Chen Xuezhao

Chen Xuezhao was born in an upper-class family in Tianjin, China in 1906. She was exposed to both western and traditional Chinese theatre from a young age, and developed a passion for drama and literature. She studied at Nankai High School and Tsinghua University, where she majored in history. She began writing plays in 1933, and her first work, Thunderstorm, was a sensation that made him famous as a pioneer of modern Chinese spoken theatre. She followed it with other successful plays, such as Sunrise, The Wilderness, and Peking Man, which explored the themes of love, family, society, and revolution. She was influenced by western playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill, Henrik Ibsen, and Anton Chekhov, as well as by Chinese classical literature and folklore. She was also a supporter of the Communist Party of China, and wrote some patriotic and socialist plays during and after the Sino-Japanese War. She moved to Beijing in 1952 and founded the Beijing People's Art Theatre, which became a leading institution of Chinese drama. She also served as the chairman of the China Theatre Association and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She received many awards and honors for her contributions to Chinese culture, such as the Order of Literary and Artistic Merit and the Medal of Friendship. She died in Beijing at the age of 86 in 1996.