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Why was Cao Yu’s play Thunderstorm so successful?
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Chinese literature
Zhang Fei on the Long Sloped Bridge Turning Away One Million Wei Troops with a Powerful Stare, woodblock colour print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1884. It depicts a scene from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Yu’s play Thunderstorm (Leiyu), published in 1934, achieved phenomenal success by establishing a firm foothold for realistic social drama on the popular Chinese stage. While spoken drama (huaju) had previously been limited to small groups of Western-educated intelligentsia, Cao Yu’s work resonated with broader audiences through its gripping tension and innovative dramaturgy.12
The play’s success is attributed to several key factors:
- Compelling Themes: It explored universal human frailties and pressing social issues, specifically focusing on a tale of fatalism, retribution, and incestuous relations within a wealthy industrialist’s family.1
- Western Influence: As a pioneer of huaju—a genre influenced by Western theatre rather than traditional sung Chinese drama—Cao Yu effectively utilized Western-style techniques to portray the dissolute members of the old gentry and the rising entrepreneur class.32
- Broadened Appeal: The play’s popularity was further solidified by the China Traveling Dramatic Troupe, which toured the work to many cities, successfully expanding the reach of spoken drama to the middle class.2
Ultimately, Thunderstorm is considered the high-water mark of modern Chinese theatre, marking the moment when realistic vernacular drama became a significant force in Chinese literature.1