Gongguluo, also known as "gongluogu", "Huaihai gonggu", and some people call it "gonggushu", is one of the main forms of folk art in northern Jiangsu, mainly distributed in Huai'an, Suqian, Lianyungang, Xuzhou, Yancheng and other places. It is said that the creator of Gongguluo was a blind artist named Wang Zongkun from Gaogou Town, Lianshui County during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. When he was a teenager, he played the pipa very well, and played music for it by stepping on the string and hitting the board (people in Gaogou Town called it "silk string and board" at that time). He often made a living by singing in teahouses and restaurants in Gaogou Town. Later, he tried to use the field instruments Gonggu and small gongs used for refreshing and counting on the waterwheel as his accompaniment instruments. The performance form was mainly rap, and the performance content changed from folk tunes to singing large books. This new form of performance has been welcomed and popular among people, and many people came to seek advice. Wang Zongkun taught his disciples in Huaiyin, Shuyang, Lianshui, Guannan, Xiangshui and other counties. Since then, Gongguluo has been widely spread in Huaihai area, including Huai'an, Suqian, Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Yancheng and other places with Lianshui as the center. Gongguluo is mostly performed by one person, standing at first and then sitting. During the performance, the accompanying instruments are a set of special small drums and hand gongs. The small drums are covered with cowhide on the top and bottom, and two small iron rings are hung on both sides between the drums. The hand gongs are shaped like tea trays. The artist holds the drumstick in his right hand to beat the drum, and the hand gong is hung between the palm of his left hand. The index, middle finger and thumb hold the gongstick to beat the rhythm. The narration of Gongguluo can be divided into three types: "waist narration", "private narration" and "public narration". Waist narration is the artist's narration of the story in the third person, private narration is the artist's imitation of the speech of the characters in the book in the first person, and public narration is the simultaneous and alternating imitation of the dialogue of two or more characters in the book. In portraying characters, gonggu gong artists also use their hands, eyes, body, steps, and spirit to express joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and often use the gongs and drums in their hands as props. When artists tell stories, there are "big mouth stories" and "small mouth stories": big mouth stories are neither fast nor slow, and they tell stories freely, and are mostly used in scenes such as lyricism, narration, and memories; small mouth stories are one sentence after another, and are mostly used in occasions such as marches, battlefields, or quarrels. In order to attract the audience, artists must also master some special skills when singing, mainly including "burying the secrets", "releasing the words", "performing ventriloquism", and "playing gongs and drums". The lyrics of gonggu gong include five forms: three-character praise, four-character praise, five-character praise, seven-character arrangement, and cross singing. The repertoire of gonggu gong is rich, and there are hundreds of gonggu gong repertoires with or without a book, long and short pieces that have been passed down and sung to this day. There are 96 existing repertoires in Lianshui County, and the longest one, "Xiaojinshan Fighting", can be sung continuously for 30 performances. Among the unwritten pieces, "Xiaojinshan Fighting", "Wuhuatu", "Atlantic Ocean" and so on are the most exciting. The written pieces such as "Xuhan", "Eight Beauties" and "Yang Jiajiang" have been continuously processed by artists and have their own unique artistic appeal. Gongguluo has been passed down for more than 200 years from Wang Zongkun to the present. Wang's descendants have been ten generations. Currently, the representative inheritors of Gongguluo in Lianshui are Liu Shoutong and Chen Zhiyun. Chen Zhiyun has more than 1 million words of traditional pieces passed down orally. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)