ABSTRACT
The following statement, made by a senior member of the narrative arts community in Tiānjīn, summarizes the distinctions between narrative performers from pre-and post-Liberation China from the point of view of the oldest generation of performers:
The performer who made that comment voiced one of the many concerns over an aspect of state patronage of the arts that has affected the narrative arts community since 1949-the “iron rice bowl” policy, which ensured a basic monthly income and medical coverage to all citizens supported by the government. Part of this change in patronage included a change in the name for the narrative arts. Prior to 1949, the narrative arts had different names in different parts of the country: Nányīn in Guangzhou, Píngtán in Suzhou and Shanghai, and Shuōchàng in north China. However, at the First National Conference for Workers in Literature and the Arts, held in 1953, the name Qŭyì, which may be translated loosely as “vocal arts,” was given to all of these regional varieties in order to impose a sense of panChinese unity (I-2 1986).
