Gao Yuanjun

Also known as Born Gao Jinshan

Gao Yuanjun, born Gao Jinshan in Ningling, Henan, left home at seven to earn a living as a street performer, reached Nanjing at eleven and at fourteen became a pupil of Qi Yongli in Shandong kuaishu, then popularly called Wu Lao'er after its Wu Song stories. In June 1949, recording Lu Da Rids the Town of a Bully at the Great China Record Company in Shanghai, he formally named the form Shandong kuaishu. His fiery, humorous delivery became known as the Gao school, and his many pupils spread the art widely. His best-known pieces include the long Wu Song cycle, Lu Da Rids the Town of a Bully, Li Kui Seizes the Fish and Zhao Kuangyin Raises Havoc at the Ma Family Inn. He died of illness in Beijing on 3 March 1993.