Ban Ri'an半日安

Ban Ri'an半日安 (1902-1964), formerly known as Li Hongan, was from Nanhai, Guangdong. He, Li Haiquan, Liao Xiahuai and Ye Furuo were collectively known as "the four most famous ugly actors in Cantonese opera". In his early years, he studied under Ma Shizeng and changed his stage name to "Half Day's Peace半日安", which was taken from the poem "It's hard for a gentleman to find half a day's peace". In 1931, he followed Ma Shitzeng to perform Cantonese opera in the United States and met the famous Shanghai Mei. After the two got married, they had a son and a daughter. In 1937, Ban Ri'an and Shanghai Mei were invited by Xue Juexian to join the Juexian Sheng Men's and Women's Troupe and worked together for four years. "Xue, Mei, and An" were the "artistic iron triangle" of the troupe. Ban Ri'an was also known as one of the "Four Famous Ugly" at that time. He was good at both singing and acting, and he was most famous for his roles as a silly young man and an old lady. He was known as "the Guanyin born from modest words". He is most popular for his role as the old lady in "Hu Bu Gui", and has also performed outstandingly in the "Four Great Beauty Dramas" such as "A Smile", "Sister-in-law's Tribulation", "A Long Journey Ahead" and "Xishi". His aria when he played the role of Magistrate Plum in "Mai Zhifu" was widely sung at the time. After Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese invaders, he said, "I would rather go to the mainland to eat vegetables than wear robes in enemy-occupied areas." So he organized a Greater China class with Shanghai Mei to perform in the mainland. After returning to Hong Kong after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he co-starred in "The Prime Minister of the Six Kingdoms" with Xue Juexian, Bai Jurong, Liao Xihuai and others in a fund-raising performance held by the Bahe Opera Guild to relieve unemployed artists. In the early 1950s, Ban Ri'an also made films, co-producing films such as "The Four Heavenly Kings" with Wen Juefei, Li Haiquan, Yi Qiushui and others in Hong Kong. Ban Ri'an died of illness at the French Hospital in Kowloon on March 3, 1964, at the age of 62.