The history of
pingshu can be roughly traced back to the
Tang and
Song dynasties, known then as "
shuohua" (說話). The storytelling form likely began in the Tang dynasty as a form of reciting Buddhist stories and teachings, or
Bianwen, and developed into a more widespread and general form of performing art by the Song dynasty
. With the metropolitan growth of the Song,
shuohua became a very popular form of folk entertainment. In the fifth volume of
Dongjing Meng Hua Lu by Meng Yuanlao listed many notable of folk storytelling artists in detail, such as Huo Sijiu, a man from
Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, who was famous for "telling the
Three Kingdoms" (說三分) and who would
"go to various theaters to watch people every day, regardless of wind, rain, heat, or cold". The founder of modern
pingshu was
Liu Jingting, in the late
Ming to early
Qing dynasties. It was originally just a part of the storytelling art called "
zidishu" (子弟書). His teacher, Mo Houguang, mentioned that the theory of storytelling was: "Although storytelling is a minor skill, it is no different from the way of Confucian scholars in terms of distinguishing temperament, examining local customs, and describing all kinds of people. Therefore, it should be unrestrained in its approach, subtle in its moderation, swift in its pace, peaceful in its unfolding, lingering in its conclusion, and clean in its conclusion. If one is not the most skilled in the world, who can compete with this!" During the late Qing Dynasty, in the Guangxu era, storytelling was introduced into the imperial palace. However, due to the inconvenience of singing in the palace, it was renamed "pingshuo" (評說), thus solidifying its status as an art form. With the advancement of technology,
pingshu maintained its popularity through
radio drama programs and television broadcasts. ==See also==