To mark the 100th birth anniversary of renowned storyteller Lian Kuoru (1903-71), the China Record Company has released a precious album featuring Lian's live performance of the folklore story Three Times Inviting Yao Qi.

Most of Lian's recordings were destroyed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). This live performance record was kept by his daughter Lian Liru who is now also a famous storyteller.

With only 1,000 copies being published, it is aimed at Lian's fans and collectors.

Born into a poor family one month after his father's death in Beijing in 1903, Lian did several jobs to make a living before the acknowledged storyteller Li Enjie took him on as a student to learn folk art in 1927.

Thanks to his brilliance and hard work, Lian learned fast and soon was able to perform in tea houses.

Besides Li, Lian learned extensively from other famous storytellers and established his own style. His way of storytelling, rhythmic, in a sonorous tone and with a sense of humour, soon made him popular in Beijing and Tianjin.

Lian's signature stories include folk tales of "Eastern Han Dynasty," "Western Han Dynasty," "Outlaws of the Marsh" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

After a local radio station broadcast his storytelling, Lian became a household name in Beijing from the 1930s to 1950s.

Lian also wrote folklore serials for newspapers between 1934 and 1937 and a book featuring folk art and the life of folk artists.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Lian was elected vice-chairman of the Storytelling Research Institute under the China Federation of Literary and Art Circle.

(China Daily September 19, 2003)