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Quyi is a general name for a variety of spoken and sung arts, which dates way back in china's long history. It became a special art form after undergoing a long period of development and evolution from oral literature and songs.

In ancient times, bothstorytellingand comic performances containing aspects of quyi were widespread among the common people, while the most talented artists performed songs, dances, and comedy routines, accompanied by the music of stringed instruments, in the palaces of the rulers and the mansions of the nobility.

By theTang Dynasty(618-907), stories old and new flowed from the lips of storytellers. Then tales from Buddhist scriptures, which were very popular, were added and sung to the prevalent dagu (types of quyi) and folk tunes. All this gave impetus to the development of the storytelling and singing arts. From that time on, quyi as an independent art form took shape.

By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the development of trade and the growth of cities and urban populations gave rise to the emergence of special venues for the performance of storytelling, and professional artists appeared on the scene. Various kinds of quyi art forms, such as spoken guzici (versified storytelling to the accompaniment of a drum) and zhugonghiao, reached a new peak. Books such as The Eastern Capital: A Dream of a Splendid Past by Meng Yuanlao and Sights and Entertainment of the Capital City by Nai Deweng give detailed evidence of the development of quyi.

From the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties to the early days of the ROC, orthe Republic of China(1911-1949), the embryo of the capitalist economy and the increasing growth of cities greatly promoted advances in the arts of storytelling and singing on the one hand, with rich and colorful local traditions of storytelling continually flowing into the cities from the surrounding areas.

Over time, the artistic level gradually matured. Examples are daoqing (chanting folk tales to the accompaniment of simple percussion instruments), lianhualuo (briefly define (bf)), Fengyanghuagu(flower-drum based), and bawangpian (clapper dancing).

On the other hand, some traditional sung verses, in the course of spreading across the country, were transformed as they absorbed the different features of the local tunes and dialects. For instance, cihua (a type of verse with tonal patterns from folk music), originating in the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming dynasties, gradually evolved into tanci (storytelling accompanied by a stringed instrument) in the south and guci (bf) in the north. New types of quyi and various new tunes emerged, and many talented artists with different styles came to the fore in the Yuan and Ming periods.
Most of the quyi genres that people still enjoy today come from theQing Dynastyand the early days of the ROC.