Paradise of Sunshine: The Golden Dream of Cao Yu's Drama

Author: Zhu Jun, Pan Xiaoxi, Xing Yan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: The great playwright Cao Yu is both a milestone and a pride of Chinese theater, as well as the most prominent figure in Chinese drama to date. However, he is not a flawless, transcendent cultural icon. As a purely academic text focused on close reading, this book aims to explore and generate academic propositions of genuine value and life from the inherent cultural connotations and humanistic depth of Cao Yu's dramatic works. The plot and life models in Cao Yu's plays—such as "the darkness of a hellish world + the revolution of an authoritarian society + the rebellion of a patriarchal family + the pursuit of romantic love + the sacrifice of selfless love + the punishment of divine justice + the salvation of a divine savior + the transcendence of a heavenly paradise"—largely represent a comprehensive reactivation and reintegration of the shared "primitive emotions" and "remnants of savagery" in Chinese society. In his later years, Cao Yu repeatedly reflected on the religiousized life model of first advocating divine justice and revolution like Sun Wukong, then achieving enlightenment and transcending the mortal world, in a series of essays. This was, in fact, a rational subversion and deconstruction of his own religious worldview, which combined the "human way" of a hellish world with the "divine way" of a heavenly paradise in his "primitive emotions" and "remnants of savagery." The main research topic of this book, "Modern Drama and Religious Culture," was part of the "Nineteen-Ninety-Five Plan" project of the Chinese Academy of Arts and Sciences.