Yan Laolie

Also known as Yan Gongshang

Yan Laolie, also called Yan Gongshang, was a Cantonese yangqin player of the late Qing, early in the history of Guangdong music. He devised the right-hand bamboo (youzhu) technique, widening the instrument's range of expression. In reworking traditional tunes he used added ornaments, filler and held notes, set openings and repeated endings, and shifts of register and key: Sanji Lang became Dry Thunder, Guafu Su Yuan became Linked Rings, and Dao Chun Lai became Dao Chun Lei. He is a key figure of the period when Guangdong music took shape.