Photo: 不明 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Mark Rowswell, better known as Dashan, has my deepest respect. An Ottawa native who studied at Peking University and mastered xiangsheng, the traditional Chinese comedic crosstalk, he did something genuinely hard: he made native audiences laugh in their own cultural idiom. Comedy is the most culturally embedded thing there is, so a Westerner rising to CCTV fame in the late 1980s through xiangsheng is no small feat of language, timing and nerve. The Order of Canada only underlines it. I am endlessly fascinated by people who burrow all the way into another culture rather than observing it from the outside. Dashan is a living bridge, and I find that admirable.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dashan
- Name (Japanese)
- 大山
- Reading
- だーしゃん
- Born
- May 23, 1965 (age 61)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Snake
- Origin
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / sinologist / xiangsheng performer
2. Background
- High school
- Nepean High School
- University
- Peking University
Awards & achievements
- Member of the Order of Canada
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Dashan born?
Born May 23, 1965 (age 61).
Where is Dashan from?
Dashan is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
What does Dashan do?
Dashan works as actor, television actor, sinologist, xiangsheng performer.
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.