（蓝皮）国学 窦娥冤

by 关汉卿, 《国学典藏书系》丛书编委会 (Editor)

Guan Hanqing (c. 1241-1320), also known under the sobriquet "the Oldman of the Studio", was a notable Chinese playwright and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. He has been described as among the most prolific and highly regarded dramatists of the Yuan period. Guan spent much of his later life in Dadu and produced about 65 plays, mostly in the vernacular of the time. The complete texts of three of his most popular extant plays are included in this volume.

Genres: Plays, Classics, China, Chinese Literature, School, Drama, Asian Literature

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Hend · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old Chinese drama (1271 – 1368) _(snow falls in the middle of summer)symbolizes the injustice committed, a play about ,DOU E a woman who has a rebellious spirit and determination to resist the cruel Oppression fallen on her, she was to be executed (after being tortured)for a crime she didnt commit,To take revenge,at the execution site she makes a final wish that her blood will not stain the ground, and a heavy snow will cover her body after her death although it was summer. And then, there would be a severe drought in her county for the three years. ...
and her wishes were Fulfilled .....

"DOU E:Take pity on one who is dying an unjust death;

Take pity on one whose head will be struck from her body;

Take pity on one who has worked with you in your home;

Take pity on one who has neither mother nor father;

Take pity on one who has served you all these years;

And at festivals offer my spirit a bowl of cold gruel.

MRS. CAI (weeping):
Don't worry. Ah, this will be the death of me!

DOU E:

Burn some paper coins to my headless corpse,

For the sake of your dead son.

We wail and complain to Heaven:

There is no justice! Dou E is wrongly slain!

[Aaron Piccirillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

“All mortal men must die when their time is up.”

was a pretty good show and glad that dou e got her revenge that she deserved. not a lot went on and was kinda boring except for the end. also they repeated sooooo much of the same information- that might be from the translation but idk. wasn’t really anything groundbreaking but still had a funish time.

[Madelein · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Interesting play (well, zaju, chinese opera) overall, and I loved Dou E's revenge, however, the structure was hard to follow and the constant reiteration of plot and introductions was boring.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a zaju play, so it's a form of Chinese opera built around blended elements--in this case a central story line with music, singing, and some additional performed elements. The plot is very interesting, building on Confucian values and the trend during the Yuan dynasty of detective stories. Dou trades his daughter to Mrs. Cai to marry her son in exchange for the relief of his debt to her. Then thirteen years later, Dou E (as Mrs. Cai renames the daughter) is now a widow, and Zhang blackmails Mrs. Cai into agreeing to marry him, while his son Donkey tries to marry Dou E--but she refuses. When Donkey accidentally poisons his father with soup meant to kill Mrs. Cai, he tries to blackmail Dou E into marrying him in exchange for not taking her to court. However, she still refuses, so he takes her to court, and rather than see Mrs. Cai beaten in the court, Dou E falsely confesses and is executed. She promises three signs that will show her innocence, and they all come to pass. However, it isn't until her father comes back to town--now as a high court official overseeing the justice system--that the case is re-opened. This is what's called a "judgement reversal" play. However, the twist Guan puts on the story is that Dou (the father) only reverses the judgment because Dou E's ghost appears to him and tells him the whole story. He doesn't actually investigate or look into the case on his own, and he doesn't gather any new evidence. Basically, he goes the opposite direction Hamlet does, and simply takes this ghost's word as the basis of how he's going to act in the world.
https://youtu.be/FclUt1LciNw

[Ally Restrepo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars, rounded up
I really really enjoyed this play. It's really short, but it tells a story that will stick with me for a while. The characters go through so much tragedy that it was easy to get bogged down by all the bad that was happening. Still, I ended the script with a little bit of hope as Tou Ngo's father was able to begin the search for justice for her after her unjust execution .
At its core, this is a story about justice and its lack of effectiveness in society. Though many of the reasonings behind Tou Ngo's refusal to marry again are extremely dated (up to and including staying loyal to her dead husband because if she didn't she would be a terrible person), the themes of frustration and exhaustion because the justice system is built to believe men before women are even looked at are still relevant today. These are the things that I'll think about long after I stop reading -- that a play from centuries ago could still be relatable, and how that points out the flaws in our current society that we can and should try to change.

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the version in the norton anthology of drama and was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this play, and wondered about staging both of this was to be done in the modern era as well as back when it was originally written.

[Himali Kothari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the 13th century, the play may appear overtly anti-feminist on current times. The narrative structure of the characters describing their actions and also frequently breaking the fourth wall was interesting.

[Adam David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent example of Eastern theater. Easy to read and interpret.

[Rene · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.5, read for theatre literature class

[Gg · Rating 3 out of 5]

idk about this one…

[Alicia Rusthoven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love dou e

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid plot, lots of overexplaining, but honestly that made it really easy to follow

[plutonium · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinda fucked but glad it had the ending it did

[jordan kauffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it every part it was actually insane to read and so intriguing and just really really good

[Rebecca Jauregui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had no idea where this was going, but I was locked in

[Rachel A]

I don't know how to rate this play. I had to read it for school.

[river · Rating 2 out of 5]

13th Century Zaju play