Four Dan Actresses

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) is a Chinese term referring to the four most bankable young actresses from Mainland China in the early 2000s: Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Xu Jinglei, then all in their 20s. The designation was first made by a Guangzhou Daily editorial in July 2000. It gained widespread use in China following a series of interviews on Southern Metropolis Daily from December 2001 to January 2002. As expected, the four actresses dominated Chinese cinema in the following decade with varying degrees of success.

Originally, a Dan is 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 extremely popular Dan actors: Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng.

Sometimes Li Bingbing and Fan Bingbing, two Mainland actresses who had similar levels of success in the first decade of 2000s, were mentioned along with the group as "Four Dan and Two Bing" (四旦双冰).

From 2005, there have been various reports by the media as well as articles by publication companies, to pick four new young actresses as the "New Four Dan Actresses" (四小花旦).

2009 version by Tencent QQ:

2013 version by Southern Metropolis Daily:

Other actresses who are successful, but not named as one of the Four Fadan actresses, are Zhao Liying and Tiffany Tang.

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