Back in spotlight

The centuries-old art form of pingshu, or storytelling, is making a welcome return to television after a long hiatus. Xu Fan reports.

One desk and one folded fan was all that consisted for the props used by pingshu (storytelling) master Tian Lianyuan to bring to life a battlefield story from Yang Jia Jiang (Generals of the Yang Family), an influential novel based on the titular legendary family in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) era.

Although Tian is 76 years old, he delivered his dialogue with power and performed with emotion.