Mr Sun Ma Si Tsang

1916-1997

Actor

Actor and Cantonese opera artist Tang Wing Cheung is best known by his stage name Sun Ma Si Tsang and the moniker “the King of Male Principal Roles”. His parents divorced when he was very young and he ran away from home to escape his stepmother’s maltreatment. He apprenticed under Cantonese opera artists Sai Gei and Ho Sau Nin, becoming known at a young age as “the Child Prodigy”. As he excelled at imitating virtuoso Ma Si Tsang, his master gave him the stage name “Sun Ma Si Tsang” (“New Ma Si Tsang”). Tsang went on to train under another virtuoso, actor and composer Sit Kok Sin, and even learned Peking opera in Shanghai. His unique singing style came to be known as the “Sun Ma style”. In 1931, Tsang founded Sun Ma Cantonese Opera Troupe and shot to fame playing in Lust Is the Worst Vice and Emperor Guangxu Paying Homage to Concubine Zhen at Night, works which became his signature pieces. Tsang made his big screen debut in 1936 with The Perfect Match (1936). Besides adapting operatic works for the cinema, he was also famous for comedic roles alongside Tang Kee Chan, such as in the “Two Fools” series and in Instalment on Marriage (1961), Teddy Boy in the Gutter (1967), A Strange Daredevil (1967) and other much-loved comedies. By 1976, Tsang had made more than 300 movies. In 1960, he founded Wing Cheung Records Company to release his own works. His lifelong commitment to philanthropy earned him the moniker “the Opera King of Charity”.