Chinese Comedian Under Probe After Altering ‘Red Classic’ Song on Stage

Well-known Chinese comedian Guo Degang (郭德纲), founder of the popular Deyun Society (德云社), has found himself in hot water after altering the lyrics of a classic Communist-era song during a live performance. Guo, who’s known for his improvisation and deadpan humor, is now facing an official investigation by Chinese authorities over the impromptu rewrite.

During a July 24 performance of the Peking opera The Living Buddha Ji Gong in Wuhan, Guo changed a line from Playing My Beloved Pipa (《弹起我心爱的土琵琶》), a song featured in the 1956 war film Railway Guerrilla. Instead of singing “All is quiet on Weishan Lake,” Guo changed the line to, “All is quiet in the Forbidden City.” The one-line alteration was enough to trigger an investigation.

Following the performance, a formal complaint was lodged with Wuhan’s Culture and Tourism department as authorities questioned whether the revised material had been properly registered and whether the necessary performance and adaptation rights had been obtained.

On Aug. 11, the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said the performance itself had received the required permits, but Guo’s improvised lyrics were not included in the materials submitted for approval. Authorities subsequently opened an investigation into a possible violation of China’s Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances.

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A costly performance

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The case has divided Chinese social media users over where authorities should draw the line between theatrical improvisation and regulatory compliance. Supporters of the investigation argue that politically significant “red classics,” particularly works associated with China’s resistance against Japan, should not be casually rewritten for comedic or dramatic effect. Others contend that the passage amounted to an improvised stage joke and that an administrative investigation is excessive and unnecessary.

Some online commentators have gone further, interpreting Guo’s references to the Forbidden City and another lyric about the setting sun as veiled political satire.

The controversy has already coincided with disruptions to Guo-affiliated performances. A 10th-anniversary tour performance by the Qilin Opera Society scheduled for Aug. 15 in Xi’an was canceled, while a Deyun Society comedy performance scheduled for the following day was postponed. Neither Guo nor Deyun Society has publicly offered a detailed response to the investigation.

Industry rivalry or regulatory enforcement?

Chinese media reports identified the online complainant by the handle “我就是个码字的,” roughly meaning “I’m just someone who writes for a living.” According to reports, the individual is a member of the China Literature and Art Critics Association, a competitor of Guo’s.

The incident follows previous complaints involving Guo’s performances. In December 2025, his comedy routine Yi Gao Ren Dan Xiao came under scrutiny after a complaint accused the performance of containing vulgar material and disparaging state-run performing arts organizations. A response attributed to Beijing’s Xicheng District cultural authorities said officials had summoned the organizers and performers and ordered the material to be revised.

Guo’s willingness to improvise and push against accepted conventions has long been central to his appeal. But the repeated controversies also illustrate the unusually-regulated environment surrounding live performance in China, where material submitted for approval can differ significantly from the spontaneous humor traditionally associated with xiangsheng, or Chinese crosstalk.

Some commentators have portrayed the complaints against Guo as part of a broader, longstanding tension between China’s traditional performing-arts establishment and commercially successful private troupes such as Deyun Society. The company has built a substantial following through ticketed performances, television appearances, and its more colloquial style of xiangsheng, while many traditional performing-arts organizations continue to operate within China’s state-supported cultural system.