 Gou Maoer, who lived and performed during the early period of the Qing dynasty, made his name by creating and performing such pieces as "slaughtering pigs" and "pigs fighting for food".These are amongst the performances that have been passed down through the generations and can still be seen today.Later on in the Qing dynasty during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor there was a very eminent Kouji master who was famous for his mimicry of a song bird called the hwamei (melodious laughingthrush), and therefore was nicknamed Hwamei Yang.