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Pingtan (artform)
''Pingtan'' (), also known as Suzhou Pingtan, is a regional variant of ''quyi'' and a popular musical/oral performance art form in the Jiangnan region of China, encompassing southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Originating from Suzhou, it is a blend of the Chinese narrative musical traditions of ''pinghua'' and ''tanci'', with roots tracing back to the Song dynasty and influences from Wuyue culture. This art form, shaped by Pingtan artists, has garnered immense popularity in Jiangnan. Its long history has provided a solid foundation for development. Despite its simplicity in form, Pingtan's content is rich, incorporating techniques like storytelling, joke cracking, music playing and aria singing. Its artistic features include "reasoning, tastes, unexpectedness, interest and minuteness". Although it began in Suzhou, Pingtan experienced significant growth in Shanghai during the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, spurred by the development of commerce and culture. Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Suzhou
Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the Eastern Han dynasty, mostly due to emigration from Northern and southern China, northern China. From the 10th century onwards, it has been an important economic, cultural, and commercial center, as well as the largest non-capital city in the world, until it was overtaken by Shanghai. Since Chinese economic reform, economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou attained GDP growth rates of about 14% in 35 years. In 2023, Suzhou had 5 million registered residents. Suzhou is listed as the 48th List of cities by scientific output, cities by scientific output according to the Nature Index 2022. The city is home to universities, including Soochow University (Suzhou), Soochow University, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong–Liverp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Water Margin
''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin Chinese. The story, which is set in the Northern Song dynasty (around 1120), tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or ''Liangshan'' Marsh) to rebel against the government. Later they are granted amnesty and enlisted by the government to resist the nomadic conquest of the Liao dynasty and other rebels. While the book's authorship is traditionally attributed to Shi Nai'an (1296–1372), the first external reference to the novel only appeared in 1524 during the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, sparking a long-lasting academic debate on when it was actually written and which historical events the author had witnessed that inspired him to write the book. The nove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chinese Literature
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 BC220 AD) and Tang dynasty, Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song dynasty, Song (960–1279) and Yuan dynasty, Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (''ci''), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing, mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese, an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Quyi
''Quyi'' ("melodious art") and ''shuochang yishu'' ("speaking and singing art") are umbrella terms for over 300 regional genres of traditional Chinese oral performing arts. ''Quyi'' is distinguished from ''xiqu'' (Chinese opera) by its emphasis on narration, as opposed to acting, although they share many elements including the same traditional stories. ''Quyi'' artists generally wear no to little makeup. Musical instruments like drums, wooden clappers, ''pipa'', ''yangqin'', or ''sanxian'' are commonly seen in ''quyi'', as are hand fans. History While the storytelling art concept has been around for centuries, the narrative art concept was mostly recognized in the 1920s. Only after 1949 with the founding of the People's Republic of China did the term ''quyi'' become widely used. Prior to this, it was just classified as ''shuochang yishu''. This is one of the art category that gained momentum since the New Culture Movement. With the exception of the Cultural Revolution period, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The White Haired Girl
''The White-Haired Girl'' () is a Chinese contemporary classical opera by Yan Jinxuan to a Chinese libretto by He Jingzhi and Ding Yi. It was later adapted to a ballet, a Peking opera, and a film. The ballet adaptation was regarded as a revolutionary opera. The folklore of the white-haired girl is believed to have spread widely in the areas occupied by the Communist Party of Northern China since the late 1930s. Many years later, a literary work was created in the liberated area controlled by the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1940s. The film was made in 1950 and the first Peking opera performance was in 1958. The first ballet performance was by Shanghai Dance Academy, Shanghai in 1965. It has also been performed by the noted soprano Guo Lanying.The opera was promoted by the Chinese Communist Party as a model revolutionary work. As Qi (2024) notes, its ideological function was to exemplify the Party’s narrative of class struggle and redemption through socialism, ali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Liu Hulan
Liu Hulan (刘胡兰, October 8, 1932 – January 12, 1947) was a young female revolutionary during the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China, Communist Party. She was born in Yunzhou District, Yunzhouxi village, in the Wenshui County of the Shanxi province. She joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1946 and soon after joined an association of women working in support of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). She was actively involved in organizing the villagers of Yunzhouxi in support of the CCP. Her contributions involved a wide range of activities, such as supplying food to the Eighth Liberation Army, relaying secret messages, and mending boots and uniforms. She was executed by the KMT at age 14 or 15. The Communist Party, including major figures like Mao Zedong, commemorated her as a revolutionary martyr. Liu is widely regarded as the youngest martyr of the Chinese Communist Revolution, Chinese Revolution and depicted in art and lit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Injustice To Dou E
''Dou E Yuan'', commonly translated as ''The Injustice to Dou E'', and also known as ''Snow in Midsummer'', is a Chinese zaju play written by Guan Hanqing (c. 1241–1320) during the Yuan dynasty. The full Chinese title of the play is ''Gan Tian Dong Di Dou E Yuan'', which roughly translates to ''The Injustice to Dou E that Touched Heaven and Earth''. The story follows a child bride turned widow, Dou E, who is wrongly convicted of crimes by a corrupt court official for actions perpetrated by a rejected suitor, Zhang the mule. After her execution, three prophesied phenomena occur to prove her innocence, including blood raining from the sky, snow in June and a three-year drought. After a visit from the ghost of Dou E, her father eventually brings the corrupt court official, a doctor and Mule Zhang to justice, thereby vindicating his daughter. Today, the phrase "snowing in June" is still widely used among Chinese speakers as a metaphor for a miscarriage of justice. The story has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Romance Of The Western Chamber
''Romance of the Western Chamber'' (), also translated as ''The Story of the Western Wing'', ''The West Chamber'', ''Romance of the Western Bower'' and similar titles, is one of the most famous China, Chinese dramatic works. It was written by the Yuan dynasty playwright Wang Shifu (王實甫), and set during the Tang dynasty. Known as "China's most popular love comedy," it is the story of a young couple consummating their love without parental approval, and has been seen both as a "lover's bible" and "potentially lethal," as readers were in danger of pining away under its influence. It is based on Yuan Zhen's short story ''Yingying's Biography''. Contents of the play ] Play I, Burning Incense and Worshiping the Moon Play II, Icy Strings Spell Out Grief Play III, Feelings Transmitted by Lines of Poetry Play IV, A Clandestine Meeting of Rain and Clouds Play V, A Reunion Ordained by Heaven Plot The play has twenty-one acts in five parts. It tells the story of a secret love a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fate In Tears And Laughter
''Fate in Tears and Laughter'' () is a 1930 Chinese novel by Zhang Henshui, set in 1920s Beiping (modern Beijing). A few chapters (Chapters 1, 2, 18, 19) were translated into English by Sally Borthwick for the anthology ''Chinese Middlebrow Fiction: From the Ch'ing and Early Republican Eras'' (1984). The novel has been adapted into many films and TV series, as well as a number of local Chinese operas. Adaptations Films *'' Fate in Tears and Laughter'' (啼笑因緣), a 1932 Chinese silent film directed by Zhang Shichuan, starring Zheng Xiaoqiu, Hu Die and Yan Yuexian. *''Fate in Tears and Laughter'' (啼笑因緣), a 1941 Chinese film directed by Sun Jing, starring Mei Xi and Li Li-hua. *''A Tale of Laughter and Tears'' (啼笑因緣), a 1952 Hong Kong film directed by Yeung Kung-leung and Wan Hoi-ching, starring Cheung Wood-Yau and Pak Yin. *''Between Tears and Laughters'' (啼笑因緣), a 1957 Hong Kong film directed by Lee Sun-fung, starring Cheung Ying, Law Yim-hing and Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Diao Chan
Diaochan was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Although based on a minor historical personage, she is mostly a fictional character. She is best known for her role in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', which romanticises the events in the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, she has a romance with the warrior Lü Bu and causes him to betray and kill his foster father, the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo. She was praised in tales as a woman of unrivaled beauty who did what no other hero in China was able to accomplish: put an end to Dong Zhuo's regime of terror and the eventual end of Lü Bu; triggering the events that would lead to the formation of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Wei, Eastern Wu, and Shu Han. Name and basis Chinese historical records indicate that Lü Bu had a secret affair with one of Dong Zhuo's courtesans and he constantly feared that Dong Zhuo would find out. This was one of the reasons why he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Butterfly Lovers
The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend centered around the tragic romance between Liang Shanbo () and Zhu Yingtai (), whose names form the Chinese title of the story. The title is often abbreviated as Liang Zhu (). The story was selected as one of China's Four Great Folktales by the "Folklore Movement" in the 1920s—the others being the Legend of the White Snake (''Baishezhuan''), Lady Meng Jiang, and The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid (''Niulang Zhinü''). Six cities in China collaborated in 2004 on a formal application for the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on the legend at UNESCO, submitted in 2006 through the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Legend The legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is set in the Eastern Jin dynasty (266–420 AD). Zhu Yingtai is the ninth child and only daughter of the wealthy Zhu family of Shangyu, Zhejiang. Although women are traditionally discouraged from taking up scholarly pursuits, Zhu manag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Legend Of The White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend centered around a romance between a man named Xu Xian and a female snake spirit named Bai Suzhen. It is counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being '' Lady Meng Jiang'', '' Butterfly Lovers'', and '' The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl''. Early versions "Li Huang" The Tang-dynasty story collection ''Boyi zhi'' (; "Vast Records of the Strange"), from the early 9th century, contains a '' chuanqi'' tale about a man named Li Huang () meeting an attractive woman clad in white (whose aunt is clothed in blue-green). After mating with the beauty at her residence, he returns home and falls ill, his body dissolving into water. His family searches for the woman and discovers that she is a giant white snake. "The Three Pagodas of West Lake" In the Ming dynasty, some time before 1547, a collection of early '' huaben'' tales was printed by Hong Pian (); in it was "The Three Pagodas of West Lake" (), likely the first work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
