Cao Yu

Cao Yu (Chinese: 曹禺; pinyin: Cáo Yú; Wade–Giles: Ts'ao Yü, September 24, 1910—December 13, 1996), born as Wan Jiabao (Chinese: 萬家寶/万家宝; pinyin: Wàn Jiābǎo), was a renowned Chinese playwright, often regarded as China's most important of the 20th century. His most well-known works are Thunderstorm (1933), Sunrise (1936) and Peking Man (1940). It is largely through the efforts of Cao Yu that the modern Chinese "spoken theater" took root in 20th-century Chinese literature.

Xiaomei Chen, author of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama, said that Cao was "[e]nthroned as China's Ibsen,[...]"

Biography and Works

Childhood

Cao Yu was born into an upper-class family in Qianjiang in the province of Hubei. When he was still an infant, his family's business interests necessitated a move to Tianjin where his father worked for a time as secretary to China's President, Li Yuanhong. Tianjin was a cosmopolitan city with a strong western influence, and during his childhood, Yu's mother would often take him to see western style plays, which were gaining in popularity at the time, as well as to productions of Chinese traditional opera.

Cao Yu (Three Kingdoms)

Cao Yu (died 278), courtesy name Pengzu, was a prince in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He was a son of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power towards the end of the Han dynasty and laid the foundation of Wei. Cao Yu's son, Cao Huan, was the fifth and last emperor of Wei.

Life

Cao Yu was a son of Cao Cao and his concubine Lady Huan (環夫人). He had two brothers who were also born to Lady Huan – Cao Chong and Cao Ju (曹據). He was enfeoffed as a "Marquis of a Chief District" (都鄉侯) in 211 during the reign of Emperor Xian in the Eastern Han dynasty, and was promoted to "Marquis of Luyang" (魯陽侯) in 217.

In 221, a year after Cao Yu's elder half-brother, Cao Pi, ended the Han dynasty and established the state of Cao Wei, Cao Yu became a duke, and was conferred the title of "Prince of Xiapi" (下邳王) in the following year. In 224, his princedom was changed from Xiapi (下邳; present-day Pizhou, Xuzhou, Jiangsu) to Shanfu County (單父縣; present-day Shan County, Heze, Shandong).