Cao Yu

Cao Yu was born as Wan Jiabao in an upper-class family in Tianjin, China in 1910. He was exposed to both western and traditional Chinese theatre from a young age, and developed a passion for drama and literature. He studied at Nankai High School and Tsinghua University, where he majored in history. He began writing plays in 1933, and his first work, Thunderstorm, was a sensation that made him famous as a pioneer of modern Chinese spoken theatre. He followed it with other successful plays, such as Sunrise, The Wilderness, and Peking Man, which explored the themes of love, family, society, and revolution. He was influenced by western playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill, Henrik Ibsen, and Anton Chekhov, as well as by Chinese classical literature and folklore. He was also a supporter of the Communist Party of China, and wrote some patriotic and socialist plays during and after the Sino-Japanese War. He moved to Beijing in 1952 and founded the Beijing People's Art Theatre, which became a leading institution of Chinese drama. He also served as the chairman of the China Theatre Association and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He received many awards and honors for his contributions to Chinese culture, such as the Order of Literary and Artistic Merit and the Medal of Friendship. He died in Beijing at the age of 86 in 1996.