Hong Xiannu (1927- ) is a renowned Yueju actress, who mainly plays the Dan role. She absorbed the vocal techniques from other traditional opera forms as well as the western ones, and led a reform of vocal music which later laid the basis for her own musical style: the female aria.

A demonstration of the reform of vocal music is the modern reorganization of timbre and rhythm. The Yueju (Guangdong Opera) Guan Hanqing demonstrates a breakthrough; other representatives are the Yuju (Henan Opera) Chaoyang Valley, and the Luju (Shandong Opera) Remarriage of Aunt Li.

In the opera Guan Hanqing, Ma Shizeng (1900-1964) and Hong Xiannü (1927- ), playing Guan Hanqing and Zhu Lianxiu respectively, were the leading actors.