Tradition’s voice传统之声Obituary: ShanTianfang缅怀单田芳China’s favourite storyteller died on September 11th, aged 842018年9月11日，中国人最喜爱的说书人去世，享年84岁 WHAT struck Shan Tianfang most, as he walked into the studio for his first radio broadcast at the end of the 1970s, was the lack of things. No brightly painted screen to set the scene for his pingshu, or storytelling. No block of wood on the table, to make the audience pay attention or to scare them stiff. No folded fan to snap open for a surprise, simper behind, or whip through the air as as word. A traditional storyteller needed only those three props. Still, he could manage. With the side of his left hand, he could bang emphatically. And with his voice alone he could evoke the creaking wing beats of a flying bird, the pealing, descending g
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