Contemporary Comic Crosstalk Collection Vol. 10

Tanci (literally “plucking rhymes,” 弹词) is a southern Chinese narrative song form that alternates between sung verse and spoken prose. The verse portions are commonly written in seven-character lines (with occasional ten-character lines) and are performed to the accompaniment of a plucked lute—traditionally the pipa—often joined by sanxian or other soft Jiangnan instruments. As a storytelling art, tanci blends literary diction with regional speech, and it is typically delivered in Wu-Mandarin timbres in the Jiangnan area. Its local traditions include Suzhou Tanci, Yangzhou Tanci, Siming Nanci (Ningbo area), and Shaoxing Pinghudiao. Audiences historically encountered tanci in teahouses and salons, where performers sat at a small table, interweaving lyrical singing with spoken narration to sustain long-form plots drawn from romance, history, and morality tales.