COLLECTION · Series · 2013

说书人

Original title

As a teenager in Beiping, Jin Deng worked as an apprentice in a storytelling teahouse and became a disciple of the renowned pingtan master Sun Heting. When Sun Heting fled beyond the Great Wall after performing anti-Japanese tales, Jin Deng, following the victory of the War of Resistance, resolutely took his family through the passes to seek his master. He obeyed his master's dying wish and married Sun's daughter, Furong, then began to make his own way in the world. To support his family, he rushed from one storytelling venue to another. Though he commanded a large audience and became a star of the art, he was still exploited and squeezed by sinister forces, falling deep into debt. After Liberation, performers gained a new status, and Jin Deng led the way in performing new works. He entered Zhongnanhai to tell stories for national leaders and went to Korea to perform for the volunteers. His fame grew ever greater and his audiences ever larger; tickets to his performances were hard to come by, and people called him "Golden Bench" and "Street-Clearing King." When the Cultural Revolution broke out, Jin Deng's entire family was sent down to the countryside, yet this misfortune turned out to be a blessing, as he received the affection and enthusiastic support of the peasant masses. With reform and opening up, storytelling not only returned to the airwaves but also appeared on television and the internet. This traditional art form was reborn, and Jin Deng too regained his youthful vitality.