Harmony Across Cultures – What Is “Quyi”?
- overseascd
- Jan 14
- 3 min read
【CMHnews Post】Learning Chinese Quyi with Me （1）
Hello everyone, my name is Cheryl Wang. Starting this year, I will be sharing my passion for Chinese traditional folk arts (Quyi) with readers of CMH News in both Chinese and English.
This series explores Chinese heritage arts—Quyi—through listening, learning, and storytelling, sharing the essence of China’s oral traditions, fostering cross-cultural exchange and cultural diversity, and keeping these traditions vibrant and accessible for the next generation.
In one sentence: What is Quyi?
Hello everyone, my name is Cheryl Wang. Starting this year, I will be sharing my passion for Chinese traditional folk arts (Quyi) with readers of CMH News in both Chinese and English.
This series explores Chinese heritage arts—Quyi—through listening, learning, and storytelling, sharing the essence of China’s oral traditions, fostering cross-cultural exchange and cultural diversity, and keeping these traditions vibrant and accessible for the next generation.
In one sentence: What is Quyi?
You can think of it as China’s traditional narrative vernacular performing art—a “speaking-and-singing” tradition. It uses speech, singing, or a combination of both to tell stories, depict scenes, express emotions, and offer humor or satire. Quyi is an art meant to be heard—through language, rhythm, and voice, the performer brings a story to life.
What makes Quyi especially captivating is how close it feels to everyday speech and storytelling: it flows naturally and conversationally, yet it is also highly crafted—clear diction, rhythmic rise and fall, and carefully built emotion. That’s why it can feel both familiar and richly expressive at the same time.
Quyi is not only “pleasant to listen to”
Quyi isn’t just enjoyable to hear—it’s a living tradition and a cultural lens for exploring everyday life, social change, and history, and for learning from the past through storytelling and rhythm. Drawing on Breakthrough from the Cage: A New Interpretation of the History of Chinese Quyi, Liu Yongzheng highlights how Quyi can be understood within its social and historical context, serving across eras as narrative, entertainment, communication, and aesthetic expression. In this sense, Quyi is both a performing art and a living cultural practice rooted in everyday speech, urban life, and traditional storytelling venues.
Why is Quyi often described
as “one performer, a whole stage”?
Quyi is often described as “one performer, a whole stage.” Unlike traditional Chinese opera, where performers typically remain within a single role and rely on costume, movement, and staging, Quyi is usually carried by one artist (or a small number of artists) who guides the audience through a story. As the plot unfolds, the performer shifts tone, vocal color, and rhythm between narration and character, driving the story forward. With concise, character-accurate gestures and expressions, one performer can embody multiple roles and bring the people, plot, and conflict vividly to life.
Listening Recommendation: Jingyun Dagu (Beijing Rhyme Drum-Song) — Ningwu Guan (Ningwu Pass)
A rare video excerpt introduces the sound and storytelling force of Jingyun Dagu (Beijing Rhyme Drum-Song) through the performance of Liu Baoquan, a pioneering figure in the tradition. Next time, we’ll explore who he was, what shaped his artistry, and why he remains a foundational figure in Jingyun Dagu.
Listening link (rare footage): Liu Baoquan, Ningwu Guan (Ningwu Pass) — restored excerpt
About the Author
Renmei Wang (Cheryl Wang) holds an M.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. Based in Canada, she is a cultural advocate for Chinese Quyi and traditional performing arts, as well as a radio host and journalist. She has long studied and shared Chinese Quyi, with a focus on contemporary expression and cross-cultural exchange in multicultural settings. She has received culture grants support through the Edmonton Arts Council and the Edmonton Heritage Council and has pursued advanced training in China under the guidance of professional Quyi artists specializing in Northern Chinese storytelling drum-songs.
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