Zhang Shouchen

Also known as Born Zhang Delu · Stage name Zhang Yuhua

Zhang Shouchen, born Zhang Delu in Beijing in 1899 (courtesy name Shouchen, stage name Yuhua), was the son of the xiangsheng and storytelling performer Zhang Chengfu. A pupil of Jiao Dehai in the 'Shou' generation, he belongs to the fifth generation of xiangsheng artists. He learned by watching performers at Tianqiao, worked in Tianjin as 'Little Shuang', partnered Tao Xiangru for some seven years from 1926 and later Hou Yichen. Rather than holding to old material, he reworked classics such as Wenzhang Hui, Ba Shan Ping and Dui Duizi and wrote new pieces such as Chuai Guxiang and Kua Jiangjiu; he excelled in solo crosstalk and published a selection of his solo routines in 1958. His pupils included Liu Baorui and Chang Baokun. He died in Tianjin in 1970.