Wang Dingbao Borrows to Pawn

Introduction

A representative medium-length piece of Shandong qinshu, often performed by the eastern-school master Shang Yexing

Wang Dingbao Borrows to Pawn is a traditional medium-length piece of Shandong qinshu, the dulcimer-accompanied ballad singing of Shandong. Also called sung yangqin or Shandong yangqin, the form arose in the Heze area of south-western Shandong more than two hundred and fifty years ago and entered the second national list of intangible heritage in 2008. The heritage entry names this piece and the Liang–Zhu love story as its representative medium-length works, with The White Snake and The Yang Family Generals as the long ones. Shandong qinshu has southern, northern and eastern schools, led respectively by Ru Xingli's Ru school, Deng Jiuru's Deng school and the Shang school of the east. Shang Yexing, the leading eastern singer, who lived from 1896 to 1970, had this piece in his regular repertoire, and his duets with his wife Guan Yunxia were the most distinctive of the eastern school's male and female singing. Some of his programmes were recorded by the Victor company in Beijing and by a record company in Seoul.