Writers › Writer / Poet
Li Fanggui
Qianlong–Jiaqing playwright of Weinan, Shaanxi, known as Li Shisan, who wrote the Ten Great Scripts for bowl-clapper shadow theatre, among them Chunqiu pei, Huoyan ju and Wanfu lian.
Mural of the cultural record “Shadow Puppet Theatre”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Called Li Shisan · Zi Linyi · Hao Qiuyan
Li Fanggui, given name Peng, styled Linyi and Qiuyan, came from Dazhang village in Huazhou and moved to Li Shisan village north of Weinan, which gave him his popular name, Li Shisan. He became a licentiate at nineteen and a provincial graduate in 1786, served a year as county instructor at Yangxian from 1798, and otherwise ran village schools. For the bowl-clapper (wanwanqiang) shadow theatre he wrote eight full-length plays and two short ones, known together as the Ten Great Scripts, among them Chunqiu pei, Huoyan ju, Wanfu lian and Sicha. Many were later adapted for Qinqiang, Peking opera and other forms.
Life and times
Dates 1748 CE–1810 CE