Pingshuis aQuyiart form of oral storytelling and it includesPingshuthat's popular in northern China andPinghuain eastern China's Yangzhou. It developed into an independent art form in the early years of the Qing Dynasty (late 17thcentury). ThoughPingshuis performed orally, artists in the early period mainly hopped from the trade ofChangqu(melody singing) and this shows thatPingshuhas a close relation withChangqu.
ThePingshuperformer wore a gown and sat behind a table, with a folded fan and a gavel (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 at the intervals). By the mid l920s, these props had all disappeared, with the performer appearing only in a standing position in a gown or any other kind of clothes.Pingshuperformers talk inPutonghua(standard Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect). This is the popular practice in north China and most of the northeast.
The storytellers often added their own commentaries on the subjects and the characters. They also explained the origins of and material objects in the stories. So the audience, while watching their performances, was not only entertained, but also educated and enlightened.
The art of storytelling, with its broad mass appeal, resulted in the growth of other art forms, nurturing of talented artists. The famous novels such asThe Romance of the Three Kingdomsand serialized novels all emerged under the influence of the storytelling artists. Many great writers, in consequence, continued from there to tread the path of literature. It can be thus considered that the art of storytelling represented byPingshuorPinghuais one of the genres imbued with special Chinese characteristics and the richest colors of Chinese aesthetics.
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