Obituary
China National Theatre solemnly announces: Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan, a first-class actor of China National Theatre and a famous actor deeply loved by the national audience, died of illness at 11:39 on May 17, 2025 at the age of 51. In accordance with the wishes of the family, the funeral will be kept simple.
This is an obituary notice.
China National Theatre
May 21, 2025
Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan's life
Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan was born in March 1974 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. After graduating from the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama, she devoted all her enthusiasm to the career of stage and film and television art. For 28 years, she has been rooted in the National Theatre of China with a pure heart. The soul characters she created in classic plays such as "Si Fan" and "Four Generations Under One Roof" have illuminated the vast galaxy of Chinese drama like sparks; the moving images she portrayed in film and television works such as "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin" and "Ocean Paradise" have soaked the hearts of hundreds of millions of viewers like spring rain. She has won national honors such as the China TV Golden Eagle Award and the Shanghai Film Critics Award for her outstanding performance art achievements, and has interpreted the profound connotation of both virtue and art with her life.
As an outstanding representative of literary and artistic workers in the new era, Zhu Yuanyuan has always upheld the belief that "drama is more important than life", burning her youth under the spotlight of the stage and carving her life in the small space of the camera. She demonstrated the purity and responsibility of performing artists with her simple and sincere passion in the drama "Storm", showed the international vision of Chinese actors with her exquisite interpretation of Shakespeare's plays in "Richard III", forged delicate and warm forbearance and strength with the sadness and suffering of women in "Red Dust", and conveyed the great love of the world with her courage and excellent acting skills in playing three roles in "The Mansion Gate". Her artistic footprints measure the exploration of the transformation of Chinese drama from tradition to modernity; the light of her life reflects the magnificent journey of the prosperity and development of socialist literature and art.
The death of Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan has caused the Chinese drama and film and television circles to lose a pillar, and has caused thousands of audiences to lose a close friend. She has left us not only many classic dramas, film and television works, but also Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan's love, obsession and pursuit of performing arts, her awe of the stage, her love for the people, and her sense of responsibility for her country. Comrade Zhu Yuanyuan's lifelong contribution to the theater will be forever engraved on the monument of Chinese drama. All colleagues of the China National Theatre will use her artistic spirit of "drama bones and loyal heart" to encourage the theater actors to work hard on the journey of literature and art in the new era.
The long river never stops flowing, and the mountains and clouds are full of thoughts. In the name of art, let us pay high tribute to this performing artist who lit up the stage with her life. May Zhu Yuanyuan's artistic life last forever in the audience's memory, and may her artistic spirit live forever in the long river of Chinese drama.
This is the obituary.
China National Theatre
May 21, 2025
