Biography
Wu Han was born on 11 August 1909 in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, and from 1931 studied at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he became a leading historian of the Ming dynasty; his acclaimed biography of the dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, appeared in 1943. From 1949 he served as Vice Mayor of Beijing, responsible for education and culture. In 1961 his play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office premiered; in 1965 the writer Yao Wenyuan attacked it as veiled criticism of the treatment of Marshal Peng Dehuai, making it one of the triggers of the Cultural Revolution. Wu Han was subsequently persecuted as a 'counter-revolutionary' and died in prison in 1969; he was rehabilitated posthumously in 1979.
On Stagelog
Loading stats...