The Structure of Chinese Story-Singing

Chinese story-singing alternates speech and song, in qupai or banqiang form, backed by sanxian and drum.

Related

QupaiBanqiang FormSanxianBangu (Peking-opera drum)

Time and place

Story-singing, known in Chinese as quyi, is a narrative art that alternates speech and song. Drum-song and zhugongdiao had taken shape by the Song and Yuan. In the Ming and Qing, tanci, guci, daoqing and lianhualao filled teahouses, temple fairs and storytelling halls, producing distinct regional genres.

Musical features

Structurally there are two main paths. In qupai form, named tunes are strung together; in banqiang form, changes of metre drive a long narrative. Texts are mostly rhymed, with spoken passages between, and one performer can suggest several characters. Sanxian, pipa, yangqin and drum-and-clapper accompany the voice, while drum strokes or interludes mark sections. Short pieces tell one incident; long ones rely on instalments and suspense.

Repertoire

Jingyun dagu, Suzhou pingtan, Shandong qinshu, Sichuan qingyin, Tianjin lianhualao and regional daoqing each have representative excerpts. Long works are usually performed in instalments.

What to listen for

Hear first how speech turns into song, then whether the accompaniment follows the voice. In qupai form, watch for the change from one tune to the next; in banqiang form, for the metre speeding up. In long works, listen for the closing of a section and the hook that keeps you listening.

Common misunderstandings

A common mistake is to take story-singing for opera. Story-singing is chiefly narrative and the performer does not inhabit fixed roles, while opera speaks through characters. Nor is story-singing a northern specialty; southern tanci and qingyin are equally developed.

Sources

• 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 曲种与结构核对，未引用
• 《中国曲艺音乐集成》编辑委员会编，中国曲艺音乐集成（中国 ISBN 中心）— 唱腔与伴奏核对，未引用

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.