Wei Liangfu

Also known as Zi Shangquan

Wei Liangfu, courtesy name Shangquan, is usually said to have come from Yuzhang (modern Nanchang) and lived at Taicang in Jiangsu during the Jiajing reign. Trained first in northern song, he turned to southern song and, exchanging ideas with singers such as Guo Yunshi, drew on the Haiyan and Yuyao tunes and the local airs of the Kunshan area to create a slow, finely articulated manner later called the 'water-mill' style; he also added flute, xiao, sheng and pipa to the accompaniment. Zhang Yetang, a garrison exile skilled in northern song, became his son-in-law and helped refine the accompaniment. Wei's precepts on singing survive as Nanci yinzheng, also circulated as Qulü, and once Liang Chenyu and others wrote plays for the new tune, Kunqu took its settled form.