Cao Yu's Four Playwright Classics
by Cao Yu
The four books express the author’s passionate love and hatred for that era. Thunderstorm, the first work by Cao Yu, is considered the “cornerstone of Chinese drama realism.” Through the story of a tragic fate of revenge, The Wilderness portrays the writer’s confusion on the “dilemma of life” and philosophical thoughts on the mysterious universe. Peking Man portrays how an extended feudal family in old China gradually progressed from prosperity to decline and demise. Sunrise narrates the sinister acts of the upper class and the miserable life of the lower class, and expresses the author’s strong love and hatred for real life.