Cangzhou Muban dagu is one of the original roots of Jingyun dagu in Beijing(stories told in Beijing dialect with a drum accompaniment). Muban means wood block, and dagu means big drum.

Muban dagu, with a history of 3,000 years, is a unique form of music. During theQing Dynasty(1644-1911), it was popular in Hebei. As the story goes, the Cangzhou actor Li Chaochen even performed for the emperorQianlong, and received high praise.

Muban dagu reached another peak in the 1970s. At that time, there were more than twenty teams performing in different villages. However, after the 1980s, many young actors switched to other jobs, and muban dagu declined in popularity.

At present only eight people between the ages of 50 and 60 are able to sing muban dagu, however, no other people, especially young people, want to learn this old music. Because most of the senior actors cannot read or write, the work of sorting out information about the art is not an easy task.