On the evening of July 24, during a performance in Wuhan, China, famous crosstalk performer and co-founder of DeYun Society, Guo Degang, improvised and modified the lyrics of a popular communist song, which led to a report filed against him and an ensuing investigation. On September 7, the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued a penalty announcement.
According to the report released by the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism on September 7, the organizing unit of the performance – Jiangsu Ziderui Cheng Sports Culture Industry Development Co., Ltd. – was given a warning, had illegal gains of 48,687.4 yuan confiscated, and was fined 486,874 yuan. They were ordered to rectify their actions and strengthen the management of actors and performance content. The operating unit of the performance venue – Wuhan Zhongnan Theater Management Co., Ltd. – received a warning and a fine of 110,000 yuan in administrative penalties. Simultaneously, the individuals involved were dealt with seriously.
Currently, the officially announced subjects of the administrative penalties are the two implicated performance units and the theater. The specific treatment of Guo Degang himself was not disclosed in the announcement but was simply mentioned as “dealt with seriously.”
On the evening of July 24, Guo Degang altered the lyrics of the song “Play My Beloved Pipa” during his performance of the Peking opera “Jigong Living Buddha” at the Qilin Theater in Wuhan. He changed “quietly on the shores of Weishan Lake” to “quietly in the Forbidden City,” using comedic flair. This change was reported by someone and sparked widespread attention.
Subsequently, on August 14, the Xi’an Chanba Poly Theater canceled the planned 10th-anniversary tour of the Qilin Theater scheduled for August 15.
On August 19, the organizer, Leading Zone Culture (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., issued three performance postponement notices. This resulted in the postponement of two shows scheduled for August 20 and 21 at the Phoenix Jiaodong Theater in Yantai, part of the Qilin Theater’s 10th-anniversary tour, as well as the show on August 22 at the Bayu Wan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Yantai as part of Guo Degang’s 30th-anniversary series of performances with Yu Qian. All three performances’ ticket orders were unified for full refunds without any handling fees.