Tsao Yü

Ts’ao Yü 

(pen name of Wan Chia-pao). Born 1910 in Ch’ienchien, Hupeh Province. Chinese dramatist.

Ts’ao Yü graduated from Tsing-hua University in Peking in 1934. His first play, the tragedy The Storm (1934; Russian translation, 1956), criticized Chinese family structure. The tragedy The Sunrise (1935; Russian translation, 1960) denounced bourgeois mores. In his play The Wild Field (1937). Ts’ao revealed the sharp contradictions of Chinese village life. The play Renewal (1941) dealt with the patriotic upsurge during the early part of the war with Japan and is notable for its optimism. Family drama, the main theme of the tragicomedy People of Peking (1941; translated into Russian as Sinothropes, 1960) and the play The Family (1942, based on a novel of the same name by Pa Chin), depict social conflicts in Chinese society. In 1954, Ts’ao published a play about the intelligentsia, The Clear Sky (Russian translation, 1960).

Ts’ao Yü’s sociopsychological dramas are notable for their treatment of social ills and the originality of their characters.

WORKS

In Russian translation:
P’esy, vols. 1–2. Moscow, 1960.

REFERENCES

Nikol’skaia, L. A. “Dramaturgiia Tsao Iuia.” Sovetskoe kitaevedenie, 1958, no. 4.
Lau, J. S. M. Ts’ao Yü: A Study in Literary Influence. Hong Kong, 1970.

L. A. NIKOL’SKAIA