Zou Zhongxin

Zou Zhongxin, born in Sichuan in 1924, was a master of jinqianban, the Sichuan clapper-and-song art. Orphaned young, he followed an uncle to Guanxian and was soon earning a living as a street performer, studying from the age of five with the jinqianban artists Yang Yongchang and Sun Hongyun. In 1942 he was among the founders of the Chengdu jinqianban performers' guild. Drawing on every lineage, he systematically worked out the beating, singing and acting of jinqianban, creating the distinctive Zou school, and wrote, adapted or performed more than two thousand pieces, among them Sichuan Baimao Nü. He served as deputy head and artistic director of the Chengdu Quyi Troupe and in 2006 received the Peony Award for lifetime achievement in quyi. He died of illness in May 2013.