Talking about Northern China’s Quyi performances,people could not ignore Tianjin,known as the home of Northern China’s Quyiperformances. A highlight of Tianjin’s cultureand art scene, Quyi is not only an importantpart of the city’s culture, but becomes theunique cultural brand of the city.

A variety of story-telling, story-singing, crosstalkand other Quyi performances were rooted,evolved, developed and flourished in Tianjin.Though some genres such as Meihua Dagu,Xihe Dagu, Danxian, Cross-talk and Pingshudid not originate in Tianjin, after spread intothe city, they grew up well, gradually establisheddifferent styles and have successfullypassed on generation by generation. Otherssuch as Jingyun Dagu, Jingdong dagu, TiepianDagu and Kuaibanshu, their primitive formswere born in other regions, but flourished,enjoyed great popularity in Tianjin and werenamed here.

The real local Quyi performances of Tianjin includingTianjin Shidiao, Tianjin kuaiban, Xichengban,Dalei Laxi are also very popular among theQuyi fans from both home and abroad.

Tianjin is not only famous for its variety of theQuyi performances, but has a large number ofrenowned performers and performing styles.The big names in the history of Tianjin’s Quyiperformances are too numerous to be listed.The cross-talk maestro Zhang Shouchen andMa Sanli, Luo Yusheng, founder of the Luo’sstyledJingyun Dagu, Wang Yubao, artist ofTianjin Shidiao, Hua Sibao, artist of MeihuaDagu, Liu Wenbin and Dong Xiangkun, artists ofJingdong Dagu, Li Runjie, artist of Kuaibanshu,either the founder of a form or leading artist ofa form, they all have made great contribution toinherit and develop Tianjin’s Quyi performances.

In addition to those pioneers, many artistsstarted their careers and came to the fore inTianjin. The Dagu maestro Liu Baoquan, “Kingof Meihua Dagu” Jin Wanchang, “King of Danxian”Rong Jianchen, “Queen of Zhuizi” QiaoQingxiu, Cross-talk maestro Hou Baolin all establishedas masters of the Quyi performances.

After the founding of the People’s Republic ofChina, Tianjin has put great effort into trainingyoung generation of Quyi performers and manyof them have been very active on stage. In1986, Tianjin established the only Quyi Schoolin China and has trained a large number ofQuyi performers and writers. Many young artistshave won wide acclaim and gain nationalwide popularity.

Tianjin also has a strong team of Quyi writersand theoretical researches, a large number offans who love Quyi and know well of the performances,many venues running Quyi performancesregularly and various active amateurs.Many forms on the brink of extinction havebeen inherited and revived in Tianjin.A kind of traditional performing art, Quyi hascombined with the modern culture to becomean important part in Tianjin’s cultural calendarand the local people’s life. The natural charactersof the Tianjiners, their open-mindedness,frankness and optimism serve as the fertile soilin which the Quyi performances have grown upwell and laden with fruits.

To promote the development of Quyi performances,Jingdong Dagu and Tianjin Shidiaohave been listed as China’s Intangible CultureHeritage. Xiangsheng (cross talk), Luo’s-styledJingyun Dagu, Li’s-styled Kuaibanshu and DaleiLaxi have been listed as Tianjin’s Intangible CulturalHeritage. These measures have broughtvigor to revive Tianjin’s Quyi performances.