing. He was only a 9-year-old child the first time he performed on stage. He grew up under the nurture of masters in the crosstalk field. Ten years learning crosstalk and over seventy times perforing crosstalk, perfected his art.

Art life

In 1942, Chang Baohua^[1] participated in the performances of Beautiful Song City (《锦绣歌城》) and Huatian Bacuo (《花田八错》). In 1951, when Chang Baohua was 21, he acknowledged Ma Sanli as his master and took part in the Tianjin Folk Artist Mission. He acted and created some new operas. Moreover, he received an award "Third-class Labor Model" from the Tianjin Literature And Art Union.

During the Korean War in 1951, Chang Baohua went to perform for the Chinese soldiers after his brother's death in the Korean battlefield. In 1953, he gave up his well-paid job in the artist commission and decided to join in the army. He participated in the working group of the Chinese People's Liberation Army navy department until his retirement. He received the second military exploit twice and the third military exploit once.

With the beginning of Cultural Revolution, he came under attack, which fortunately became the foundation of his artist life and career. In 1976, Chang Baohua with his nephew Chang Guitian, he created and acted the crosstalk Hats Factory. Since then, he has created more than 100 works.

In August 2006, Chang Baohua was awarded The Peony Award,^[2] which is the best honor in the Chinese folk art community.

serving as judges

Chang worked as a judge many times during his lifetime. He once taught crosstalk in Peking University and North Folk Art Forms School. He created training classes to train people who were interested in crosstalk as well. Through these training classes, he cultivated many amateurs and professional actors.

Years of growing up

Originally it was unrealistic for Chang to attend school. Attending school was an indicator of affluence. Chang was born in an impoverished family in Tianjin. His family was poor and Chang grew up eating heated paste with sugar instead of evaporated milk.

Chang's neighbour was a man of wealth. His child went to school every day, which vastly increased Chang's desire to go to school. One day, he saw the child's pencil box when he played with the child. Chang was greatly impressed by the pencil box with pencils in it at first sight. After that, Going to school became his biggest dream.

Chang's brother often performed crosstalk with his father, which prevented his family from going from bad to worse. After that, his family became affluent. His brother introduced Chang to a private elementary school in Tianjin. When his brother knew his dream. Even though the classes in school such as Maths and Chinese were boring, Chang kept interest in these classes and did well. What he treasured most was the pencil and paper at that time. This has had a profound effect on him, he pays more emphasis on paper than on money.

Main works

Chang Baohua created one hundred and seventy pieces of work covering crosstalk, short sketches and clapper talk. Moreover, 50 pieces of his appeared in the newspapers. His crosstalk named Yesterday (昨天) was translated into English and published in the foreign newspapers. His crosstalk Hat Factory (帽子工厂) and short sketch Language Doctor (语言医生) were published in the Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao, which were co-authored by Chang named Selected Crosstalk of Chang's family (常氏相声选).

He participated in judging work several times and taught students in many universities such as Peking University. He cultivated a large number of students, many of whom were masters.

In the 20 years of China's reform and opening-up, Chang paid formal or informal visits to many countries such as Hong Kong, America, Singapore, etc. After his retirement, he did not stop working. He still continued to write books and teach students. He even performed in TV series and participated in drama and crosstalk performances.

Family members

Chang Baohua's wife is Fu Tianzhen and they have five children. His granddaughter Chang Si is a member of China synchronized swimming team,^[3] who got two gold medals in The Guangzhou Asian Games.^[4] Crosstalk is traditionally taught between men, and women seldom have access to it, so Chang Si was sent to learn gymnastics. However, there was no professional gymnastics team in Beijing at her age, so she chose swimming instead.

Pupils

Chang has cultivated countless students, including some crosstalk masters such as Niu Qun, Zhao Fuyu, Bao Chun, Yang Luping, Yang Zichun, Feng Yi-kang, Sung Shao-ching and Hou Yaohua.

References