In modern times, people have many ways to entertain or relax themselves, like watching movies, shopping, and singing in karaoke. But the old ways of passing time is still popular. Sitting in a comfortable seat, having some tea and snack, and listening to a performer telling interesting stories. Known as Pingshu, or storytelling, this traditional art form in Beijing is still an attraction to both old and young people.
In the center of Beijing, there is a small theater named Xuannan. After you order a pot of tea and begin eating melon seeds, a performer on the stage starts his show.
He strikes the table in front of him with a gavel to attract audiences' attention and begins to tell an episode of a long historical story. Sometimes, audiences are totally involved in the story. They hold their breath and let the performer take their thoughts back to ancient times.
When the performer depicts a funny scene vividly, audiences repay him with loud laughter. Sometimes the performer adds comments on a particular issue in the story, and relates it with the current social event. This makes old stories more attractive to modern day audience.
This kind of art form is known as Pingshu, or storytelling. In the Qing dynasty, Pingshu shows were a common recreational activity favored by the northern Chinese. Lian Liru, a famous storyteller at her 60s, tells the beauty of the art.
Most of the Pingshu stories are adapted from classic Chinese novels, like the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the "Story of Sui and Tang Dynasty". These stories of the emergence of a new dynasty usually contain battles in court, revenge and romance. Even if the stories happened hundreds of years ago, they still can keep audiences on the edges of their seats.
As a matter of fact, comments are an important part of the Pingshu program. They can either be detailed explanations of an anecdote in a story which audiences are not familiar with, or an objective criticism of a particular scene, or even a comparison of past and current society.
When listening to Pingshu, audiences can be both entertained and enlightened by the storyteller's comments. This means that to be an excellent storyteller, one need to learn many things.
