Xia Yan (1900-1995) is a famous Chinese playwright and screenwriter A native of Yuhang, Zhejiang Province, he has another name of Shen Naixi alias Duanxuan or Duanxian. He had pursued his studies in Japan. In the 193Os, he founded Shanghai Art Drama Society and was one of the leaders of the League of Chinese Left-Wing [...]
If modern Chinese drama has come of age in the 1930s, then Cao Yu and his dramatic trilogy of Thunderstorm Sunrise and The Wilderness are a hallmark of this maturity. Rich in implications and excellent in techniques, these dramatic works are regarded as the classics of modern Chinese drama.
Cao Yu (1910-1996) is a renowned modern [...]
In the over ten years since the inception of May the Fourth Movement, modern Chinese drama was basically limited to the intellectual circle, especially the young intellectuals. Under the special historical circumstances of the 1930s, Chinese drama started a process of socialization and popularization with the aim of serving the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Tian Han’s Southern China Society and His Tragedies
One of the remarkable achievements made by May the Fourth New Drama lies in the establishment of dramatic literature based on western models. Tian Han is one of the excellent representatives in this regard. As a pioneer of poetic realism of modern Chinese drama, he explored multiple [...]
After the transitional period of civilized drama and through the cultivation of May the Fourth New Cultural Movement, western drama - “an imported product” was finally planted deeply in China. This was marked by the following factors: the appearance of new dramatic literature and a group of people engaged in modern drama and special dramatic [...]
May the Fourth Movement ushered in a period of “absorbing new trends and shaking off the outmoded conventions”. China opened her arms to embrace nearly all western dramatic trends that appeared or were emerging during that period, including as many schools as dazzled the eyes of Chinese audience. These schools include, among other things, Oscar [...]
Ibsen and the Chinese Nara
Chinese intellectuals introduced western drama to the country for a definitely pragmatic purpose. The proponents of May the Fourth New Drama showed special interest in Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. New Youth once published a special edition on Ibsen. In addition, Hu Shi introduced and praised very highly “Ibsenism”. Even some young [...]
Disputes Between the Innovative and the Conservative
In the sturm-und-drang campaign against feudalistic culture, nearly everything ranging from tombs to scriptures became the punching bag. It was impractical for the disreputable civilized drama to undertake the task of preaching new culture. In the eyes of those advocates of the May Fourth New Culture, traditional Chinese drama [...]
As an imported art form, civilized drama required a period of breaking- in and adaptation before it could be rooted in the cultural soil of t Chinese nation. In the initial period, it had to face the xenophobia of the native culture and look for a certain under-prop as its foothold. In addition, it should [...]
It was some Chinese diplomats who made the first contacts with western drama during their visit to western countries. They watched some western plays partly because they attended diplomatic receptions and partly out of pure Curiosity. Evidently, they were fascinated by such fresh and original performances and showed special interest in the following things. First, [...]
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