World cultural celebrity, Chinese playwright. The name Ningjie, the word Zidong, is a native of Qianxian County, Shaanxi. Born in a family of scholars for generations, he has read the books in his family since he was a child, is knowledgeable, open-minded, does not follow the conventions, sometimes has high opinions, and has been called "talented".
In the 28th year of Qing Guangxu (1902), he was admitted to the Sanyuan Hongdao Higher School in Shaanxi Province. Study hard and graduate with the first place with honors. Thirty-four years later, Guangxu taught at Xi'an Fu Middle School and served as the principal and teacher of Kenmoto School. In the second year of Xuan reunification (1910), he joined the League and engaged in anti-Qing activities. After the Xinhai Revolution, he was elected as a member of the first parliament of Shaanxi Province, the secretary of the Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, and a member of the Taxation committee.
In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), he participated in the founding of the Shaanxi Yi Folk Society, serving as the editorial director and the chief reviewer. Determined to write new dramas, to improve social services, three years after the Republic of China, Fan Zidong mainly devoted himself to the work of writing Qin Lu repertoire for the Yi Folk Society. His plays are very rich, for forty years, a total of sixty-eight large and small plays, one of the most influential playwrights of the Yi Folk Society, the repertoire is wide-ranging, advocating opposition to feudal etiquette, advocating marital autonomy, breaking feudal superstitions, and attacking unhealthy customs such as "Spring Girl Examination" (1915), "Golden Lotus Pain History" (1916), "Nephrite Screen" (before and after, 1917), "Three Drops of Blood" (1918), "Eight Character Case" (1919), "Battle Robe Edge" (1919), "University Derivation" (1919) (1919) 1920), "Han Mo Yuan" (1935), "Daughter Sutra" (1940), etc. The ancient heroes, reflecting patriotic ideas, and advocating national integrity include "Jade Mirror Platform" (1915), "Su Wu Muyang" (1916), "Three Confidants" (1931), "Guangfu Hanye" (1939), "Mandarin Duck Array" (1941), "Tiger Thief Charm" (1943), "The Couple Will Master" (1945), "Qin Xianggong" (1946), "Jin Wengong" (1948), "Li Guang shooting tiger" (1948) and so on. In the 1930s, he actively publicized the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the Salvation of the Country, and compiled a number of works based on the theme of modern history, including "Gong Jinpao" (1930), "Summer Palace" (before and after, 1931), "Autumn Wind and Autumn Rain" (1932), "Guanzhong Academy" (before and after, 1933), "Xinhua Dream") (1947) and so on.
His masterpiece "Three Drops of Blood", written a pedantic and stubborn Jin Letter, judged the case on the basis of blood, resulting in the tragedy of the separation of the Zhou Renrui family, and criticized the harm of not proceeding from reality and blindly believing in books. His plays are twisty, poignant and legendary. The structure of the drama is generally two-line, or even three-line parallel, intricate, and the guests and hosts are clear, and in the end, they always have their own place, such as "Three Drops of Blood".
The plot development is often abrupt, unexpected, and interesting, which greatly increases the audience's interest. Many of the plays are written with cave flower candles, but the tastes are different and very different. For example, in "Han Mo Yuan", it is a double cave room, "Nephrite Jade Screen" is a fake cave room, and in "Xiaoshan Xiucai", it is a cave room that escapes at night. He is also good at comedy, jin xinshu in "Three Drops of Blood", three appearances to try cases, three times to drop blood, objectively it is already a mistake again and again, but he is cheering up and becoming more and more confident. When he was punished by the dismissal of the official in his last appearance, he also issued a long sigh of "reading is not clear and difficult to use, and when you go home, you still have to pay attention to the green lantern", which is ironic and thought-provoking.
Due to the limitations of history and class, Fan Zidong's plays often have distorted depictions of peasant uprisings, such as Li Zicheng in "Three Confidants" and Yihe Fist in "Summer Palace". Fan Zidong is full of learning and talents, in addition to being proficient in opera, he is also good at calligraphy and painting poetry, and knows the rhythm and history of Jinshi. His works include "Guanxi Yanyu Shen", "General Theory of Music", "Facsimile of Zhou Qin Stone Carvings in Kansai", "Research on the Movement of the Earth", "Chronicle of Qianxian County", "Chronicle of Yongshou County" and so on.
After the liberation of Xi'an, Fan Zidong served as a member of the Northwest and Xi'an Municipal Federation of Literature, a member of the Xi'an Repertoire Revision Committee, and the director of the Xi'an Municipal Research Museum of Literature and History. In March 1954, after inspecting the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Lintong, he fell ill and died on March 31, 1954, at the age of seventy-six.