Deng Jiuru

Deng Jiuru grew up poor and as a youth drifted to Jinan, where he joined an amateur troupe singing the southern school of Shandong qinshu and then studied under the performer Chu Chaozhong. Completing his training around 1918, he sang in villages of western and southern Shandong, northern Henan and southern Hebei and in cities such as Liaocheng, Heze, Qingdao and Tianjin. His Deng style took shape around 1928; in 1933 he sang on Tianjin radio under the name Shandong qinshu, and in 1935 he recorded pieces such as Liang Zhu and Hong Luan Xi. He joined the Jinan Quyi Troupe in 1957 and in 1962 a meeting of quyi specialists recognized him as founder of the northern school. He died in 1969.