Tang Xianzu


Tang Xianzu, courtesy name Yireng, was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.

Biography

Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level positions. He successfully participated in the Provincial examinations at the age of 21 and at the imperial examinations at the age of 34. He held official positions in Nanjing, Zhejiang province, Guangdong province etc. He retired in 1598 and returned to his hometown where he focused on writing. Tang died in 1616, the same year as famed English playwright William Shakespeare.
His major plays are collectively called the Four Dreams, because of the decisive role dreams play in the plot of each one. All of them are still performed on the Chinese Kun opera stage. Generally considered his masterpiece, the Mudan Ting has been translated into English several times.
A translation of his complete dramatic works in English was published in China in 2014 and in London in 2018.

Legacy

A few Ming and Qing playwrights followed Tang's writing style and called themselves the Yumintang or Linchuan school.

Works