Chinese Modern Drama Giant Cao Yu Succeeds in Interest (Interest Series Report No. 3)

Original author: Zhang Wenfa

Cao Yu (24 September 1910 – 13 December 1996) was an outstanding modern drama playwright in China, formerly known as Wan Jiabao, Xiao Shi, and Nicknamed Tianjia.

The Han chinese, whose ancestral home is Qianjiang, Hubei, were born in Tianjin into a declining feudal bureaucratic family.

Cao Yu lost his mother at an early age, grew up in a depressed atmosphere, and had a bitter and introverted personality.

The origin of Cao Yu's pen name is because of the original surname "Wan" (traditional character), and the traditional 10,000 characters are the next Yu of the cursive character head. So he split the ten thousand characters up and down into 'Cao Yu', and because "Cao" did not look like a surname, he took the consonant word 'Cao', and the combination of the two obtained Cao Yu.

Cao Yu is the most accomplished playwright in the history of modern Chinese drama.

In 1910, Cao Yu was born in Xiaobailou, Tianjin, and his mother Xue died of puerperal fever three days later.

Xue Yongnan, The twin sister of the Xue clan, married Cao Yu's father and took on the heavy responsibility of raising Cao Yu.

However, it was the stepmother of this theater fan who put Xiao CaoYu's heart on the way back to her interest in life.

In 1913, at the age of 3, he watched plays with his stepmother and was able to watch traditional Chinese dramas such as Peking Opera, Hebei Zizi, Shanxi Zizi, Tangshan Luozi, and Civilization Opera, which laid a certain foundation for his future creations.

Since he was a child, he traveled with his stepmother to various theaters to listen to music and watch plays, so he sowed the seeds of drama from his heart.

In 1922, he was admitted to Nankai Middle School as a second-grade transfer student. During his time at the school, he actively participated in various drama activities and joined the Nankai New Theater Troupe.

In 1929, his father died of a stroke. In September of the same year, he was transferred from Nankai University to the second year of the Department of Western Literature of Tsinghua University, where he immersed himself in the study of drama, and widely read from ancient Greek tragedies to Shakespeare plays and plays by Chekhov, Ibsen and O'Neill, which brought great influence to his later creations.

His representative works include "Thunderstorm", "Sunrise", "Wilderness" and "Beijinger".

On December 13, 1996, Due to a long-term illness, Cao Yu died in Beijing Hospital at the age of 86.

As one of the pioneers of China's new cultural movement, Cao Yu is on a par with Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Ba Jin and Lao She.

He is a titan of modern Chinese drama, a theater educator, and has served as a member and executive chairman of the Standing Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles; a standing director and vice chairman of the China Dramatists Association; a director of the China Writers Association, a chairman of the Beijing Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles; a vice president and honorary president of the Central Academy of Drama; and the president of the Beijing People's Art Theater.

Every character he creates makes an unforgettable impression.

In 1934, Cao Yu's debut drama "Thunderstorm" came out, which is of great significance in the history of modern Chinese drama, it is recognized as a sign of the maturity of modern Chinese drama, and Mr. Cao Yu is also known as the "Shakespeare of the East".

Once, Cao Yu's family prepared a bath tub and hot water and asked him to take a bath, at this time Cao Yu was reading a book and loved it.

Pushing and shoving, and finally at the repeated urging of his family, he walked into the inner room with a towel in one hand and a book in the other.

An hour passed, no one came out, the room from time to time heard the sound of sparse water, and another hour passed, the situation remained the same.

Cao Yu's family members were suddenly confused, and when they pushed the door, it turned out that Cao Yu was sitting in the bathtub, holding a book in one hand and reading, and holding a towel in the other hand, intentionally or unintentionally patting the water.

This is the true story of how Cao Yu is obsessed with the script.

In the process of human growth, discovering people's interests and giving support is the biggest choice and help.

Man, don't want to learn everything.

Just grasp the interest, learn, break through.

The rest is enough.

Because, people's energy is too limited.

Concentrate your energy and exert unlimited strength where you are interested, and you will achieve something.