The Exquisite Pagoda

Introduction

A famous Xihe drum-song piece in which eight disciples are made to count up and down a thirteen-storey pagoda

The Exquisite Pagoda is a famous traditional piece of Xihe drum-song. It tells how the eight disciples of an old monk mix up their ritual instruments and skills when they swap them, and are punished by being made to count the storeys of a pagoda. The pagoda has thirteen storeys, and the singer counts up on the odd storeys and back down on the even ones, building the piece step by step. Its best-known singer is the Beijing Xihe performer Ma Zengfen, whose father, Ma Liandeng, was a storyteller. She began learning at five, was telling stories at street pitches by eight, and by thirteen had recorded this piece along with others. Ma Zengfen lived from 1921 to 1987 and sat on the second council of the China Quyi Artists Association.