ShandongKuaishuis a form ofQuyiarts with most of its contents spoken during performance. It originated in the reigns of Daoguang and Xianfeng (early 19thcentury) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Linqing and Jining areas of East China's Shandong Province and popular in northern China and Shandong. ShandongKuaishuwas then popularly calledWu the SecondorTelling Stories about the Big Fellow, for the storytelling artists mainly performed the story ofWu Song's Fight with the Tiger, a figure in the classical novelShui Hu(Outlaws of the Marsh).
ShandongKuaishuis performed in Shandong dialect and performers usually stand while singing. During the performance, performers often make use of gesture and eyes and exaggerated body language to build dramatis personae and, at the same time, pay much attention to humor and creation of suspense. Most ShandongKuaishulyrics are seven-character lines with a humorous language and vivid scenario, and performers use exaggerated expression and speak in quick rhythms. The art form is especially suited to tell heroic stories and describe acrobatic fighting in Chinese operas or dances. In the early period, most performers used two tiles to beat time, later ferula or armor plates and now copperplates.
In the early 1950s, ShandongKuaishuwas introduced into Beijing and Tianjin, and it was still performed in Shandong dialect. The humorous performing style got recognized by audiences and quicklyspread to different places in northern China.
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