Beijing Drum

Jing Yun Da Gu (Beijing Drum) means Beijing's dialect and big drum. A genre of popular entertainment consisting mainly of talking and singing, it tells stories in Beijing dialect with drum accompaniment. The predecessor of this art form was Qie Da Gu (feared drum). It was later reformed by folk artists Yu Dekui and Zhong Wanqi who added Beijing dialect and tunes to it and made it into what is known today as Jing Yun Da Gu. After the 1920's, Jing Yun Da Gu artists cropped up, and this made it one of the most important art forms. In early years, Jing Yun Da Gu mainly featured three major schools of style represented respectively by Liu Jinbao, Bai Yunpeng and Zhang Xiaoxuan. Liu Jinbao was once apprenticed to a veteran artist Wang Qinghong in Tianjin. His natural endowments and diligence finally made him a "Drum King" with a high reputation lasting for fifty years. Bai Yunpeng was unique in terms of simplicity and exquisiteness. Zhang Xiaoxuan's style was bold, calm, energetic and dynamic and had a lasting appeal. Later, lady artistic Luo Yusheng (she had a nickname "Little Colored Dance") rose to fame. She developed her own unique style by fully taking advantage of her own abilities and drawing upon the strengths of Liu Jinbao and Bai Yunpeng. In particular, her bass tonal clarity was rivaled by no other lay artists. Thus, this Little-Colored-Dance became the "Drum Queen" with a long lasting reputation of over forty years in Tianjin. Luo Yusheng is currently the President of China Quyi Artists Association (Quyi means Chinese folk art forms, including ballad singing, story telling, comic dialogues, clapper talks, cross talks, etc.). Now, she also gives performances occasionally.