Shuohua (a
way of storytelling) is a feat prevalent in the Tang (618-907) and Song
(960-1279) dynasties. The art of Shuohua gradually matured and its
contents and performing styles became more diversified in the Southern Song
Dynasty (1127-1279). As a result, four categories of Shuohua came into
being.
The four categories of Shuohua are
Xiaoshuo (small talks), Shuojing (sermon), Jiangshi
(history telling) and Hesheng (telling contemporary stories).
Xiaoshuo mainly involves short stories and performers usually tell one
story as a whole or in several parts. Its subject matters mainly come from the
contemporary social life and are closely related to the reality except for some
history stories and fairy tales. Shuojing mainly involves sutra stories
and stories of different persons, and they also include some subjects related to
Buddhism and Taoism. Performers of Jiangshi (also called history tellers)
usually tell stories about history records and documents, shifts of dynasties,
wars and so on. Hesheng mainly refers to contemporary stories. Length of
Hesheng is relatively short and the performers usually tell one story
each time.
The recorded texts of Shuohua are
called Huaben, some of which are compiled by storytellers themselves and
others by persons specially assigned by associations of storytellers. With the
development of Shuohua skills and increasing demand for cultural
entertainment of the masses in cities, Huaben gradually evolved into
written popular literature.