Xiaorehun
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the "shuo chaobao" (newspaper recitation) performed on the streets of Hangzhou in the late Qing dynasty. "Chaobao" was a local tabloid newspaper in Hangzhou at the time. Because its print quality was poor, newspaper vendors, in order to attract customers, would strike a small gong while reciting the main news items printed on the paper; this was called "shuo chaobao". Later the performers changed "shuo chaobao" into "shuo xinwen, chang chaobao" (telling the news, singing the paper), writing and performing their own material. In 1905, Du Baolin applied the form of reciting and singing the chaobao to the selling of pear candy (ligaotang). He changed the old way candy vendors made a living — merely singing a little tune or telling a small joke — and turned the content of the recitation and singing from news items and everyday anecdotes into programs with simple storylines, character personalities and conflict. In the early years of the Republic of China, Hangzhou's Gaishijie Amusement Hall was founded, and Du Baolin was invited to go there and perform. In 1927, Du Baolin's students Jiang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele entered Shanghai and performed Xiao Rehun programs such as "Fruit Jokes", receiving enthusiastic welcome from the audience.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Because the form is comic and humorous, the content witty, the lyrics easy to understand, and the vocal style taken from folk songs and ditties familiar to ordinary people, it is deeply popular. Because most of the programs express dissatisfaction with real life, they repeatedly drew constables to drive them away; to escape being held accountable, the form was given the name "Xiao Rehun", meaning the delirious nonsense the performers themselves talk. The performance form settled on one person beating a small gong while reciting and singing, singing as the main element and spoken narrative as the auxiliary. In order to enrich the performance programs and the range of performance technique, he transplanted programs from Hangzhou's neighbouring form of "gebi xi" (partition drama) such as "Xiaoshan People Worship the Door Gods", and further absorbed from gebi xi the performance techniques of "xue xiangtan" (learning the local dialect of each place) and "yin jiao" (imitating sounds, imitating the calls of a hundred kinds of bird); he himself called his recitative form "awakening-the-world talk and laughter", but Hangzhou people still called it Xiao Rehun. Xiao Rehun was not only deeply popular in itself but also exerted an influence on the formation and development of sister art forms. After that, many of the "maikou" (hawking segment) programs in Xiao Rehun were gradually transplanted or adapted into dujiao xi (single-actor) programs, such as "Qinghe Bridge". Later, huaji xi (comic drama), which developed on the basis of Shanghai dujiao xi, also transplanted and adapted Xiao Rehun programs such as "Burning the Tofu Shop". Later still, because of the small gong struck as accompaniment during a Xiao Rehun performance, people came to call it "xiao luo shu" (small-gong storytelling).
One man, one gong
The settled performance form is a single player striking a small gong, singing mainly and speaking in support, hence the name little-gong book.
Du Baolin and the pear syrup candy
In 1905 Du Baolin moved his newspaper patter onto the pear-syrup candy pitch, turning it into story-telling with characters and conflict.
Borrowings from the neighbouring play
Items such as The Xiaoshan Man Worships the Door God were transplanted from Hangzhou's隔壁戏, along with its dialect mimicry and birdsong imitations.
Jiang and Bao go to Shanghai
In 1927 Du's pupils Jiang Xiaoxiao and Bao Lele brought numbers such as The Fruit Joke to Shanghai to great acclaim.
Mother form of comic theatre
Many selling-patter routines were adapted into Shanghai comic duologues and, later, into farce scripts such as The Burning Tofu Shop.
An Zhongwen and Zhou Zhihua
An Zhongwen learned from Liang Zhuozhou and Yu Xiaofei; Zhou Zhihua won the Peony Award of Chinese quyi for performance.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xiao Rehun is a comic narrative form of quyi that is widely popular in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area; it is also called "xiao luo shu" (small-gong storytelling) and is popularly known as "the pear-candy seller".
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiaorehun.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It has now passed through six generations of inheritors. Although it is still active on the stage, most of the performers are already advanced in age, successors are urgently needed, and a large number of traditional repertoire pieces also need to be recorded and organised, so rescue and protection work is pressing. An Zhongwen (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1925, native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. A retired performer of the Hangzhou Comic Art Theatre. At 10 he became a disciple of Liang Zhuozhou to study Hangzhou quju; at 17 he followed Yu Xiaofei to learn the singing of Xiao Rehun. His voice is resonant and booming, and his performance is vivid and lifelike, drawing the audience in. His representative works include "Songhu Guerrillas" and "Comparing Daughters-in-Law". Representative inheritor of Xiao Rehun, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second batch. In 1958 he won the creative award and the performance award at the first Hangzhou quyi Festival; in the same year, at the provincial quyi Festival he won the Outstanding Actor Award and the Creative Award. In 1990, "Fruit Marriage Seeking" won third prize for performance and third prize for creation at the national festival performance. Zhou Zhihua (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1945, native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. A first-class performer of the Hangzhou Comic Art Theatre. The work he created and performed, "Cheap Goods", won first prize for creative performance at the 1986 Zhejiang Provincial quyi Competition and the Hangzhou Literature and Art Award; "Demolished Households That Were Not Demolished" won first prize for creation and first prize for performance at the Zhejiang Provincial quyi New Works Festival, as well as the Performance Award at the 4th China Quyi Peony Award. Representative inheritor of Xiao Rehun, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- An Zhongwen 02-0759
- Zhou Zhihua 02-0760
- Ye Lili 05-2494
- Xuzhanggen 05-2495
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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