Li Jinhui

Also known as Zi Junquan

Li Jinhui, styled Junquan, came from Xiangtan, Hunan. In 1920 he wrote the children's song-and-dance drama The Sparrow and the Child, and in 1922 he became the first editor of Zhonghua Book Company's Xiao pengyou, where he published The Grape Fairy; with The Three Butterflies and The Little Painter these founded the genre. He set up the China Song and Dance School and troupe in 1927 and the Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe in 1929, training performers such as Wang Renmei and Li Lili. His song Drizzle is regarded as the first shidaiqu, and he is called the father of Chinese popular music. He died in Shanghai in 1967.