''Pingshu'' () or ''pinghua'' () refers to the traditional

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

performing art of storytelling with no musical accompaniment. It is better known as ''pingshu'' in

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling, Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone ...

and ''pinghua'' in

southern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone between ...

Performing art

Pingshu was extremely popular in the 1980s, when the Chinese people were able to afford

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

s, through which many of such

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

programs were transmitted to every household. People, young and old, would stick to the radio when they had the time, listening to these storytellings, many of which originated from ancient

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. In the countryside, farmers would take radios to their fields and listen to the stories while they were working. In cities, old men would sit in a comfortable bamboo chair enjoying the stories while sipping tea. Many stories such as '' General Yue Fei'' (), the ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' (), '' Cavalier with White Eyebrows'' (), and '' Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties'' () gained popularity among young and old and became major topics of conversation. Famous storytellers or Pingshu performers such as Shan Tianfang (, 1934-2018), Yuan Kuocheng (, 1929-2015), Tian Lianyuan (, born 1941), and Liu Lanfang (, born 1944) consequently became well known. Pingshu performers often wear gowns and stand behind a table, with a folded fan and a

gavel A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet/hammer commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially ...

(serving as a prop to strike the table as a warning to the audience to be quiet or as a means of attracting attention in order to strengthen the effect of the performance, especially at the beginning or during intervals). They often add their own commentaries on the subjects and the characters in their storytelling. In this way, the audience, while watching their performances, is not only entertained, but also educated and enlightened. Travelers in Beijing will often find taxi drivers listening to it on the

. Pingshu is popular in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and most of

Northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

. The art of storytelling, with its broad mass appeal, has resulted in the growth of other art forms, nurturing talented artists. Many great writers, in consequence, continued from there to tread the path of

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. In order to attract the new generation of listeners, some non-traditional content was also adopted as Pingshu, like ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

''.小剧场评书开讲《哈利·波特》
作者：张硕. 来源：北京晚报 2017-05-03.

References

{{Authority control Chinese storytelling

Performing art

See also

References