Drum Song of Peking

Drum Song of Peking is a Chinese traditional art of Quyi (Chinese folk art forms) performance which is cored with singing and supplemented with story telling. It originated in Beijing and Tianjin regions and was spread far and wide in Hebei Province as well as some regions in North China and Northeastern China.

Drum Song of Peking took shape in the early 20th century. On the basis of "Drum song of wooden panel" prevalent in Hebei Province, some famous artists of Gushu (Chinese ballad with drum accompaniment) including Liu Baoquan, Hu Shi, Song Wu and Huo Mingliang jointly absorbed aria of Peking Opera and local folk canzonet of Beijing and then sang the songs in Beijing dialect. In the meanwhile, a set of performing postures were formed with the accompaniment of Sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument), Sihu (Four-stringed bowed lute) and Pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard). This Quyi art - Drum Song of Peking was hereby originated. Liu Baoquan was reputed as "The King of Drum Performance" by virtue of his preeminent contribution to Drum Song of Peking and his great artistic achievements.

In the form of singing, drum playing and story telling by one person , Drum Song of Peking is featured by combination of talking and singing. Also, the performance is accompanied by big Sanxian (three-stringed Chinese guitar), Sihu (Four-stringed bowed lute) and Pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard), with the singer playing drum to control the cadence. The songs are mainly short works such as the traditional ones - Changbanpo Slope£¬Zhao Yun's Interception in River, To Borrow Arrows with Thatched Boats, and Sacrificing Qing Wen. There are also some lyric scenery describing cantlets including Late 2nd Earthly Branch and Early 3rd Earthly Branch and A Boat in Wind and Rain.

After the founding of New China, Drum Song of Peking has undergone continuous development, with new changes taking place in aria and performance. In addition to the preserved traditional songs, many new songs are created by the aged artists and many excellent young performers are nurtured in order to carry on the traditional Quyi art.