Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue)

01 · Historical Records

Xiangsheng (crosstalk) took shape in Beijing around the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reign periods of the Qing dynasty, and afterwards spread widely through the broad northern regions of China, with the Beijing-Tianjin area being by far the most active; to this day it has been transmitted down to the ninth generation.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Xiangsheng is one of the most widely disseminated and best-loved of all Chinese narrative-and-musical arts, distinguished by its humour and satire and full of dramatic quality. Xiangsheng performance was originally divided into two kinds: that performed inside a curtain was called "anchun" (hidden spring) and consisted mainly of ventriloquism-type programmes, while that performed in public was called "mingchun" (open spring) and consisted mainly of language-based programmes. The performance forms belonging to "mingchun" are the single-mouth xiangsheng (dankou) performed by one person alone, the paired xiangsheng (duikou) performed by two people, and the group xiangsheng (qunkou) performed collectively by three or more people; of these, paired xiangsheng is the most common. Judged by the actual conditions of performance, paired xiangsheng can further be divided into several types such as "one-heavy" (yitouchen), "mother-and-child gag" (zimugen) and "running passage" (guankou); in recent years there have also appeared new performance forms with a strong comic colouring, such as costumed xiangsheng (huazhuang xiangsheng) and xiangsheng sketches. The traditional repertoire of xiangsheng is extraordinarily rich. Those preserved after being worked over and tidied up mainly include single-mouth works such as "Three Promotions in Rank" (Liansheng Sanji), "Pearl, Jade and White Jade Soup" (Zhenzhu Feicu Baishuitang), "Melting Wax on a Hairpin" (Hualaqian'er) and "The Little Immortal" (Xiao Shenxian); paired works such as "Boasting of a House" (Kua Zhuzhai), "A Funeral Gathering" (Baishihui), "The Manchu-Han Imperial Feast" (Manhan Quanxi), "Yellow Crane Tower" (Huanghelou), "Guan Yu Fights Qin Qiong" (Guan Gongzhan Qinqiong), "A Mixed Talk on Theatre" (Xijuzatan) and "Guessing Lantern Riddles" (Da Dengmi); and group works such as "Pulling Apart a Horse Jacket" (Pa Magua) and "Diamond Legs" (Jingang Tui). Tianjin xiangsheng forms a school of its own: it leans heavily on speech, is marked by satire, is lively and boisterous, and is rich in humour. Works with a strong satirical edge such as Zhang Shouchen's "Genzhengbu", Xiao Mogu's "Yafen Dai" (The Bag of Toothpowder), and Ma Sanli's "Kai Zhouchang" (Opening the Congee Mill), "Mai Guapiao" (Selling Fake Tickets) and "Mai Hou" (Buying the Monkey) are the representatives of Tianjin xiangsheng. Wen'gen (cultivated-gag) xiangsheng in Tianjin also has a long historical tradition, and one after another many different schools of performance have emerged there. Taking the traditional xiangsheng work "Wenzhang Hui" (The Literary Gathering) alone, there are several performance scripts, by Zhang Shouchen, Ma Sanli, Su Wenmao and others, each of which has its own distinctive style when performed on the stage.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In the performance texts of paired xiangsheng the performers are divided into two, jia and yi: jia is responsible for setting up the jokes (dougen) and yi for playing along and supporting them (penggen).

Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) · Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Xiangsheng today is gradually drifting towards the edge of "fast-food culture", and under the action of mass media it has become alienated to some degree. At present, training the next generation of performers has become the pressing task for the transmission and development of xiangsheng, and calls for high attention. Chang Baoting (as recorded in the official file on associated inheritors): He is a national first-class performer. He has served as president of the Tianjin Xiangsheng Research Association and vice-president of the Tianjin Federation of Literary and Folk Arts. Nurtured and instructed by such masters of xiangsheng as Zhang Shouchen and Luo Rongshou, he studied and practised assiduously; at 16 he began to carry the main role and performed frequently in the Beijing and Tianjin areas. He inherited the Chang-school style of xiangsheng — bright and forthright, easy and generous — while also being articulate of speech and free and uninhibited in performance. In both performance style and creative work he stood out for the "new", and he was an artist who achieved notable results in inheriting, reforming and developing traditional xiangsheng art. Beginning in 1958, he adapted and created in turn dozens of new xiangsheng pieces and multi-act folk-drama plays, some of which became models for the transmission and development of xiangsheng and circulate widely. He also played in female roles in Peking opera and appeared in film roles, and for long periods performed deep among the army, factories and the countryside, sparing no effort for the development of xiangsheng in the new period. Male, of Manchu ethnicity, born in December 1929, died in January 2015, a native of Tianjin. Representative inheritor of xiangsheng in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. Ma Zhiming (as recorded in the official file on associated inheritors): Male, of Hui ethnicity, born in July 1945, a native of Tianjin. He is a national first-class performer. He is the eldest son of Ma Sanli, the towering master of xiangsheng, and belongs to the "bao" generation of actors in the xiangsheng world. Influenced by his family, he loved xiangsheng and Chinese opera from childhood. In 1957 he was admitted to the Tianjin School of Chinese Opera, where he studied the martial painted-face role (wuhualian). In 1962 he was transferred to the Tianjin Folk Art Troupe; in the 1980s the xiangsheng master Hou Baolin accepted him as a junior fellow disciple on his behalf, and he became a pupil of the xiangsheng veteran Zhu Kuoquan. He has deep grounding in traditional xiangsheng and comprehensive attainments; he excels in speaking, imitating voices, jesting and singing, and has thoroughly absorbed the essence of the Ma school of xiangsheng. While performing xiangsheng, he also devoted himself to writing it. In January 2007 he published the xiangsheng anthology "Xiaojiang Zaji" (Miscellany of the Laughing Craftsman); in December of the same year he held the series of performances "Fifty Years Roaming the Sea of Art — Ma Zhiming's Fifth Decade of Traditional Xiangsheng", presenting all of his representative programmes, and in 2009 he produced and released the corresponding discs. Representative inheritor of xiangsheng in the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Chang Baoting 03-1168
• Jiang Kun 04-1715
• Ma Zhiming 05-2504
• Zhao Yan
• Chang Baofeng

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) (Tianjin) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Chang Baoting · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Ma Zhiming · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗