Xu Lixian Memorial Hall

Xu Lixian Memorial Hall

Suzhou Pingtan is a rare gem in the garden of national art. The "Li Tune" created by the renowned Pingtan artist Xu Lixian, with its gentle, graceful, melodious, and profound vocals, has won the hearts of a wide audience. To honor this respected local figure, the people of Fengqiao erected her statue and built this memorial hall.

The Xu Lixian Memorial Hall has collected over seventy photos and numerous textual and audiovisual materials. The entire exhibition room features fourteen display panels that summarize Xu Lixian’s lifelong artistic achievements. Though the memorial hall itself is just a modest small house, it houses various exhibits including performance photos from different stages of Xu Lixian’s career, handwritten scripts of her Pingtan opening pieces, performance costumes and props, her sanxian (a traditional Chinese three-stringed instrument), as well as numerous awards, medals, photos, and audiovisual materials. These vividly illustrate the extraordinary and eventful life of Xu Lixian.

Xu Lixian, from Fengqiao, Suzhou, began learning Pingtan at the age of nine and performed in duet acts at fifteen, touring Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In 1953, she joined the Shanghai People's Pingtan Troupe (now the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe). Building upon the melodies of Jiang Yuequan’s "Jiang Tune" and the vocal styles of Xu Yunzhi’s "Xu Tune," she created the "Li Tune"—gentle, graceful, clear, profound, bright, and vigorous. Her representative pieces include "Daiyu Burns Her Manuscript," "Lohan Money," "New Ballad of Mulan," "The First Spring of the 1960s," "All Thanks to the Party’s Leadership," and "Wang Kui Betrays Guiying."

Xu Lixian was born in 1928 into a poor family in Fengqiao, Suzhou. Due to her parents’ financial struggles and their dislike for having a girl, she was sent to the "Qian Family Troupe," a group that specialized in raising girls to perform Pingtan for a living, not long after she was born. Xu Lixian spent her adolescence and youth under the care—and hardship—of her adoptive parents in the Qian Family Troupe. Her subsequent apprenticeship was essentially a tough journey of performing in teahouses, taverns, and private gatherings until the liberation.

Starting in 1951, Xu Lixian, leveraging her naturally soft and mellow voice, pioneered and gradually refined the immensely popular "Li Tune" in the history of Suzhou Pingtan, later recognized as a People’s Artist.

On March 6, 1984, Xu Lixian passed away at the age of 56 due to tongue cancer, forever leaving behind the Pingtan art she loved and the many fans who adored her "Li Tune." The people of Fengqiao mourned the loss of such an accomplished local figure, while also taking pride in having nurtured such a resilient and remarkable daughter. The Fengqiao Town government decided to erect a statue in her honor for future generations. In 1991, a half-length white marble statue of Xu Lixian holding a pipa was erected on the mountainside of - Park in Fengqiao Town.

Xu Lixian’s journey from a street performer to a People’s Artist who founded a major school in the industry was no easy feat. She left behind the exquisite "Li Tune" for the art of Suzhou Pingtan, and people will forever be grateful for and remember her. In 2001, on the 73rd anniversary of her birth, the people of Fengqiao built the "Pingtan Artist Xu Lixian Memorial Hall" at the foot of - Mountain, nestled in greenery, so that future generations would always remember this daughter of Fengqiao.

Xu Lixian (1928–1984), female. A female performer of Suzhou Pingtan. From Suzhou, Jiangsu. She began learning Pingtan from her adoptive mother at the age of nine and performed in Zhejiang from the age of fifteen. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, she served as a performer with the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe and as the second-term council member of the China Quyi Artists Association. She was also a member of the China Democratic League.

Created the "Li Tune" based on the "Jiang Tune" and "Xu Tune." Known for performing pieces such as "Lohan Money" and "New Ballad of Mulan." Author of "Selected Vocal Works of Xu Lixian."

Her maiden name was Xu. As a child, she was adopted by Qian Jinzhang, head of the Pu Yu Society’s Qian Family Troupe, and trained in Pingtan, Peking opera, and folk songs by her adoptive mother. 1…… More details about Xu Lixian ++