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Henan Province is home to Yuju, one of China's famous national opera forms, right alongside Peking Opera and Pingju. Yuju, formed in the Ming Dynasty and gaining prosperity from 1930s to the mid 1980s, is known for its smooth voices, beautiful melodies and the strong local flavor of Henan culture. Meanwhile, its simple and unsophisticated style has made it popular throughout the country.
There are some different artistic schools in the performance of Yuju, such as the Chang School (Chang Xiangyu), the Chen School (Chen Suzheng), the Ma School (Ma Jinfeng) and so on.
As one of the most famous actresses of Yuju and also the master of Chang School, Chang Xiangyu made her reputation with her ability to act various types of characters, such as Qingyi, Laodan, Xiaosheng and Laosheng. She formed her own school, absorbing other sister art forms like Peking Opera,Pingju and Dagu. Her well-known repertoire is Hua Mulan.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the 1950s, Chang Xiangyu donated a plane at the cost of all her save, expressing her love and support for her motherland.
Hua Mulan
Hua Mulan, a figure of Chinese legend best known for the Disney feature film of the same name, disguised herself as a man in order to fulfill the conscription of her father. Her name has long been synonymous with the word "heroine".
Although history records have different versions of Hua Mulan's origin, the plot is the same. It is said that Hua Mulan's father received an order to serve in the army. He had fought before but, by this time, was old and infirm. Hua Mulan knew it was out of the question for her father to go and her only brother was much too young. She decided to disguise herself as a man and take her father's place. The troops fought in many bloody campaigns for several years before they obtained permission to return home. Hua Mulan was summoned to the court by the emperor, who wished to appoint her to a high position as a reward for her outstanding service. Hua Mulan declined his offer and accepted a fine horse instead. Only later, when her former comrades in arms went to visit her, did they learn that she was a woman.