Related knowledge of storytelling

Storytelling, also known as storytelling, is commonly known as Cantonese storytelling. It is a spoken language form in China, which became popular in the Song Dynasty. Storytellers all over the world tell people different stories in their mother tongue, so they are also part of dialect culture. However, after the reform and opening up in People's Republic of China (PRC), under the impact of electronic media and the promotion of Putonghua, the storytelling culture of some dialects gradually declined and was on the verge of disappearing. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, storytelling was a person sitting behind a desk, holding a folding fan and waking up, and wearing a gown. By the middle of the 20th century, props such as tables, chairs, folding fans and awakening wood were no longer used, while standing, talking, performing and clothes were not so fixed. As an independent variety of storytelling, the art of storytelling spread in northern China was formed in the early Qing Dynasty. According to various sources, although storytelling is a form of oral performance, its artist source is mostly "singing songs". According to legend, Wang Hongxing, the first generation of storytelling art formed in Beijing, was originally a "rap" artist named "Heizaiben"; At the beginning of the 20th century, many "rap" artists who performed "Xihe Drum" and "Northeast Drum" in northern rural areas switched to telling stories after entering the city. This is a very interesting phenomenon in the evolution of China Quyi.

Storytelling, also known as storytelling, is popular in North China, Northeast China and Northwest China. In Jiangnan, it is called Pinghua. It has a long history. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, people told stories. It is an oral literature created by the working people in our country. During the Warring States Period, hundred schools of thought lobbied the princes, often using stories as metaphors. Later, many well-known idioms were formed, such as "Anger at the crown", "Carving a boat for a sword" and "Complement". In fact, this is the early storytelling. The popular storytelling in Beijing is said to have been handed down by Liu Jingting (1587 ~ 1668), a storyteller from the south of the Yangtze River, when he came to Beijing in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It is also said that when Wang Hongxing, a drummer of Beijing dialect in Qing Dynasty, performed in Jiangnan, he worshipped Liu Jingting as his teacher. After returning to Beijing, he changed to storytelling, and in the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), he filed a case with Zhang Yishi as a disciple, which has been passed down to this day.

It is said that storytelling originated in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and Zhou Zhuanggong was the ancestor of storytelling. But this is just a legend.

The form of storytelling

In the Tang Dynasty, a folk art similar to storytelling appeared. This folk art form is called "talking". It was time to revive in the Song Dynasty. At first it was about commenting on Buddhist classics. Judging from China's classical literature, the expression of "Shuo" has a great influence on novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties. After "saying" developed into a popular saying, the way of performance was very similar to "telling stories". For example, the opening poem in storytelling is called "Write on the seat". There are also phrases like "listen to the next chapter". Of course, all these have had an impact on novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In fact, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin are originally spoken scripts. Romance of the Three Kingdoms was originally named Quanxiang Pinghua History of the Three Kingdoms. The Water Margin is Talking about Drunken Weng. Li Shangyin, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Pride": "Either tease Zhang or laugh at Deng Ai." It shows that there were many people who liked to talk at that time. Storytellers, also called bojun people, are designed to make you laugh. They like telling ancient stories best and never tire of learning "telling". Most of them study the influence of scripts on novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are also some Quyi artists who have written special materials. A lot of evidence shows that "speaking" is similar to "telling stories". But there seems to be no real inheritance relationship between the two.

Liu Jingting, the founder of the actual storytelling in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, was originally only a part of the art of rap, and was called the "black book". His teacher, Mo Houguang, mentioned the theory: "Although husband's romance is a small skill, it is no different from Confucianism in distinguishing temperament, testing customs and describing various kinds. So, take what you want, take what you want, push what you want, be fast, comfortable and safe, then stop what you want and return what you want. Those who are not the essence of the world have nothing to do with you! " .

Huo Siji, a native of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty, is famous for "telling three points" and "Don't judge people by the wind and rain, the shed is like this every day". Telling three points means telling the story of the Three Kingdoms. During the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty, storytelling was introduced into the palace. Because it is inconvenient to sing in the palace, rap was changed to "storytelling", and the artistic form of storytelling was fixed.

The Republic of China is a period when storytelling flourished. According to records, when the storyteller "abandoned the land" and said "The History of the Three Kingdoms", the streets were full of people. In addition, storytelling and cross talk also have great origins. In particular, stand-up crosstalk, storytelling skills are similar. Some cross talk "jokes" also come from storytelling chapters.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, storytelling has also developed. Especially the popularity of radio stations has given storytelling a great living space. Storytellers have created many new jokes, such as gunshots on the plains of Lin Yuanhe. After the Cultural Revolution, storytellers wrote many jokes, even talked about some foreign books, such as Pearl Harbor (the title of the Pacific Campaign), and also published a flash storyteller, Hero with Bridled Eyebrows, but it was not particularly popular with book fans.

There are few young people.

Now almost every radio station has a story-telling column, and some radio stations also have special story-telling or story frequency. The main audience is the elderly or taxi drivers, and storytelling is still very popular with the audience. The reason is not only the popularity of storytelling, but also the limitations of broadcasting. But some storytellers worry that storytelling will gradually disappear, and it is difficult to see young storytellers now.

Early storytelling was a person sitting behind a desk folding a fan and waking up the wood. It is often used at the beginning of a performance or during intermission as a prop to remind the audience to be quiet or warn them to pay attention to enhance the performance effect, hence the name), wearing a traditional gown, giving speeches and commenting on stories. By the middle of the 20th century, most people did not need props such as tables, chairs, folding fans and awakening wood, but stood and said and performed, and their clothes were not fixed in robes. Storytelling is mainly based on northern pronunciation, with Beijing pronunciation as the standard pronunciation. China is popular in most parts of North China and Northeast China. Due to the use of spoken language, third-person narration and introduction are the main language uses. And formed a unique set of procedures and norms in art, for example, the traditional performance procedure is generally: first read a "fixed poem" or tell a short story, and then enter the formal performance. When performing formally, tell a story and comment on the human feelings and things in the story. If new characters are introduced, we should say "open face", that is, describe or explain the origin, identity, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the characters; The story-telling scene is called "bricklaying at the end"; If you praise the character's morality, appearance or scenic spots in the story, you will often recite parallel prose in the form of long sentences, which is called "ode", full of musical beauty and linguistic beauty; When speaking and performing in important or wonderful places, we often use "overlapping sentences" or "serial ports", that is, we use overlapping sentences to enhance the effect of speaking and performing. In story telling, in order to attract the audience, creating suspense and using "imprisonment" and "buttons" are fundamental structural skills. Therefore, its performances are endless, coherent, interlocking and fascinating. It is not easy for performers to do this, and they need all kinds of qualities. For example, a poem "Xijiang Moon" said, "There are many things in the world, and storytelling is difficult to learn. Narrative table is not easy to comment on, and a thousand words must be memorized. One should be loud and the other should be frustrated and late. Pretending to be armed with words is like a big drama.

Master Dan Tianfang.

The storytelling programs are mainly long volumes, and the performances are mostly historical dynasties, heroic battles and chivalrous stories. Later, in the mid-20th century, there appeared short stories and short books suitable for stage performances at parties, but long books were still the mainstream.

Storytelling is mainly based on northern pronunciation, with Beijing pronunciation as the standard pronunciation. China is popular in most parts of North China and Northeast China. Due to the use of spoken language, third-person narration and introduction are the main language uses. And formed a unique set of procedures and norms in art, for example, the traditional performance procedure is generally: first read a "fixed poem" or tell a short story, and then enter the formal performance. When performing formally, tell a story and comment on the human feelings and things in the story. If new characters are introduced, we should say "open face", that is, describe or explain the origin, identity, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the characters; The story-telling scene is called "bricklaying at the end"; If you praise the character's morality, appearance or scenic spots in the story, you will often recite parallel prose in the form of long sentences, which is called "ode", full of musical beauty and linguistic beauty; When speaking and performing in important or wonderful places, we often use "overlapping sentences" or "serial ports", that is, we use overlapping sentences to enhance the effect of speaking and performing. In story telling, in order to attract the audience, creating suspense and using "imprisonment" and "buttons" are fundamental structural skills. Therefore, its performances are endless, coherent, interlocking and fascinating.

It is not easy for performers to do this, and they need all kinds of qualities. For example, a poem "Xijiang Moon" said, "There are many things in the world, and storytelling is difficult to learn. Narrative table is not easy to comment on, and a thousand words must be memorized. One should be loud and the other should be frustrated and late. Pretending to arm yourself is like a big drama. " The storytelling programs are mainly long volumes, and the performances are mostly historical dynasties, heroic battles and chivalrous stories. Later, in the mid-20th century, there appeared short stories and short books suitable for stage performances at parties, but long books were still the mainstream.

The traditional storytelling handed down now has the characteristics of folk oral literature. It brings together the wisdom of the people, which is not only the painstaking efforts of storytellers in previous dynasties, but also the mass artistic creation results. It was handed down through "pamphlets" (a detailed outline of a book, also known as "Liang Zi") and oral teaching. Different genres and actors have different ways to deal with the characterization and plot arrangement of a book, especially in the aspect of "comment", which varies greatly from person to person. The storyteller is both an actor and a screenwriter, and their performance process is often a process of careful conception and continuous creation. This is the characteristic of oral literature.

The bibliography of traditional storytelling in Beijing is divided into 32 books in four categories.

(1) Long guns and robes with books (12): Romance of the Western Han Dynasty, Romance of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Legend of Xue Jia, Five Dynasties of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Jiajiang, Ten Wonders of Medicine, Loyalty, Yue Ming and Qing Dynasties.

(2) Short Case Book (16): Fenzhuang Building Dasong Bayi Hongbiyuan Ming and Qing Bayi Yongqing Shengping Three Gorges Sword Gong Peng Case Shigong Case Bao Case Xiao Wuyi Continued Xiao Wuyi's Heroes of the Water Margin Legend Yongzheng Swordsman Figure Longtan Paul

(3) The Genie Book (Part III): Biography of Hijigong Journey to the West and Biography of Xinglong Zhou.

(4) Ghost Story of Fox (I): Liaozhai

Most of these twenty-nine books are the battle stories of Jin Goma Iron and Heroes. Few people tell love stories except serial stories. There is no such thing as "ladies and talents meet, spring flowers and autumn moon are tender", which is also a major feature of traditional storytelling.

Story-telling language

Storytelling scripts must be readable on the table, performable on the field, colloquial and vivid. In this way, it can be beautiful and charming. Avoid pronunciation errors, illusions or ambiguities in language. For example, in novels, gluttonous people are often called "gluttonous people", but in storytelling, many people don't understand. If this person is a greedy ghost, it is not vivid enough. In fact, traditional storytelling has been demonstrated. As described in the Wild Pig Forest, the ugliness of two tolerant gluttons is like this: they raise their windward arms, hold their big teeth with whirlwind chopsticks, hold their confidence, take out their bellies, throw away their cheeks, the chickens and dogs they eat are sad, and the cats and dogs are crying. This description is very vivid and makes people laugh. In the actor's words, this is "the language of standing up".

A scholar in the middle of Zhejiang carved "Ten Masters of the Bookstore", wishing first, then Dong Taishi, and before Hangren and Xu Guangzuo. This scholar is also a famous calligrapher with conceit. Yu Gui said, "These two people are not only difficult to travel with Dong Yan, but also can't be listed as everyone. What's more? " The man was angry, as if he didn't know anything about it, and his words were so comfortable. Give me a quick smile. Another Zhejiang gentry said to Yu, "I came across Zhou Douyuan (), the messenger of learning in the West Lake, and suddenly asked,' Needless to say, two great calligraphers, Huang and Dong Xuanzai, have recently appeared. I wonder who the second one is?' What he said was strange because it was wrong. Yu Yue: "I don't know what that is? Zhejiang gentry said, "Such nonsense can only be ignored. If you want to argue with it, you can only have the cheek to criticize it. "It's famous for its art, but it doesn't write books, but it's cool and well-known, and its fine silks are well-known, so there are many flat pairs in the garden pavilion, so Zhou has this question. There are many unjust, false and wrong cases in the world, but Dong has been repeatedly humiliated for no reason, which is also a good example.

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Recently, a scholar in Zhejiang carved ten masters of Huang Ming Bookstore, ranking Zhu Yunming first, Dong Qichang last, and even Tang Huan and Xu Guangzuo from Hangzhou ahead of Dong Qichang. This scholar is also a famous calligrapher, and his self-evaluation is not low. I advised him, "These two men are not only difficult to compare with Dong Qichang, but also cannot be classified as great calligraphers. Why not revise it again? " The man was angry, as if to say that I don't understand at all. How can he talk nonsense casually? I just laughed and listened.

Another scholar-bureaucrat in Zhejiang said to me, "Not long ago, I met Zhou, a scholar's envoy on the West Lake. He suddenly asked me,' Needless to say, the recent calligraphers, such as Huang and Dong Qichang, are all human, but I don't know who is next?' His words are very strange, so I won't answer them. I said, "Why don't you make it clear to him?" The scholar-bureaucrat said, "If you don't understand such stupid words, you can only slap him hard and argue with him." Huang's eight-part essay is very famous. He is not good at calligraphy, but he especially likes to brush two strokes. His dirty papers are all over the city, and even the couplets in the garden pavilion are mostly inscribed by him, which is why Zhou has that problem. There are many unjust, false and wrong cases in the world, but Dong Qichang has been humiliated many times, which is an example of a wise man's view on his room.