雷雨

by Cao Yu

Thunderstorm is a tragic play involving complicated blood relationships and numerous inevitable tragic coincidences that occur in the 1930s in China. It is a dramatic feat with profound connotations and heart-stirring artistry. The story unfolded around Zhou Puyuan, a male character who had been to Germany to study. Cold-blooded, selfish and hypocritical, he was like a dictator of a dark dynasty in his home. Zhou Puyuan is a well-portrayed character in Thunderstorm. All sinful acts were attributable to his domestic autocracy. The profound significance of Thunderstorm lies in its exposure of the close political and ideological bond between Chinese capitalists and the deep-rooted feudal traditions.

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

118 pages

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Cao Yu (曹禺; September 24, 1910—December 13, 1996), born as Wan Jiabao (萬家寶/万家宝), was a renowned Chinese playwright, often regarded as China's most important of the 20th century. His most well-known works are Thunderstorm (1933), Sunrise (1936) and Peking Man (1940). It is largely through the efforts of Cao Yu that the modern Chinese "spoken theater" took root in 20th-century Chinese literature.

Reviews

[sonya m · Rating 4 out of 5]

also 4.5 stars literally so gripping and DEFINITELY greek tragedy vibes but also parasite vibes
really really good and then when you find out that cao yu’s mum died and his father married her twin... the plot makes so much sense lol
i enjoyed this so much actually there’s so much to unpack

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually quite impressed by this Chinese incest story. The whole thing happened in just one day! I was a little annoyed by the stage signals, though, but they also helped me understand the character better. (雷雨 is a script)

[Raya · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 the DRAMA its so intense - has very greek tragedy vibes

[Maisie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok but this was so so good (parasite vibes)

[Maxwell Ji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thunderstorm has a special place in my heart. Reading it brought quite some nostalgia. Though, I'll have to say that the pieces and fragments that I've previously seen in school simply pale in comparison to the play in its entirety. The devil lies in the detail, not just the broader scandals and general characterisation, but in the minute differences and shifts in attitude that reflect the complex relationships between... well, basically everyone in this play.

Something that hit me exceptionally hard is the repeated idea that one past mistake brought the wave of disaster upon this 'family' (such tragedy! Fanyi, Shiping, Ping, even Puyuan to some extent all carry some level of this guilt). But were those mistakes truly mistakes? Or simply results of broken concepts of morality and human desire?
...
I think I've been reading too much tragic literature that comment on East Asian societal failures these days. Maybe it's time to pivot to some happier books.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

* 4 STARS *

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What rollercoaster of events was this.. impressively written
4⭐️

[Fatima · Rating 3 out of 5]

She slapped

[kathryn vinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

subtracting two stars for incest alone

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a vibe for sure. so many twists.

[Nicole Entin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Equal parts compelling and horrifying. I could barely bring myself to turn the page and see what happened next, so I can only imagine the intensity of watching Thunderstorm as a staged production. Draws on classical Greek tragedy and developing conceits of realist drama alike, but the resulting product is something wholly unique and surprising.

[Mango Miu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giờ mới được đọc kịch Lôi vũ của Tào Ngu :(
Cũng may nhờ trước đây kém hiểu biết, chưa từng nghe tên vở kịch, cũng không được biết trước nội dung kịch, nên giờ mới có thể thưởng thức nó trọn vẹn như vậy....

[Christy S]

(re-read. Review on another edition)

[ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wholeheartedly believe that once your stage directions surpass more than a page then you’re better off just writing a short story or something...like this was very much telling & not expressing, which was ironic, considering this is a script. anyway this still managed to hold my attention just bc there’s so much happening btwn the characters; the main cast felt very lively even on the written page. it was the characters that made this so intense; the story itself was just okay, it was predictably horrifying, copious amounts of dramatic irony, etc etc. i know cao yu deliberately modeled this after western tragedy (oedipus rex???) but i think i didn’t take to this one because of exactly that reason, since it felt like something i’d read/heard before

i don’t think i’ll ever reread this outside of class since it didn’t personally resonate with me & the stage directions are astonishingly tedious lmao, but i think this does have the potential to be great on stage! but since against all odds this still freaked me out pretty badly i will not be looking for an adaptation god bless.

[Anran Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

這部1934年問世的劇作，不僅是中國現代話劇的里程碑，更展現了曹禺如何巧妙地將西方文學，尤其是希臘悲劇的精神與形式，引入中文文學的土壤，並使其生根發芽，開出獨屬於中國的悲劇之花。

曹禺在清華大學外文系求學期間，廣泛接觸西方戲劇，從莎士比亞到易卜生，再到古希臘悲劇大師埃斯庫羅斯、索福克勒斯與歐里庇得斯。他深受希臘悲劇「命運」「家庭詛咒」「悲劇性衝突」等核心母題影響，卻未生搬硬套，而是將其與中國封建家庭倫理、社會現實深度融合。在《雷雨》中，這種融合達到極致。劇中周家四代人的情感糾葛、亂倫隱秘與最終的毀滅，隱隱呼應希臘悲劇中「俄狄浦斯」式的命運枷鎖與家庭詛咒。魯貴與四鳳的關係、周萍與蘩漪的禁忌之戀，都帶有濃厚的命運感與不可避免的悲劇張力。曹禺並未直接搬運希臘神話情節，而是借用其精神內核——人無法逃脫的宿命、道德與欲望的衝突，以及個體在龐大社會與家庭結構下的渺小——來書寫中國舊式大家庭的崩解。

這種引入最精妙之處，在於「中國化」的轉化。希臘悲劇常以神與命運為主導，而曹禺則把「命運」轉化為所謂封建禮教、階級鬥爭與人性弱點的交織。蘩漪這個角色尤為突出，她既有希臘悲劇中「激情女主角」的狂烈與悲劇性，又承載了中國傳統婦女在家庭中的壓抑與覺醒。曹禺讓西方悲劇的心理深度與中國話劇的社會批判完美結合，使《雷雨》既具備希臘悲劇的嚴肅結構（時間、空間、行動的集中），又充滿本土的煙火氣與時代痛感。

更進一步來看，曹禺在後續作品如《原野》中，對希臘悲劇的借鑑更為明顯而大膽。《原野》中的復仇主題、命運追逐、以及農村環境中帶有神話色彩的氛圍，清晰可見埃斯庫羅斯《奧瑞斯提亞》三部曲的影子。仇虎的復仇之路、與「命運」的抗爭，幾乎是希臘悲劇英雄在中國鄉村的投射。曹禺甚至引入類似「歌隊」的效果，透過人物內心獨白與環境描寫，強化悲劇的儀式感與宿命氛圍。然而，他始終不忘植根中國現實——土地、宗族、階級矛盾，讓西方悲劇形式獲得了中國式的血肉與批判力量。

閱讀曹禺的劇本，我總能感受到他那種「借西方之酒，澆中國之塊壘」的創作野心。他沒有讓希臘悲劇成為簡單的舶來品，而是透過精湛的戲劇結構、深刻的人物心理刻畫，以及對封建社會的無情剖析，使其成為中國現代文學中悲劇意識覺醒的重要標誌。這種融合，不僅提升了中國話劇的文學性與藝術高度，也為後世劇作家開闢了中西交融的創作道路。

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I have been trying to find the perfect 80th book this year for some time. I suppose the only Chinese book I've read this year is a pretty good choice.

This is an incredibly engaging, incestuous, and dramatic play. I love the complexity of the characters and the restraints of Chinese society on gender and class relations that they reveal.

We read this in Chinese class by having students role-play the characters. I happen to be reading the lines of my favorite character Fan Yi. It was a great experience being able to see the events from her perspective.

I took 0.5 stars off because I think she deserved better revenge. The stage directions can be a bit long and boring at times, and the ending was wrapped up a bit too abruptly. I would've liked to see more of what happened to the characters that survive.

[Mathias Chouvier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cao Yu signe une excellente pièce qui met en scène la confrontation de deux familles lors d’une nuit d’orage, sur fond d’inceste, de lutte des classes et de mensonge. Le rendu final ressemble à s’y méprendre au film Parasite, très en avance sur son temps sur la question de la place des femmes et des vices que la richesse entraîne.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A love story like Romeo and Juliet's, Chinese version, with a generous amount of twists! These two turned out to be....not going to spoil it! It is worth reading it! I also saw this live as a play in the theater and it definitely helped in rating this book even higher than just five stars.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

可怜的人生哦


妈，您，您是怎么？我的心定了。不管他是富，是穷，不管他是谁，我是他的了。我心里第一个许了他，我看得见的只有他，妈，我现在到了这一步：他到哪儿我也到哪儿；他是什么，我也跟他是什么。妈，您难道不明白，我——

天知道谁犯了罪，谁造的这种孽！——他们都是可怜的孩子，不知道自己做的是什么。天哪，如果要罚，也罚在我一个人身上；

我没有孩子，我没有丈夫，我没有家，我什么都没有，我只要你说：我——我是你的。

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Even if I don’t think the Greek tragedy comparisons are 100% accurate, it did have me drawing Punnett squares in act III when I started realizing what was going on, so there’s that.

[Yoyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

三一律使剧情及戏剧冲突高度集中，伏笔和象征运用的超好！

[Rick Wen · Rating 3 out of 5]

dont be a guy that only knows to blame others

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully tangled drama with the inclination to become more than itself

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

these two families are more complicated than any other

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense.

[annabelle]

wtf

[Joyce Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will never cease to surprise me.

[Kai Grenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Czułam się jakbym czytała scenariusz "trudnych spraw".

[rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg it’s chinese shakespeare. this was so good.