Suzhou Tanci
Tanci (storytelling) is the representative variety in South China, mainly popular in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River region, with three places-Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai as the center, and Suzhou tanci as the most famous.Suzhou tanci originated from the Suzhou region. It was an influential art form in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai,collective named as Suzhou pingtan together with Suzhou pinghua. Suzhou pinghua,only narrating without singing, often telling the heroic stories; Suzhou tanci, narrating and singing,and its contents are often about love between young people.
The main performing style of Suzhou tanci features either a single performer or two performers, with the pipa and sanxian as the accompanying instruments,featuring vivid language, melodious tunes and the expressiveness of intellectuals. In the beautiful scenery to the south of the Yangtze River,using delicate soft language,and expressive love stories between intellectuals and beauties, the music of Suzhou tanci is refined,when viewers appreciate it, they feel like they are walking in the picturesque southern poem,roaming in the exquisite Suzhou Gardens,the scenery changing with each step,and feelings will be freed as the tune goes on.
In the period when Emperor Kangxi ruled (1661-1722),the economy of Suzhou was prosperous;it was one of the southern cities advanced in industry and commerce,which provided a good artistic environment for artists,which led to the development of Suzhou tanci.When it came to the Jiaqing (1796-1820)and Daoguang(1821-1850)period,four former famous masters-Chen Yuqian,Yao Yuzhuang,Yu Xiushan,Lu Shizhen,and four later famous masters-Ma Rufei,Yao Sizhang,
Zhao Xiangzhou,Wang Shiquan emerged,forming the tunes of chendiao,yudino,and madiao,which later also became the foundation of the singing music of Suzhou i.At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China period,with the rise a prosperous commerce city,Shanghai became another place where Suzhou spread.Hence famous artists kept emerging from Suzhou and Shanghai,establishing mutiple genres.
