Leting dagu is a ballad singing art that is prevalent in North China's Hebei,BeijingandTianjin. It was originated from the folk tune Qingpingge that was popular in Leting County, Hebei Province, where the locals are said to be good at singing. It is also popular in the northeast provinces of Liaoning,Jilinand Heilongjiang.

During the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911), after improvements by artists over several generations, Qingpingge was gradually divorced from the singing way of folk songs and developed into an art of storytelling that combines singing and reciting. Around the year 1800, Leting dagu came into being.

Throughout history, many artists made great contributions to the development of Leting dagu. Leting dagu enjoyed a good reputation in the capital due to the famous actor, Wen Rong. It is said that he obtained recognition from a prince, who gave it the official name of "Leting dagu" for Wen's performance.

The one who took Leting dagu to a new peak was the famous actress Wang Peichen. She created a new school of Leting dagu in the Beijing dialect. Han Xiangpu was also one of the successors of Leting dagu; by absorbing the strong points of others, he became a great master of his time.

Leting dagu has various music arias and is a mature form of Gushu (stories told with a drum accompaniment) art. Leting dagu's lyrics are mainly ten-character and seven-character lines and its subject matter varies a lot through its colorful content. Its repertoires include many classical Chinese literary works like Journey to the West.

After the founding of New China, Leting dagu branched into two art schools -- Han School and Jin School. The latter was full of creativity and made important contributions to the development of Leting dagu. In addition, Leting dagu artists renovated a batch of outstanding traditional items, and created quite a few new repertoires that reflect real life.

Source: chinaculture.org