In Chinese culture, Guci are the prosimetric lyrics of dagu, one musical entertainment form in the shuochang or "speak and sing" genre. The performers narrate a story based on the lyrics, usually accompanied by singing, while beating a drum. Other accompanying musical instruments are sanxian, sihu, pipa and yangqin. The art form was very popular during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty,[1] and therefore extant guci are very important in studying Chinese fiction from those period.[2]