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.
The Yingkou troupe and its tea-house stages
The performance base of Yingkou pingshu: tea houses and temple-fair stages where long historical romances were told in daily instalments.
Yuan Kuocheng's radio Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The most influential long radio pingshu to come out of the Yingkou troupe, broadcast nationwide and making Yingkou a storytelling centre.
Shuliangzi, guanzi and bokou
The structural devices of pingshu: the story frame, the chapter headings, the suspense knot and the deliberate break at a dramatic moment.
Folding fan, wooden block and vocal mimicry
The storyteller's fan and wooden block, reinforced by vocal mimicry of wind, rain, cannon and horses.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yingkou stands at the mouth of the Liao River and was the water-and-land port where storytellers of southern Liaoning pingshu met with performers of Northeast dagu and Xihe dagu; teahouse stages and temple-fair storytelling grounds were densely distributed there. The Yingkou Municipal Quyi Troupe long remained a stronghold of pingshu, and it was the Yingkou line that carried Yuan Kuocheng's long-form broadcast pingshu Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the whole country. Local pingshu is dominated by medium- and long-form historical romances: performers build the framework of a book on the 'shuliangzi', hold their listeners with the 'guanzi', and commonly bring a session to a close with a 'bokou' at a critical juncture, resuming the story the next day; the Yingkou Municipal Cultural and Tourism Development Service Centre (Yingkou Municipal Sports Federation Office) 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.
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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