The early performance form of storytelling was a person sitting behind a table, using a folding fan and a wooden block (a square-sized wooden block that could be knocked on the table. It was often used at the beginning of the performance or during a pause. To remind the audience to be quiet or to alert the audience to pay attention, in order to enhance the performance effect, hence the name) is used as a prop, wearing a traditional gown, telling speeches and commenting on stories. By the middle of the 20th century, most performers did not use tables, chairs, folding fans, wooden boards and other props, but stood up and gave speeches, and their clothing was not limited to long gowns. Storytelling is based on northern pronunciation and uses Beijing pronunciation as the standard tone for Mandarin speech. It is endemic in most parts of North China and Northeast China. Because oral language is used for presentation, third-person narration and introduction are mainly used in the use of language. And formed a set of its own unique procedures and norms in art. For example, the traditional performance procedure is generally: first recite a "setting poem" or tell a short story, and then enter the formal performance. During the formal performance, the main focus is to narrate the story and comment on the human affairs in the story. If a new character is introduced, it is necessary to say "show the face", that is, to describe or explain the character's origin, identity, appearance, personality and other characteristics. The scene in which the story is told is called "showing the end"; and if the characters in the story are praised for their moral character, appearance or scenic spots, they often recite long paragraphs of parallel verse in the form of couplets, which is called "praise", which is rich in praise. Musicality and the beauty of language; when speaking at critical or exciting points, "duo sentences" or "strings" are often used, that is, overlapping sentence patterns are used to enhance the effect of the speech. In telling the story, in order to attract the audience, creating suspense and using "passes" and "buttons" are the basic structural techniques. This makes his performance eloquent, coherent and interlocking, and fascinating. It is not easy for performers to do this, and they must possess various qualities. Just like what is said in the poem "Moon on the West River": "There are many businesses in the world, but storytelling is difficult to learn. It is not easy to comment on the performance, and there are thousands of words." Remember. First, I need to have a loud voice, and secondly, I need to be polite and arm myself.
The storytelling program is mainly about long books, and the content of the performance is mostly. Later, in the middle of the 20th century, there were also smaller novellas and short books suitable for evening performances, but long books were still the mainstream.