Traditional Chinese 石玉崑 Chinese 振之 Simplified Chinese 石玉昆 Hanyu Pinyin | Hanyu Pinyin Name Shi Yukun Wade–Giles Shih Yu-k'un Died 1871 | |
Books The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants, Tales of magistrate Bao and his valiant lieutenants |
Shi Yukun (fl. 19th century), courtesy name Zhenzhi, was a highly popular Qing dynasty storyteller based in Beijing and the credited author of the 1879 wuxia novel The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants (better known today as The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants or The Three Heroes and Five Gallants). While the novel prominently displayed his name on its cover—the first time a Chinese storyteller was credited as a novel's sole author—whether he actually contributed to the print novel is unknown.
Contents
Biography
While eponymous poems and zidishu solely to celebrate (or perhaps mock) Shi Yukun's fame and storytelling skills have survived, little is actually known about his life, besides that he performed his art in the national capital Beijing during the 19th century, probably as early as 1817. While some scholars had believed he was originally from Tianjin, it was probably a mistake made by confusing Shi Yukun and Shi Duo (石鐸), the publisher of the 1891 novel The Five Younger Gallants (小五義) which also claimed Shi Yukun as its original source. The suggestion that Shi Yukun was ethnic Manchu, based on his surname (common in Manchus) and the Manchu genre of zidishu in his performances, also lacks convincing evidence. He was called "Third Master" (三爺) by at least another storyteller.
Style
His performances, accompanied by sanxian (3-stringed lute) playing, attracted audience in the thousands. He did not employ a wooden clapper like modern pingshu performers, rather, he used his musical instrument to call the audience's attention. He was best known for his poetic lyrics and tunes during his songs.
In addition to the story that eventually became The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants, at least 2 other stories have been associated with him:
Rare for a public storyteller, he was literate and is believed by some to be the same person as the one behind the pen name Wenzhu Zhuren ("Bamboo-Inquiring Master"), who first edited the original transcript of his storytelling for publication, which eventually became The Three Heroes and Five Gallants.
The novel's sequels The Five Younger Gallants and A Sequel to the Five Younger Gallants (續小五義) claimed him as the author, but as Lu Xun pointed out, "these works were written by many hands... resulting in numerous inconsistencies."
In popular culture
Shi Yukun is a character in two fictitious television costume comedy-dramas, both co-written by the Taiwanese author Kuo Cheng: