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Four Dan actresses

{{Short description|Four bankable young actresses of Mainland China}}

The Four Dan actresses (四旦 or 四大名旦 or 四小名旦 or 四大花旦 or 四小花旦) are the four most bankable actresses in China. Guangzhou Daily first used the term to reference Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun, and Xu Jinglei in July 2000, when they were all in their 20s.{{cite web | url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/c_star/2000-07-18/10951.shtml | title=综述：谁是中国影视界新"四大名旦"？(附图) | language=Chinese|date=July 18, 2000 | accessdate=27 March 2024|archive-date=27 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327092208/https://ent.sina.com.cn/c_star/2000-07-18/10951.shtml|url-status=live}} It gained widespread use in China following a series of interviews with them by Southern Metropolis Daily from December 2001 to January 2002.{{cite news | title="四大名旦"访谈之章子怡：就是一个小女孩(图) | url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/m/27050.html | publisher=Sina | date=2000-12-19 | language=Chinese | accessdate=2014-06-13}}{{cite news | title="四大名旦"之周迅：这张俏脸让人一见难忘(图) | url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/m/27853.html | publisher=Sina | date=2000-12-27 | language=Chinese | accessdate=2014-06-13}}{{cite news | title=四大名旦之徐静蕾：像邻家女孩 自信很漂亮(图) | url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/m/28390.html | publisher=Sina | date=2001-01-02 | language=Chinese | accessdate=2014-06-13}}{{cite news | title=四大名旦访谈之赵薇：比小燕子更真实更可爱(图) | url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/h/30459.html | publisher=Sina | date=2001-01-17 | language=Chinese | accessdate=2014-06-13}} The media have made repeated efforts to elect the "New Four Dan actresses" thereafter, but the acceptance and recognition of these new lists have not matched that of the original Four Dan actresses.

Originally, a dan was a male actor who portrayed a leading female character in Peking opera. The term "Four Dan" was first coined in the 1920s to refer to four popular dan actors: Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng.

The Four Dan actresses

Li Bingbing (born 1973), graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Fan Bingbing (born 1981), graduate of the Shanghai Xie Jin-Hengtong School of Arts (now Shanghai Normal University), gained fame soon after the quartet in the early 2000s. They were sometimes mentioned together as "Four Dan and Two Bing" (四旦双冰).{{cite web |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/590949214_121145798 |title=从“四旦双冰”到“四杨双丽”，娱乐圈的女明星越来越差！|language=zh |website=Sohu |date=October 8, 2022 |accessdate=August 9, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://ent.sina.cn/zl/2016-11-08/zl-ifxxnffr7073213.d.html |title=“四旦双冰”才是女演员的正确打开方式 |date=November 8, 2016 |website=Sina |accessdate=August 9, 2023 |language=zh}} Shu Qi (born 1974), a Taiwanese actress who gained fame in the late 1990s, and Tang Wei (born 1979), a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama who gained fame through Lust, Caution (2007), were sometimes mentioned together as "Four Dan Two Bing One Shu One Tang" (四旦双冰一舒一汤).{{cite web |url=https://superpyq.com/topic/62980a723fed665142931c3a|title=娱乐圈大花重新洗牌！四旦双冰落幕，巩俐两连扑，汤唯发展好|date=January 6, 2022|website=Superpyq|accessdate=May 5, 2024|language=zh|archive-date=May 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505101212/https://superpyq.com/topic/62980a723fed665142931c3a|url-status=live}}

New Four Dan actresses and '85 flowers

From 2005, the media have made repeated efforts to elect "New Four Dan actresses" (新四小花旦).

2009 version by Tencent:{{cite web |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/yl/kong/news/2009/04-27/1664455.shtml |title=内地新“四小花旦”、“四大小生”出炉（图)|language=zh |date=April 27, 2009 |website=China News |last=Zhang |first=Zailin |accessdate=August 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212152651/http://www.chinanews.com/yl/kong/news/2009/04-27/1664455.shtml |archive-date=February 12, 2011 |url-status=live}}

2013 version by Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly:{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729103750/http://www.smweekly.com/news/cover/201301/32220.aspx |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |url=http://www.smweekly.com/news/cover/201301/32220.aspx |title=10年之后再评花旦 |language=zh |date=January 21, 2013 |accessdate=August 9, 2023 |website=SM Weekly}}

The four actresses from the 2013 version were all born after 1985. Along with three other actresses who were born around 1985– Tiffany Tang (born 1983), a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, Zhao Liying (born 1987) and Liu Yifei (born 1987)–they are now usually known together as the '85 flowers (85花).{{Cite web |title=六朵最强85花：赵丽颖刘亦菲领跑 有人飞升有人快掉队 |url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20250226-5902666 |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=www.zaobao.com.sg |language=zh-Hans}}

New Four Dan actresses of the "post-'90s" generation

In August 2016, Southern Metropolis Daily conducted a survey among 173 million netizens and 110 professional media and industry insiders. After a series of voting, four actresses who were born after 1990 (90后四小花旦) were picked.{{cite web|url=http://photo.pclady.com.cn/pic/75934.html#ad=10300|title=郑爽周冬雨杨紫关晓彤 90后四小花旦新鲜出炉！_太平洋时尚网图库|first=zhangweijian_gz|last=duqihong_gz|website=photo.pclady.com.cn}}

New Four Dan actresses of the "post-'95s" generation

Since 2018, the media have made efforts to elect "New Four Dan actresses" among those were born after 1995 (95后四小花旦).

2018 version by Sohu Entertainment:{{Cite web |title=95后四小花旦出炉！她们是：关晓彤、张子枫、文淇、欧阳娜娜_娱乐 |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/www.sohu.com/a/284616734_114941 |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=www.sohu.com}}

2019 version by CCTV-6:{{cite web |date=January 5, 2019 |title=央视评选新生代四小花旦 张雪迎上榜关晓彤遭质疑 |url=http://ent.163.com/19/0105/10/E4OHPO8300038FO9.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505101635/https://www.163.com/ent/article/E4OHPO8300038FO9.html |archive-date=May 5, 2024 |website=Netease |language=zh}}

2022 version by Sina Entertainment:{{Cite web |title=Sina Visitor System |url=https://passport.weibo.com/visitor/visitor?entry=miniblog&a=enter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fweibo.com%2F1642591402%2FMhpIacNiy%3Frefer_flag%3D1001030103_&domain=weibo.com&ua=Citoid%20%28Wikimedia%20tool%3B%20learn%20more%20at%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediawiki.org%2Fwiki%2FCitoid%29&_rand=1715447454193&sudaref= |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=passport.weibo.com}}

Similar titles

The Chinese media have made similar efforts to elect the "Four Sheng actors" (四大小生), but the acceptance and recognition of these lists have not matched that of the Four Dan actresses. The most popular version of the "Four Sheng actors" includes Chen Kun, Deng Chao, Liu Ye, and Huang Xiaoming, who are now known in Chinese as "Four Middle(-aged) Sheng actors" (四大中生).

In addition, in the early 1990s, Hong Kong's most popular male stars were collectively referred to as the "Four Heavenly Kings" (Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai). Later, Taiwan also introduced four male idols labelled "Four Younger Heavenly Kings" (Alec Su, Nicky Wu, Jimmy Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro).

References

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Category:21st-century Chinese actresses

Category:20th-century Chinese actresses

Category:Chinese film actresses

Category:Chinese culture