Home / Culture / News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Nation Mourns a Comic Legend
Adjust font size:  ZoomIn ZoomOut

Cui Xiuqin, a 46-year-old woman cycled straight to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of Beijing on hearing the news on TV at midday yesterday.

She had just learnt that Ma Ji, 72, one of the most famous performers of xiangsheng, or comic cross-talk, had died yesterday morning of heart disease.

She did not know what she would see at the hospital, but wanted to pay her respects to her favourite artist.

"This is the biggest news today," said Cui. "I have been listening to Ma's xiangsheng for decades. The news came as such a shock, I feel so sad."

At 9:39 am yesterday, the Beijing Emergency Medical Centre received a call saying that Ma was having a heart attack. When the team arrived at Ma's home in northern Beijing, the performer was found slumped on the toilet in a critical condition.

Within 10 minutes, the emergency team had got Ma to the Tiantongyuan Branch of the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Changping District. But by 10 pm, Ma was dead. The cause of death was a heart attack. At around 11:30 am, Ma's body was taken to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

Famous xiangsheng performer Jiang Kun, one of Ma's students, carried his body off the ambulance and into the hospital. With tears in his eyes, he described how the speed at which Ma's death was reported, reflected his place in people's hearts.

Other xiangsheng performers, including Yang Shaohua and Meng Fangui also turned up at the hospital to discuss plans for Ma's funeral.

On the Internet, numerous netizens penned messages to express their sadness at Ma's passing.

"Ma condemned evil and praised the moral in a light-hearted and pleasant way. That's why I liked his xiangsheng," said a netizen called Yan Zhi on the website www.xiangsheng.org.

Ma was a student of the late xiangsheng master Hou Baolin (1917-93). He not only inherited Hou's character, but also developed his own style. Ma was known for his performances of xiangsheng that referred to modern day China, and he became a key figure in the development of xiangsheng after the founding of New China.

He started his career in the 1950s, when xiangsheng was one of the few forms of entertainment sanctioned for the public. In those days it was common for whole families to sit around a radio to listen to and laugh at xiangsheng performances. Ma's image and signature jokes became etched in the minds of the nation when TV became popular with Chinese households. Ma was host of the most watched Spring Festival TV programme on CCTV for three years.

According to a survey by Sina, his most popular xiangsheng work was "Five Sense Organs Contending for Merits"(Wuguan Zhenggong). In this xiangsheng performed by six people, Ma as the head was grilled by five men playing the five sense organs for not giving them due merit. The fable-like work satirized people who chase fame.

In recent years, Ma devoted mostly to teaching xiangsheng and arranging xiangsheng works. As recently as early October he appeared at the third CCTV Xiangsheng Competition as a juror.

Ma was also a calligrapher. His calligraphy can be seen inscribed on the board of the "Weekend Xiangsheng Club" and "Deyun Society," two of the most popular xiangsheng venues in Beijing.

"The news of Ma's passing is unexpected and sad," said leader of "Deyun Society," well-known xiangsheng performer Guo Degang, who was in Tianjin when he heard the news. "I will go back to Beijing as soon as possible to take part in farewell activities for Ma."

(China Daily December 21, 2006)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
- Famous Crosstalk Artist Dies of Heart Disease
Most Viewed >>
>
主站蜘蛛池模板: 最新国产精品精品视频| 精品国产va久久久久久久冰| 国产精品成年片在线观看| xx视频在线永久免费观看| 无码精品一区二区三区免费视频 | 夜夜高潮天天爽欧美| 下面一进一出好爽视频| 日产亚洲一区二区三区| 久久国产精品萌白酱免费| 最近中文字幕在线中文视频| 亚洲国产AV一区二区三区| 欧美精品久久天天躁| 亚洲色成人网站WWW永久| 精品国产成人亚洲午夜福利 | 伊人色综合久久天天| 精品国产一区二区三区在线 | 国产成人综合亚洲绿色| free哆啪啪免费永久| 国产精品爽爽va在线观看无码 | 天堂а√8在线最新版在线| 丁香婷婷六月天| 成人毛片免费观看视频大全| 久久久久久久久久久福利| 日本视频一区在线观看免费| 久久精品天天中文字幕人妻| 最近中文字幕高清2019中文字幕| 亚洲国产精品综合久久20| 欧美日韩在线视频免费完整| 亚洲精品99久久久久中文字幕 | 国产成年无码v片在线| 日本免费色网站| 国产福利影院在线观看| 男女xx动态图| 国产精品国产三级在线专区| 2021果冻传媒剧情在线观看| 国产系列在线播放| 6080手机理论三级理论| 国产高清一区二区三区免费视频| 97久久精品一区二区三区| 国内一级特黄女人精品毛片| 91色视频网站|