Ma Ji performs at a show in this file photo. Ma, a roly-poly Chinese comedian best known for his mastery of puns and satirical dialogues, died Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006 in Beijing of a heart attack. He was 72.

Renowned Chinese crosstalk master Ma Ji, 72, passed away today at a hospital in Beijing. He died of heart failure.

Ma Ji performs at a show in this file photo. Ma, a Chinese comedian best known for his mastery of puns and satirical dialogues, died Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006 in Beijing of a heart attack. He was 72.

Born in Beijing and under the original name of Ma Shuhuai, Ma was a representative of the traditional performing art of 'Xiangsheng', or 'crosstalk'.

Established as an independent art form in the late Qing Dynasty, the humorous and highly satirical talking performance is still popular nowadays in Beijing, Tianjin and other regions in northern China.

Ma learned Xiangsheng from the prestigious Xiangsheng performer Hou Baolin when he was very young. He carried on the tradition of amusing audiences with satirical dialogues, and further developed his own genre of glorifying heroic people.

He was an artist favored among the people and has left his audience a number of great scenarios including "Ode to Mountain Climbers", "The Portrait" and "Dispute of the Five Sense Organs".