Shandong Kuaishu
01 · Historical Records
In June 1949, when the performer Gao Yuanjun was recording the record "Lu Da Removes the Overlord" at the Shanghai Greater China Record Company, the form was formally given the name "Shandong Kuaishu". There are several accounts of its origin: first, that it was founded by Liu Maoji, a candidate for the military examination who failed the exam during the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty; second, that it was founded by Fu Hangzhang, a Shandong big-drum performer during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty; third, that it was founded by Zhao Dawei, a down-and-out literatus during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty. But judging from the artistic lineage of the performers, the more credible account is that it was founded by Fu Hangzhang during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty. Especially from the middle of the 20th century, Gao Yuanjun joined a quyi performance troupe of the army and trained a batch of professional Shandong Kuaishu performers within the military system, so that the range of its circulation was further enlarged and its influence reached most parts of the country. Other influential performers of the middle and later 20th century included Liu Sichang, Sun Zhenye and Gao Jingzuo, and some female performers also appeared. Since the middle of the 20th century the subject matter of Shandong Kuaishu has continually expanded and new programs have kept appearing. Representative ones are the works publicising resistance to Japan, "Seizing Yuanjiachengzi" and "The Great Battle of Daigu Mountain"; the works depicting the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, "One Cartload of Sorghum", "Three Chickens", "Taking Captives" and "The Scout Soldiers"; and the works reflecting socialist construction and military life, "Qinghai Is Good", "The Commander Helps in the Kitchen", "Zhang Da Goes to His Mother-in-Law's Home", "Li Sanbao Competes in Martial Arts" and "Mother Jin Keeping House". Since entering the 21st century, Shandong Kuaishu performers have been left with a shortage of successors and are in urgent need of support.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shandong Kuaishu is a very typical form of quyi storytelling performed through rhymed recitation. Because in its early period it mainly performed stories of Wu Song, and Wu Song was the second son of his family, it was popularly called "Wu Lao'er"; the performers were called "those who narrate Wu Lao'er" or "those who sing Wu Lao'er". And because the protagonist Wu Song it portrays is tall and powerfully built, the performers were further called "those who sing the big man". Later, in different periods, this form of quyi also bore the names "Zhaban Kuaishu" (bamboo-slab kuaishu) and "Huaji Kuaishu" (comic kuaishu). Shandong Kuaishu is mainly popular in the region of North China with Shandong as its centre. After its foundation, through the efforts of several generations of performers including Zhao Zhen, Wei Yuhe, Wu Hongjun, Lu Tongwu, Lu Tongwen, Du Yongchun, Ma Yuheng, Qi Yongli, Fan Yuande, Gao Yuanjun, Li Yuancai, Yang Lide, Liu Tongwu and Fu Yongchang, it developed into a major genre of quyi exercising influence over the whole of North China and parts of East China. Among them, Gao Yuanjun and Yang Lide in particular trained many disciples, had distinctive styles and exerted broad influence. Gao Yuanjun and his disciples perform with fiery vigour and wit and are known as the "Gao school"; Yang Lide and his disciples perform with subtlety and playful humour and are known as the "Yang school". Shandong Kuaishu is performed in the local pronunciation of Shandong, using rhymed recitation as the main element, with spoken narrative interspersed. The vocal style is a typical rhymed-recitation style, leaning towards "yinsong" (chanted recitation) in the early period and tending towards "bansong" (beat recitation) later on. The sung lyrics are rhymed verse based mainly on seven-character lines, characterised by being colloquial and vivid. The traditional signature repertoire of Shandong Kuaishu is the long narrative work "Wu Song Zhuan" (The Biography of Wu Song), but performances often select individual chapters or passages from it, such as "Jingyang Ridge" (also known as "Wu Song Fights the Tiger"), "Shizipo", "Kuaihuolin" and "Nao Gongtang".
The Wu Song saga
The long Wu Song cycle is the form's signature work, usually performed in excerpts such as Jingyang Ridge and Cross Slope.
Four ways of delivery
Four styles of delivery, with spoken passages divided into explanatory narration and digressive commentary.
The Gao and Yang schools
Gao Yuanjun's fiery school and Yang Lide's delicate school are the two great lines of the form.
Earlier names of the form
The form was earlier called bamboo-clapper or comic kuaishu, and its performers were nicknamed after the tall hero Wu Song.
New pieces of the mid-twentieth century
A Car of Sorghum, Three Hens and Taking Prisoners represent the new wartime and military repertoire of the mid-century.
Three accounts of the origin
Three origin stories survive; the Fu Hanzhang account of the Daoguang era is considered most credible, and the name was fixed in 1949.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the way it is sung there are the distinctions of "pingkou" (plain delivery), "piaokou" (flavoured delivery), "guankou" (running delivery) and "sankou" (dispersed delivery); and the "baikou" used for the spoken narrative is further divided into the explanatory "biaobai" that is interposed and the discursive, argumentative "guokou bai" that branches off.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Sun Zhenye (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Council member of the China Quyi Association, president of the China Shandong Kuaishu Research Society, and adviser of the Shandong Quyi Association. He entered the Shandong Provincial Quyi Troupe in 1960 and became a disciple of Yang Lide. He created more than 120 repertoire pieces in all, and works such as "Wu Song Zhuan" were broadcast in succession by the radio and television stations of the various provinces and municipalities as well as by the Central Radio and Television Station. His performance style takes the Gao (Yuanjun) school as its main basis and draws on the strengths of the various schools such as Yang (Lide); his performance is understated and humorous, subtle and vivid, with a sweet voice and crisp tones, and over more than fifty years of stage practice he gradually formed a style of his own. Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1944, died in 2010, native of Anqiu, Shandong. Representative inheritor of Shandong Kuaishu, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second batch, and a first-class performer. In 2006 he became a member of the judging committee for the China Quyi Peony Award. Gao Jingzuo (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): A national first-class performer. He studied the "Yang school" and "Gao school" styles of Shandong Kuaishu in succession, and is able to draw on the strengths of the two schools and integrate them, forming a style quite his own. What characterises his performance is a moderate exaggeration of the facial expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, reflection, grief, fear and shock, combined with the use of the hands, eyes, body, technique and steps, so as to embody the inner content of the work through the "emotion" of the character. In a stage career of several decades he achieved fruitful results and won high praise from society. He has taken in disciples and taught the art year-round, bringing up a large batch of young performers with solid basic skills and a high level of performance. Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1933, died in July 2018, native of Ye County, Shandong. Representative inheritor of Shandong Kuaishu, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fourth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Sun Zhenye 02-0761
- Gao Jingzuo 04-1712
- Gao Hongsheng 05-2496
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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