Guan Hanqing

Guan Hanqing (c.1245–c.1322) is the best known of all the dramatists working during the Golden Age of Chinese Drama. He is the first playwright listed in A Register of Ghosts, a record of poets and playwrights, published in 1330. He was a prolific writer, playing a large role in theatrical innovation and the cultural boom of a decisive historical age.

Guan is often acknowledged in Western texts as “China’s Shakespeare.” Considering that Guan preceded Shakespeare by more than 300 years, Shakespeare may be Brittania’s Guan Hanqing. Either trained for a life in medicine or a practicing court physician, he lived in Yen-Ching, the site of modern-day Beijing. He began writing plays in 1260 and wrote more than 60, 18 of which have survived. These extant works are now exemplary forms of classical Chinese drama, with a robust history of revival and adaption. His best-known play is Dou E Yuan, or The Injustice to Dou E that Moved Heaven and Earth, the source play for Cowhig’s Snow in Midsummer.