pen name of Wan Jiabao
pen name of Wan Jiabao
Cao Yu (September 24, 1910 - December 13, 1996) was born in Qianjiang, Hubei Province. He was born in a declining feudal bureaucratic family in Tianjin. He is an outstanding modern dramatist in China. His father used to be the Secretary of President Li Yuanhong. Later, he was laid off at home and depressed. Cao Yu lost his mother when he was young and grew up in a depressed atmosphere. He was depressed and introverted. In 1922, he entered Nankai Middle School and joined Nankai new drama troupe, President of Beijing People's Art Theater.
Cao Yu's pseudonym originated from his surname "Wan" (traditional Chinese characters, the structure of which is the next "Yu" of "Dun"), so he separated the ten thousand characters into "Cao Yu", and because "Cao" is not like a surname, he chose the homophonic word "Cao" to get Cao Yu.
Cao Yu is the most successful playwright in the history of modern Chinese drama. As a child, Cao Yu followed his stepmother to all the theaters to listen to Qu Guan opera, so he planted the seeds of drama in his heart. His representative works are thunderstorm, sunrise, wilderness and Beijinger.
On December 13, 1996, Cao Yu died of a long-term illness in Beijing hospital at the age of 86.
As one of the pioneers of China's new culture movement, Cao Yu is as famous as Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Ba Jin and Lao She. He is a leading figure and drama educator in modern Chinese drama, and has successively served as a member of the Standing Committee and executive chairman of the China Federation of literary and art circles; executive director and vice chairman of the China Dramatists Association; director of the China Writers Association and chairman of the Beijing Municipal Federation of literary and art circles; vice president and honorary president of the Central Academy of drama; and President of the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Every character he created left an unforgettable impression. In 1934, Cao Yu's first play thunderstorm came out, which is of great significance in the history of modern Chinese drama. It is recognized as a symbol of the maturity of modern Chinese drama, and Cao Yu is also known as "Shakespeare of the East".
Life of the characters
Personal experience
Cao Yu was born in Xiaobailou, Tianjin on September 24, 1910. Three days later, his mother Xue died of puerperal fever. Xue's twin sister Xue Yongnan married Cao Yu's father and took on the responsibility of raising Cao Yu.
In 1913, when he was three years old, he went to the theatre with his stepmother. He was able to watch Beijing opera, Hebei Bangzi, Shanxi Bangzi, Tangshan Luozi, Wenming opera and other traditional Chinese operas. These operas laid a certain foundation for his future creation.
In 1922, Qiu was admitted to Nankai Middle School as a sophomore. During the period of school, he actively participated in all kinds of drama activities.
In 1929, his father died of a stroke. In September of the same year, he transferred from Nankai University to the second year of the Department of Western literature of Tsinghua University, where he devoted himself to studying drama and extensively read from ancient Greek tragedies to Shakespeare's plays and Chekhov, Ibsen and O'Neill's plays, which had a great impact on his later creation.
In 1933, he wrote thunderstorm in summer and autumn and entered Tsinghua Research Institute in autumn. She began to fall in love with Zheng Xiu and applied for an English teacher in Mingde middle school in Baoding in autumn.
In March 1935, the famous film actor Ruan Lingyu committed suicide. Cao Yu was so indignant that he wrote sunrise.
In June 1936, he signed the declaration of Chinese writers and artists with 77 people including Lu Xun and Ba Jin. In the autumn of the same year, he wrote wilderness.
In May 1937, sunrise won the "literature and Art Award" of Ta Kung Pao.
In 1938, in cooperation with Song Zhi, Xia Qiu adapted "national mobilization" and changed its name to "black 28", which was staged in October of the same year.
In 1940, he wrote metamorphosis and thinking in the first half of the year, and Peking man in the second half of the year.
In 1942, he resigned from the National Academy of drama at the beginning of the year and went from Jiang'an to Chongqing. He also teaches English and foreign drama in Fudan University. He created and adapted four act drama "home" and one act drama "gilding".
In January 1943, he translated Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet.
In 1946, he was invited by the State Department of the United States to give lectures with Lao She in the United States.
In February 1947, he arrived in Shanghai from the United States. In autumn, the screenplay "sunny day" was finished and directed by Wenhua company. At the end of the year, the underground party organization of the Communist Party of China arranged to leave Shanghai secretly for Hong Kong.
In 1949, under the arrangement of the underground Party of the Communist Party of China, he disguised himself as a businessman and arrived in Yantai liberated area by boat from Hong Kong. In April, the Chinese peace delegation headed by Guo Moruo held a world peace conference in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. In the same year, the all China Federation of literary and artistic workers was established and elected as its Standing Committee. Subsequently, the all China Association of literary workers, the all China Association of dramatic workers, and the all China Association of filmmakers were successively established and elected as the Standing Committee member, the head of the publishing department, and the member respectively.
In 1951, the Beijing People's Art Theater was established as president.
In 1954, he published "bright day".
In 1960, he created and completed the historical play "sleeping on fuel and tasting gall", which was later renamed "gall sword".
In 1978, the five act historical play Wang Zhaojun was published.
On December 13, 1996, he died of a long-term illness in Beijing hospital.
marriage and family
Cao Yu had three wives, Zheng Xiu, Deng Yisheng, Fang Rui and Li Yuru.
Zheng Xiu is Cao Yu's first wife, but also love Cao Yu for the longest time a spoony woman. She is Cao Yu, a classmate of Tsinghua University. In the early spring of 1933, Cao Yu asked his good friend sun Haoran to appear in the campus drama activities. He specially invited Zheng Xiu to play the role of the heroine in the drama sin by British playwright Galsworthy. At the same time, he began to pursue Zheng Xiu enthusiastically. Cao Yu was moved by Zheng Xiu's beauty and failed several times. Finally, in a serious illness, they fell in love. After three years of love, on November 26, 1936, Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu held a grand engagement ceremony at the DREO Alumni Association in Pingcang lane, Nanjing. Cao Yu wore a Western-style tuxedo, while Zheng Xiu wore a Qipao. Jin Yi and Ba Jin came from other places to attend. Ba Jin sent a doll, Zheng Xiu was very happy: "I hold a gold doll, if not Ba Jin's appreciation," Thunderstorm "is not published, but just a poor student." Ma Yanxiang and Zhang Tianyi also attended the ceremony. In the spring of 1937, Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu held a simple wedding at Changsha National Drama School. Yu Shangyuan, the principal of the school, married them. The guests were Wu Zuguang and other teachers and students of the school. Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu were officially married.
Soon after Cao Yu and Zheng Xiu got married, they had an extramarital affair with Fang Rui for ten years. This love affair was in a semi public state from the beginning. Cao Yu filed for divorce several times to Zheng Xiu. At this time, Zheng Xiu had two daughters and was determined not to leave. However, their relationship between husband and wife existed in name only. They separated until 1951. Zheng Xiu divorced in great loneliness and pain. Zheng Xiu said to Zhang Junxiang, Cao Yu's classmate and friend, "I used to love Cao Yu and married him, but now I still love him. I agree to divorce because I want him to be happy. Zheng Xiu died in October 1989 and never remarried.
Cao Yu and Fang Rui got married in 1951 until the cultural revolution. Cao Yu was not criticized and was sent to the farm to reform through labor. Fang Rui was frightened and collapsed. He took a lot of sleeping pills to fall asleep. One day in 1974, Fang Rui died in his own bed. On his deathbed, a large number of sleeping pills were scattered everywhere.
After Fang Rui's death, Zheng Xiu and Cao Yu's sons and daughters intend to reunite. However, Cao Yu married Li Yuru in 1979 and started his third marriage. Li Yuru accompanied Cao Yu through the last journey --- until Cao Yu died in 1996.
Related stories
Bathing and reading
During the Anti Japanese War, Cao Yu was a full-time teacher of national drama in Jiang'an, Sichuan Province. One summer, Cao Yu's family once prepared a bathtub and hot water for him to take a bath. At this time, Cao Yu was reading a book. He couldn't put it down and pushed it again and again. Finally, under the repeated urging of his family, he entered the inner room with a towel in one hand and a book in the other. An hour later, no one came out, the room from time to time the sound of water falling, another hour later, the situation is still the same. Cao Yu's family members were puzzled. When they pushed the door, they found that Cao Yu was sitting in the bathtub with a book in one hand and a towel in the other.
Abridgement of lines
In the spring of 1954, Beijing People's art rehearsed thunderstorm, the first time since the founding of new China. Cao Yu, as the playwright and President of the drama, made quite a lot of changes to his lines.
In the second act, Fanyi had such a long monologue: "it's so hot and stuffy. I can't live here any more. I hope I can become a crater of a volcano today. I will burn everything up once. At that time, I will fall into the glacier again and freeze to ashes. It's enough to burn once in my life. My past is over. I hope it's dead. Hum! I'm ready for everything. Come on, those who hate me, those who disappoint me, those who make me jealous. Come on, I'm waiting for you. "
There are 156 words in this monologue, which was deleted and changed to "extremely hot, extremely boring, such a life really can't go on."
There are only 20 words left in the deleted monologue. About, really can be called "keep improving".
Excellent actor
During his study in Nankai Middle School in Tianjin, Cao Yu participated in drama activities and once played the leading role in Ibsen's "doll's house". According to Cao Yu's daughters Wan Zhao and WAN Dai, "dad played the heroine Nora in Ibsen's famous play Nora (doll's house). In the play, Nora is going to run away from home behind her husband's back, and her father plays in the play,
Chinese PinYin : Cao Yu
pen name of Wan Jiabao
