Shi Dianyuan

Shi Dianyuan came from Shijia village at Niuzhuang in Le'an county (later Guangrao, now Dongying district of Dongying). He learned folk songs as a boy and then sang Shandong qinshu to the yangqin dulcimer. With Cui Xinyue, Tan Minglun and others he formed the Tongle troupe, and on 11 February 1901 (the 23rd day of the 12th month of the 26th Guangxu year) they staged the qinshu piece Wang Xiao Drives the Donkey in costume in Shijia village, with a donkey of bamboo, paper and cloth made by Tan. Audiences called it 'donkey opera', the performers 'costumed yangqin'. He went on to lead the Gonghe troupe on tours to Boxing, Weixian and Yexian. Costumed yangqin was named Lüju in 1952, and he is counted its principal founder. He died in 1948.