China is fondly remembering one of its most famous radio voices, a man whose vivid storytelling was a comfort to millions of people, from commuters stuck in traffic to restless teens struggling to sleep. Shan Tianfang, was a leading performer of the traditional Chinese art form pingshu, which translates as "storytelling".
Pingshu dates from the Song Dynasty (AD960-1279) when performers would entertain villagers by telling stories in a particularly emotive style. It remains particularly popular in north-eastern China. Performers wear traditional dress and use very basic props - often a folded fan and a gavel. Pingshu is sometimes performed in tea houses and small theatres, but many Chinese associate the art form with radio. And in a country where sleeping problems are commonplace, pingshu is still popular as a way of helping people to wind down at bedtime.
Shan Tianfang was born in 1934 in Yingkou, in north-eastern Liaoning province. His family introduced him to folk arts from a young age and he began learning pingshu when he was 19. He became known in Liaoning for his work on stage and in local teahouses during the 1950s and 1960s, and performed in an art troupe around the region. From 1966-1976, Shan, along with other pingshu performers like Yuan Kuocheng, was forced to stop work. During the 1980s.Shan made the transition (转型) to state-run radio, and his captivating storytelling became comfort listening for people across the country. By the 1990s, Shan had become a well-known face on state TV, even performing in the annual Spring Festival Gala show. He has died aged 84 following a long illness.
Shan performed over 12,000 stories on TV and radio. His stories attracted people of all ages. One of his most acclaimed performances is of the Heroes in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. He gave countless performances of the “Four Classic Novels” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber and Water Margin) and also helped to bring lesser-known classical Chinese literature to new audiences.
He was able to use the medium to entrance his audience and in the process he helped to popularise classical Chinese literature. As film director Zhang Jizhong told the Global Times newspaper: “He could describe a scene and a character extremely vividly. He once had a long talk with me about adapting the heroic stories he told into films or television shows to help promote Chinese classics and traditional culture.”
But in his later years, the growth of online and digital media exposed the challenges of keeping his art form alive. Shan turned his efforts towards writing books and opening performance schools to teach pingshu to young people. They included the Shan Tianfang Culture and Media Academy in Beijing, a Shan Tianfang teahouse and “storytelling base” in Anshan in Liaoning province. Meanwhile, modern productions of pingshu reference (引用，参照) contemporary (现代的) culture to draw in new performers and audiences. Performers like Guo Heming have emerged, putting a modern spin on pingshu by adapting popular works, including the Harry Potter stories.
Although he wasn't particularly active on social media, he amassed more than one million fans on the Sina Weibo platform.
A memorial was held for him on 15 September but millions of Chinese will miss his voice.
