Beijing Pingshu Storytelling
01 · Historical Records
Beijing pingshu originated in the Tang and Song dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing. It is a form of quyi with far-reaching influence in northern China, circulating mainly in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other places. From the Song dynasty onward, the flourishing of the art of shuoshu (storytelling) to a certain extent promoted the formation of long vernacular novels, laying a solid foundation for the eventual appearance of Beijing pingshu.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In Beijing pingshu performance a single storyteller sits behind a table and, using a folding fan and a striking block as props, employs gestures and facial expressions to advance the plot and portray the characters; the performer also frequently imitates with the voice the sounds of wind, rain, cannon fire and galloping horses, in order to tighten the rhythm and build up the atmosphere. In the course of its long development Beijing pingshu formed its own exclusive set of formal conventions, displaying artistic characteristics such as 'hao' (bold and sweeping), 'jin' (taut and intense), 'dong' (kinetic) and 're' (hot and animated). It organizes its narration through structures such as the 'shuliangzi' (opening frame of a book), 'huimu' (chapter division), 'guanzi' (suspenseful hook) and 'bokou' (recapitulation), and portrays people and things with devices such as 'fu' and 'zan', apt and precise, with clearly ordered layers. Its delivery is full of the flavour of spoken language; the style is bold and unadorned, ardent and lively, and it unfolds so attractively that the listener is drawn in. Since modern times a large number of performing artists of high artistic standard have come to the fore in the Beijing pingshu field, among them Yuan Kuocheng, Tian Lianyuan and Lian Liru.
Televised pingshu The Yang Family Generals
Tian Lianyuan's pioneering 1985 televised pingshu on Liaoning TV, which opened the television era of the art form.
From half-body to full-body art
Tian Lianyuan replaced the traditional table-fan-block setting with full-body movement, enlarged playing area and vivid physical characterization.
Outlaws of the Marsh, The Story of Liu Xiu, Further Tales of the Eight Heroes
Long pingshu titles that Tian Lianyuan collected, edited and published.
Training grounded in Xihe dagu
Tian Lianyuan apprenticed at nine to the Tianjin storyteller Wang Qisheng, learning Xihe dagu and the sanxian, which grounded his later pingshu.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Benxi is famous for the televised pingshu of Tian Lianyuan. At the age of nine Tian Lianyuan apprenticed to the veteran Tianjin storyteller Wang Qisheng, learning to sing Xihe dagu while also studying the sanxian; from the age of fourteen he told stories in Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong and other places, and in 1959 he joined the Benxi Municipal Quyi Troupe. In 1985 he was the first to perform the long-form pingshu Generals of the Yang Family on Liaoning Television, and was called the 'first man of televised pingshu'. The Benxi line moved storytelling-house pingshu onto television, forming a Benxi style characterized by physical performance and stylized movement; the Benxi Municipal Cultural Development Service Centre is the protecting unit of this project.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Beijing Pingshu Storytelling · Beijing Pingshu Storytelling · Beijing Pingshu Storytelling.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The classic repertoire of Beijing pingshu chiefly includes Romance of the Eastern Han, Romance of the Western Han, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Story of Yue Fei and The Three Heroes and Five Gallants; in the course of their transmission these works performed an educational function by popularizing historical knowledge and displaying traditional virtues, and their cultural value cannot be underestimated. At present the increase in forms of literary and artistic entertainment and the development of mass media have brought unprecedented prosperity to social and cultural life; against this background the interest and enthusiasm of people in pingshu as an art form have been greatly weakened. This state of affairs has affected the development of Beijing pingshu, so that the number of practitioners has fallen, the outstanding folk art which once shone for a time has few successors, transmission faces enormous difficulties, and the relevant departments urgently need to take measures as soon as possible to protect and support it. Tian Lianyuan (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1941, native of Benxi City, Liaoning Province. At the age of nine he apprenticed to the veteran Tianjin storyteller Wang Qisheng, learning to sing Xihe dagu and also studying the sanxian. From the age of fourteen he began telling stories in Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong and other places. In 1959 he joined the Benxi Municipal Quyi Troupe. In 1985 he was the first to perform the long-form pingshu Generals of the Yang Family on Liaoning Television, becoming the 'first man of televised pingshu'. From 1987 onward China Central Television and the television stations of the various provinces and cities broadcast Tian Lianyuan's pingshu one after another, giving rise to a 'Tian Lianyuan pingshu craze'. He changed the traditional storytelling format of 'one table, one fan, one striking block', transforming pingshu from a 'half-body art' into a 'full-body art'. He is skilled in employing rich body language, vivid stylized performance and brilliant martial action, forming a performance style marked by a large performing area, a wide amplitude of movement, sharply outlined physical characterization of the characters and pronounced development and change in the characters' feelings. He collected, edited and published the long-form pingshu Water Margin, The Biography of Liu Xiu, Generals of the Yang Family and Further Adventures of the Little Eight Heroes. Representative inheritor of Beijing pingshu in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lian Liru 03-1173
- Dantianfang 03-1174
- Liu Lanfang 03-1175
- Tian Lianyuan 03-1176
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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