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Shan Chuanzhong (; 17 December 1934 – 11 September 2018), better known by
stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Shan Tianfang (), was a Chinese ''
pingshu ''Pingshu'' () or ''pinghua'' () refers to the traditional Han Chinese performing art of storytelling with no musical accompaniment. It is better known as ''pingshu'' in northern China and ''pinghua'' in southern China. Performing art Pingshu ...
'' performer. He was a member of the third batch of national
intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...
inheritors, a member of Chinese Ballad Singers Association and a member of China Society for Literature Popular Research. His language in ''pingshu'' performances was relatively plain, and he specialized in presenting the images, colors and emotions with sound impressions. Since the mid-1990s, his storytelling video shows have been broadcast on TV stations like
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
.


''Pingshu'' career


Early years

In the 1950s, Shan's father was wrongly put into prison, thus his mother divorced his father. In 1953, he was accepted into Northeast Institute of Technology. Subsequently, however due to his physical condition and family problems, he gave up his studies and turned to perform ''
pingshu ''Pingshu'' () or ''pinghua'' () refers to the traditional Han Chinese performing art of storytelling with no musical accompaniment. It is better known as ''pingshu'' in northern China and ''pinghua'' in southern China. Performing art Pingshu ...
'', as an apprentice of Li Qinghai (Chinese 李庆海). In 1955, Shan entered the Anshan Quyi Tuan, where he was instructed by Zhao Yufeng (Chinese: 赵玉峰), a famous Xihe Dagu performer, and Yang Tianrong (Chinese: 杨田荣), a famous pingshu performer. At 24, Shan officially went on stage. He performed not only traditional pingshu, but new works as well.


During the Cultural Revolution

During the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, Shan was persecuted for some comments he had made, and once he even got his teeth kicked by mobs.


Return to the stage

After the Cultural Revolution ended, Shan was able of returning to the stage to perform ''pingshu''. He started from the Anshan Radio Broadcast Station. Gradually, he was received by the ''pingshu'' fans across the country and became one of the best experts in storytelling.


Later life

After his retirement, Shan continued to develop his ''pingshu'' career and established Beijing Shan Tianfang Culture and Art Dissemination Co., Ltd., of which he was the chairman of the board. On 11 September 2018, 3:30 pm, Shan died at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital because of illness.


Brief introduction to his works

* ''Lin Zexu'' (), an 80-episode flash pingshu, tells the story of
Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty ...
, who, during the reign of the
Daoguang Emperor The Daoguang Emperor (16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Mianning, was the seventh List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing e ...
in the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
, launched an opium suppression campaign as an imperial commissioner in
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, and of what happened after his dismissal. * ''The White-Eyebrow Hero'' (), a sequel to the classical story ''
The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (忠烈俠義傳), also known by its 1883 reprint title ''The Three Heroes and Five Gallants'' (三俠五義), is an 1879 Chinese novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. The ...
'' and its sequel '' The Five Younger Gallants'', set in the
Northern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...
, tells the story of a group of heroes who fight for righteousness under the leadership of Xu Liang (a.k.a. the White_Eyebrow Hero). They seek to remove oppressors and battle injustice. The story was later made into a TV series under the same title. Tianfang's other works include ''The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasty'', ''Xue Jia Jiang'' (literally ''Generals of the Xue Family''), ''Three Heroes and Three Swordsmen'', ''Heroes in a Troubled Time'' (''The Legend of
Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin; courtesy name Yuting ( zh, c=雨亭, p=Yǔtíng, labels=no) and nicknamed Zhang Laogang ( zh, c=張老疙瘩, p=Zhāng Lǎo Gēda, labels=no) (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 ...
''and his son ''
Zhang Xueliang Zhang Xueliang ( zh, t=張學良; June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also commonly known by his nickname "the Young Marshal", was a Chinese general who in 1928 succeeded his father Zhang Zuolin as the commander of the Northeastern Army. He is bes ...
''), ''Xue Gang Rebels Against the Tang Dynasty'', ''Sanxia Wuyi'' (literally ''
The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (忠烈俠義傳), also known by its 1883 reprint title ''The Three Heroes and Five Gallants'' (三俠五義), is an 1879 Chinese novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. The ...
'',
Wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...
) and ''The Biography of Tong Lin''. He was sued by the children of
Gong Baiyu Gong Baiyu (Chinese: 宮白羽; September 9, 1899 - 1966) was a Chinese novelist of the Republican period, an early exponent of the martial arts (wuxia) genre that rose to new heights of popularity with the next generation of writers, such as Jin ...
for copyright infringement after using the plot of the author's 1938 wuxia novel 十二金钱镖 in a radio story broadcast.


Influences

"Where there is a drinking
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
, there are (people) listening to Shan Tianfang." Throughout the art career, he had a collection of over 100 works, which have been broadcast on 500 radio and TV stations and have influenced several generations in China. Tianfang had stellar reputation and a unique voice and thus is oft imitated.


Family

Shan Tianfang originated from a family of ''quyi''. His grandfather, Wang Fuyi (Chinese: 王福义), was one of the earliest old artists who, performing bamboo clapper tale, went to
Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...
during the period of
Chuang Guandong ''Chuang Guandong'' (; IPA: ; literally "Crashing into Guandong" with ''Guandong'' being an older name for Manchuria) is descriptive of the rush of Han people into Manchuria, mainly from the Shandong Peninsula and Zhili, during the hundred-year ...
(literally "crashing into Guandong"). His mother, Wang Xianggui (Chinese: 王香桂), whose stage name was Bai Yatou (literally "the pale girl"), was a famous performer of Xihe Dagu in the 1930s and 1940s. His father, Shan Yongkui (Chinese:单永魁), was an artist of string instrument. His oldest uncle Shan Yongsheng (Chinese:单永生) and third younger uncle Shan Yonghuai (Chinese:单永槐) were respectively Xihe Dagu performers and storytellers. His widow, Wang Quangui (Chinese:王全桂), is eight years older than he was.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shan, Tianfang 1934 births 2018 deaths Male actors from Tianjin People from Yingkou Chinese male stage actors Victims of the Cultural Revolution Northeastern University (China) alumni Chinese storytellers