Performing folk arts have a long history in China and there are many anecdotes about them. One of these folk arts is guqu -- storytelling accompanied by a drum beat.
The great founder of guqu is King Zhuang of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC). Crowned in 696 BC, the "king of filial piety" always visited his mother after dealing with each day's political affairs.
But his mother often fell asleep as the king tried to entertain her with news of the day's events. Yet the mother still wanted to listen to her son.
The king thought of a solution. Holding a drum, he would recount the events as if they were stories. After a few sentences, he would beat the drum and keep his mother interested.
Another story regards the founder of xiangsheng or crosstalk. During the reign of Emperor Daoguang (1821-50) of the Qing Dynasty, an actor named Zhang Sanlu was quite good at making fun of everything around him.
Yet he could not make friends with other actors in his Beijing troupe. So he went onto the streets alone and imitated the expressions and dialects of passers-by.
He named his performance xiangsheng ("imitating voice"), which became one of China's most popular folk genres.
(China Daily May 15, 2003)
