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Yu Xiushan
Suzhou tanci performer of the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, one of the 'early four masters', whose Yu tune is one of the three great tanci vocal styles.
Mural of the cultural record “Suzhou Pingtan”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Courtesy name Shengyang, by one account
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Yu Xiushan was a Suzhou tanci (storytelling-ballad) performer of the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, of whom little is recorded. With Chen Yuqian, Mao Changpei and Lu Ruiting he is counted among the 'early four masters' who built on Wang Zhoushi's art, enlarging the repertoire and creating school vocal styles that fixed the basic form of Suzhou tanci. His Yu tune, lilting and winding and used mainly for young male and female roles, ranks with Chen Yuqian's Chen tune and Ma Rufei's Ma tune as one of the three great tanci styles; later singers such as Xia Hesheng and Zhu Huizhen built their own styles on it. He is recorded as a teller of Wopao and Yu Qingting.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns (1796–1850)