In ancient times there was Liu Jingting, and now there is Yuan Kuocheng
Liu Jingting (1587-1670?) was born in Taizhou in Yuxichang, Nantong. His original surname was Cao, his given name was Yongchang, and his courtesy name was Kuiyu. A famous commentary artist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At the age of 15, he was strong and unruly and broke the law. Li Sancai, Yin of Taizhou Prefecture, excused him and lived abroad. He fled to Taixing, Rugao and Xuyi successively. Because he listened to the artist's story telling, he also lectured on Yibaiguan's novel in the market, and he was able to impress the people in the market. After crossing the Yangtze River and heading south, he changed his surname to Liu, Fengchun, and Jingting, because "his face was very pockmarked, and everyone called him Liu Pockmarked" ("The Biography of Liu Jingting" by Shen Longxiang). In Yunjian (today's Shanghai), he received the guidance of Mo Houguang, and his calligraphy skills greatly improved. After that, he went to Yangzhou and Hangzhou to tell stories. In the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), "the scholar-bureaucrats went south to avoid the invaders, and thousands of families came to Jinling" (Wu Weiye's "Biography of Liu Jingting"). Liu Jingting also went to Nanjing to tell stories. He "talked about it once a day, and priced it at one tael. He would send a letter and handkerchief ten days in advance to make the decision, and it was always available" (Zhang Dai's "Tao'an Mengmei"). Even Wuqiao Fan Sima and Tongcheng He Xiangguo, who were living in Nanjing, also invited Liu as their honored guests. In the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign, he went to Zuo Liangyu to tell stories in the army. He lived in Wuchang and helped with military affairs. After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, he sent Zuo Liangyu as an envoy to Nanjing to establish relations with Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng, the powerful ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The Southern Ming Dynasty called him "General Liu". In the second year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1645), Zuo Liangyu died, and Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng plotted to arrest Liu Jingting. Liu fled to Suzhou and resumed his old business. After that, he taught for ten years in Yangzhou, Nanjing, Qingjiangpu, Changshu, etc. In the spring of the 13th year of Shunzhi, when he was 69 years old, he served as military governor at the Admiral Ma Fengzhi's office in Susongchang Town, which was stationed in Songjiang. But he was depressed and frustrated, and after three years, he left the army. In the first year of Kangxi (1662), Liu Jingting went north to Beijing from Huainan with Cai Shiying, the governor of water transportation of the Qing Dynasty. He performed in various royal palaces, had frequent contacts with bureaucrats and politicians, and had considerable influence. The appendix at the beginning of Cao Zhenji's "Ke Xue Ci" contains: "Yu Sheng Jingting heard the ministers by commenting on his words, and invited them one after another when he entered the capital. ... Jingting's name became more important from this." Later, in the fourth year of Kangxi, he returned south, passing through Yangzhou to Taizhou. There is another saying that Liu went to Beijing twice. The next year he went to Luzhou, Anhui, and later continued to tell stories in Nanjing. Yu Huai's "Banqiao Miscellaneous Notes" records him: "He was already over eighty years old. I met Yu Qiao living in a sleeping pavilion, and he still said that Qin Shubao saw a girl." In the seventh year of Kangxi, Zhang Chao compiled "Yu Chu's New Chronicles", When selecting Wu Weiye's "The Biography of Liu Jingting", I met Liu Jingting at the banquet. Liu was already 82 years old at this time. Although the bibliography Liu Jingting said was taken from ready-made novels, it did not follow the text. Yan Ermei's "Liu Mazi's Novels" recorded: "He talks about heroes from head to palm, and the paragraphs are not the same as those of barnyard officials"; Zhang Dai's "Tao An's Dream" "Yi Liu Jingting's Storytelling" records that he said that "Wu Song fights the tiger" in "Water Margin": "I heard that the white text of "Wu Song fights the tiger in Jingyanggang" is very different from the original biography." This shows that when he was performing, he had no understanding of the original text. They have made great use of themselves and formed their own characteristics. At the same time, he was known for his exquisite storytelling, and he modified the content of the original work, making additions and deletions based on the characteristics of the art of storytelling. Zhang Dai said that his "descriptions and characterizations are down to the smallest detail, but he also finds (additions) and cuts (deletions) cleanly without being nagging." In the use of language, he is not satisfied with plain speaking, but creates an atmosphere based on priorities, and writes about people and objects in a vivid way. Yan Ermei said that his "narration was slightly ordinary at first, and then became more and more high-spirited." "When it reaches the joints of the tendons, it screams and the house collapses violently" (Zhang Dai's "Tao'an Mengyi·Liu Jingting's Storytelling"). Zhu Yi of the Ming Dynasty also said in "Listening to Yagyu Sheng Jingting's Ci" that "a sudden sound shakes the sky, and thousands of pearls shake scatteredly, as if they are intermittent and indistinct, and the song turns to sobs and depression, and people under the eaves suddenly hear the wind and rain, and see again before their eyes." The ghosts and gods are standing, the waves are returning to the vast sea, and the soldiers are gathering in Kunyang. The guests are shocked to hear that they have no owner, and if they want to express their admiration, don't spit out words of praise." He is also good at supplementing social life in his words and integrating his experiences, knowledge, loves and hates into the book. Regarding this, Huang Zongxi wrote in "The Biography of Liu Jingting": "Since Jingting has been in the army for a long time, he has witnessed all his heroic deeds, murderous people, exiles, family breakups, and country losses. And the native voices of the five directions, The local customs are good, and every time they hear it, it may sound like swords and iron cavalry, rustling in the air; or it may sound like the howling of the wind, the cry of birds, and the fear of the country's subjugation, and the sound of the sandalwood board is colorless. "There are only so many words that can't be said." These characteristics he formed in his storytelling have been imitated by later generations of commentators.
According to the sporadic records of relevant materials, the bibliographies Liu Jingting often talks about are mostly excerpts from long novels. The selected novels include "Water Margin", "Sui and Tang Dynasties", and "Western Han Dynasty". In addition, it is said that Liu Jingting also left hundreds of "Liuxia Storytelling". Liu Jingting has been telling stories for 60 years, reaching Shaoxing in the south, Wuchang in the west, and Beijing in the north. He was famous for a while, but he had no disciples for most of his life. In his later years, he only accepted Yangzhou residents as assistant ministers. His later life was miserable, and some people thought he died of cold and starvation.
Yuan Kuocheng’s storytelling is very famous