Wang Shaotang (1889-1968), a famous actor of Yangzhou Pinghua (popular tales), was born in Yangzhou. Both his father and his uncle were skilled at performing Yangzhou Pinghua. Wang Shaotang began to learn the skill from his father at the age of seven, performed on the stage at nine, and became a professional artist at the age of twelve. After the founding of new China, he was once elected as vice chairman of China's Association of Quyi Performers.

Wang's performances were based on his family script of the classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh (known as Shui Hu in Chinese), which was in a ten-part series. He compiled the stories of Wu Song, Shi Xiu and Lu Junyi from Outlaws of the Marsh into four scripts, which later became the representative works of Yangzhou Pinghua as represented by Wang Shaotang, hence the name of the Wang School Shui Hu.

The Wang School Shui Hu family of three generations -- Wang Shaotang (center), Wang Xiaotang (right) and Wang Litang (left)

A special characteristic of the Wang School Shui Hu is its centering on the main figures of the story. Wang integrated the four scripts by connecting the ties between the four major figures. He portrayed the exploits of the heroes in considerable detail and elaborated the original novel's simple descriptions. His performance was delicate, fine both in appearance and spirit, and his enunciation was clear and refined, so his performance was praised by the audience as refined but not burdensome, majestic but not course. His son Wang Xiaotang and granddaughter Wang Litang are both famous performers of Yangzhou Pinghua. Especially his granddaughter Wang Litang, she was taught directly by her grandfather.

In 1959, the Research Team of Yangzhou Pinghua compiled and published Wu Song according to the narration of Wang Shaotang. The book with 830,000 characters in total is a sum-up and development of achievements of Pinghua artists through the ages.