Liu Baoshan (8 August 1817 – 10 August 1894), better known by his stage name Liu Gansan, was a Qing dynasty Peking opera artist based in Beijing, who specialized in Chou roles, or clowns. He was well known for playing ugly women and making ad-lib comments in his roles to poke fun at the powerful. He was from Tianjin.

Once, when he was performing in the Forbidden Palace before Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, he made a joke to remind the empress dowager that the emperor was standing without a seat. On another occasion, he ridiculed Prince Dun, Prince Gong, and Prince Chun. He received a beating because of it.

"Thirteen Masters of the Tongzhi and Guangxu Reigns" (同光十三絕), a late Qing dynasty painting by Shen Rongpu (沈容圃). Liu Gansan is 4th from left, dressed in the role of Madam Hu, an old peasant woman.

In popular culture

Actor Xia Yu starred as Liu Gansan in the 2002 comedy TV series The Best Clown Under Heaven (天下第一丑).

References

• Lim, SK (2010). Origins of Chinese Opera. Translated by Li En. Illustrated by Fu Chunjiang. Asiapac Books. pp. 139–141. ISBN 978-981-229-525-5.
• Thorpe, Ashley (2007). The Role of the Chou ("Clown") in Traditional Chinese Drama: Comedy, Criticism, and Cosmology on the Chinese Stage. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-5303-6.
• Hsiao, Li-ling (2007). The Eternal Present of the Past: Illustration, Theatre, and Reading in the Wanli Period, 1573–1619. Brill Publishers. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-90-04-15643-2.