Jiang Yuequan

Jiang Yuequan was born in Shanghai County in 1917 and became a Suzhou pingtan storyteller in his teens, studying with Zhang Yunting and Zhou Yuquan and learning long tanci narratives such as Yu Qingting. Building on the Zhou and Yu vocal styles and borrowing Peking opera voice production, he created the Jiang style, melodious and rich in flavour, which became one of the most widely followed tanci singing styles. He joined the Shanghai People's Pingtan Troupe in 1951; his celebrated pieces include Du Shiniang, Zhan Changsha and Tingtang Duozi, and in later years he devoted himself to teaching pupils such as Wang Boyin. He died in Shanghai in August 2001.