Yip Fat-Yeuk葉弗弱

Yip Fat-Yeuk葉弗弱 (1905-1979), formerly known as Ye Zhenguang, was a native of Baoan (Hakka). In the late 1920s, he was invited by Ma Shitsang to join the Da Luotian Theater. In 1933, he was hired as the Zhengyin Chou Sheng of Xue Juexian's Juexian Sheng Theater. He performed well in Xue's famous dramas such as "The Romance of the Palace" and "The Three Earls". . Both Yip and his younger brother Fuk Yu were ugly students of Cantonese opera. They came from a scholarly family. They studied English at the Hong Kong English College when they were young. When they grew up, they went against their parents' wishes and joined the opera industry with low social status. First, play civilized drama (drama) in school and organize a drama club. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Patriot Troupe, which was inclined towards Sun Yat-sen's revolution, became popular in the Cantonese opera industry. Yip Fat-Yeuk was keen on the reformed Cantonese opera activities derived from the Patriot Troupe. Yip Fat-Yeuk was already a backbone of the school's theater scene when he was a student. He also participated in the "Lelele" drama club led by Su Zhaozheng, the main leader of the Guangzhou Uprising. During this period, the Cantonese opera reform movement was popular, and those who belonged to the Bells Drama Club, such as Yi Qiushui and Lin Kunshan, were known as the "new opera giants". In 1936, he collaborated with Bai Jurong, Liang Shaofeng, Qianliju, Bai Yutang and other theater troupes such as Evergreen and Yi Qingtian to perform plays such as "Seventy-two Copper City" and "Yan Guiren Not Returning". Since the 1940s, Yip Fat-Yeuk has been promoted to the major classes such as Shenjue Xiansheng, Daluotian, and Dalongfeng. It was "One Hundred Thousand Child Corpses" that made Yip Fat-Yeuk famous. Because he played the role of the evil Tu Anjia so vividly, the media and moviegoers dubbed him, Ban Ri'an and the other three as the "Four Famous Ugly". Although there is no master-disciple relationship, most connoisseurs believe that Yip Fat-Yeuk's ugly life actually originated from Liao Xiahuai - his wooden mouth and wooden face, his cold humor, his sharp tongue and his extraordinary singing voice, etc., are all the routines of the Liao school. Banri'an also imitates Liao, but his voice is clear , lacking Liao's deep and hoarse voice. In terms of appearance, Yip Fat-Yeuk seems to be closer. In the play, Yip Fat-Yeuk mostly appeared as a common man, but because of his national interests, he went to the United States at the end of 1939, visiting Boston, San Francisco and other places. Soon after Yip Fat-Yeuk returned, Hong Kong fell. Unwilling to be exploited by the enemy, he used a trick to deceive the enemy chieftain into escaping from the occupied area. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to Hong Kong and collaborated with Kuang Shanxiao, Zhao Jingxun and others to make films. In 1948, he once joined the Dalongfeng Theater Company and collaborated with Feng Shaoxia, Qin Xiaoli, Huang Xinxuemei and others. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he collaborated with Xue Juexian, Deng Biyun, Chen Yannong and others in Biyuntian and Xinhua Opera Troupe to perform in dramas such as "Fan Li Xishi in the Wu Palace" and "The Empress Chen Angrily Throws the Rouge Well". In the 1950s, the Yi Qingtian and Ping An Theater Troupes collaborated with Jiang Shixun, Xu Xinxin, Wen Yufeng, Ye Fuyu, Huang Xinxuemei, etc. to perform plays such as "Zhang Gugu Borrows His Wife", "Foshan Ancestral Temple" and "Tang Renshi". He is famous for his ugly performances in official clothes. His most famous work is playing the role of Tu Anjia in "Shiwan Children's House". After the 1960s, he served as the director of the Cantonese Opera Training Class in Foshan District and the leader of the Second Youth Cantonese Opera Troupe in Foshan District. He retired in 1965 and was a director of the Guangdong Provincial Drama Association. Yip Fat-Yeuk passed away in 1979.