Hou Yaowen

Hou Yaowen (July 17, 1948 – June 23, 2007), or Hou Yuewen, was a Chinese Xiangsheng actor originally from Beijing.

Throughout his life, he was a member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice chairman of the Chinese Quyi Artists Association, member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee of the China Railway Art Troupe, deputy head (deputy bureau level) and head of the rap troupe, and a national first-class actor.

Hou Yaowen was born in 1948, as the third son of crosstalk master Hou Baolin.

He became a Xiangsheng actor in 1960 at 12 years old.

The performance was the crosstalk, "Drunk," that his father Hou Baolin once performed.

His mother, Wang Yalan, a native of Tianjin, was a Peking Opera performer.

After liberation, she organized a Peking Opera troupe in the street, teaching opera as compulsory obligation and training young actors.

Hou's profound Peking Opera skills also benefited from his mother's teaching.

His two older brothers were Hou Yaozhong and Hou Yaohua.

In 1960, Hou Yaowen made his debut performance, "Drunk," which was previously performed by his father.

Since then, because his father opposed his aspirations, Hou was referred to as "Little Adi" as his stage name for the first four years of his career.

In 1965, Hou graduated from junior high school and was admitted to the China Railway Art Troupe, where he partnered with Shi Fukuan.

In 1970, he went to the 38th Army in Baoding, Hebei Province with the Art Troupe.

After working, he rehearsed with soldiers, creating and performing more than a dozen crosstalks, such as "Being Smart and Brave" and "Little Ball Pushing Big Ball."

In October 1976, after the Cultural Revolution, several works such as Money-obsessed Husbands, Being Brave, and Talking About Drama were released one after another.

The names of Hou Yaowen and Shi Fukuan began to be known to the audience.

On July 28, 1976, six days after the Tangshan earthquake, Hou went to the disaster area with the railway rescue team for rescue and condolences.

On October 30, 1979, he was elected as a delegate and participated in the 4th Congress of China Writers and Artists.

His father, Hou Baolin, was also a representative of the conference, leading him to recognize Hou Yaowen's position in the practice.

In the same year, he was elected as a member of the All-China Youth Federation.

He also participated in the central condolence group and went to the front lines of the Sino-Vietnamese border self-defense counterattack.

During this period, he wrote the cross talk "The Disillusionment of a Myth."

On February 12, 1983, he participated in the first CCTV Spring Festival party and performed the cross talk "Be Polite."

On June 26, 1984, he participated in the National Crosstalk Appraisal Meeting held in Qingdao.

In this appraisal, Shen Yongnian and Hou Yaowen created the crosstalk "Sweet and Sour Live Fish" performed by Hou and Shi Fukuan, and were awarded two first-place prizes for creativity and performance.

On December 11, he visited the United States with the China Quyi Rap Group led by Hou Baolin and made the first official performance of Quyi abroad, which was performed in five cities: New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

On December 29, he flew to Hong Kong and gave eight performances.

In the same year, Hou Yaowen won the highest prize in the National Crosstalk Competition - the first "Hou Baolin Academy Award".

In 1985, he became one of the "Top Ten Comedians in China".

In 1985, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Tibet Autonomous Region, he climbed the Tanggula Mountain's altitude of more than 5,000 meters with the central condolence group and performed for the railway surveyors.

On February 16, 1988, CCTV Spring Festival Gala was broadcast with him as the host.

On February 5, 1989, he participated in the recording of CCTV Spring Festival Gala and performed the sketch "A Day of Hero Mother" in cooperation with Zhao Lirong.

In 1993, he was awarded the "International Art Achievement Certificate" by the American Huamei Art Society.

In 1993, he was awarded the "International Certificate of Artistic Achievement" by the American Huamei Art Society.

In 1994, he was selected as one of the Chinese Top Ten Comedian Stars.

In 1996, he was awarded the title of "Artist with Virtue and Art" by the Ministry of Culture and many other honors.

In September 2000, he joined the CCP.

Following 9/11 in New York City, he went to the United States with the China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese Art Troupe to express condolences to overseas Chinese, and held charity performances in nine regions including Phoenix, Boston and Dallas.

Hou died of heart attack at his home on June 23, 2007, aged 59.

Guo Degang is Hou's disciple.