What is "pingshu"

In Chinese culture, Pingshu , or 说书 (shuoshu), meaning “storytelling”, is one of forms of entertainment in mass culture in China. It is also called "Pinghua" in south China. Travelers in Beijing will often find taxi drivers listening to it through radio.

It was extremely popular in 1980s, when the Chinese people were able to afford a radio, through which many of such storytelling programs were transmitted to every household. People, young and old, would stick to the radio when they had the time, in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, listening to these stories, many of which originated from ancient Chinese history. In the countryside, farmers would take a radio to their fields and listened to the stories while they were plowing. In cities, old men would sit in a comfortable bamboo chair enjoying the stories while sipping tea. Many stories such as The Story of Yue Fei , the Romance of the Three Kingdoms , Cavalier with White Eyebrows , and Sui Tang Yanyi gained popularity among young and old and became major topics of conversation. Famous storytellers or Pingshu performers such as Shan Tianfang (单田芳, born 1934), Yuan Kuocheng (袁阔成, 1929-2015), Tian Lianyuan (田连元, born 1941), and Liu Lanfang (刘兰芳, born 1944) consequently became well-known.

Pingshu performers often wear gowns and stand 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 during intervals). They often add their own commentaries on the subjects and the characters in their storytelling. In this way, the audience, while watching their performances, is not only entertained, but also educated and enlightened.

Pingshu is popular in North and most of Northeast China. The art of storytelling, with its broad mass appeal, has resulted in the growth of other art forms, nurturing talented artists. Many great writers, in consequence, continued from there to tread the path of literature.