![A statue of Bai Pu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/A_statue_of_Bai_Pu.jpg)
Bai Renfu (, c. 1226−1306), also known as Bai Pu (), was a renowned Chinese playwright of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
.
He wrote 16 plays, three of which are extant:
* ''Over the Wall'' (裴少俊牆頭馬上 ''Péi Shǎo Jùn Qiáng Tóu Mǎ Shàng'')
* ''Rain on the
Paulownia
''Paulownia'' ( ) is a genus of seven to 17 species of hardwood tree (depending on taxonomic authority) in the family Paulowniaceae, the order Lamiales. They are present in much of China, south to northern Laos and Vietnam and are long cultivat ...
Tree'' (唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨 ''Táng Míng Huáng Qiū Yè Wú Tóng Yǔ'') about
Emperor Xuanzong and Lady
Yang Guifei
Yang Yuhuan (; 26 June, 719 – 15 July 756Volume 218 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Yang was killed on the ''bingshen'' day of the 6th month of the 1st year of the Zhide era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 15 Jul 756 on t ...
:
* ''Romance of the East Wall'' (董秀英花月東牆記 ''Dǒng Xiù Yīng Huā Yuè Dōng Qiáng Jì'')
Biography
A scion of an important
Jin dynasty family, Bai Renfu's grandfather held a post at the powerful Bureau of Military Affairs, and his father was a close friend of the poet
Yuan Haowen
Yuan Haowen () also known as Yuan Yishan (遺山/遗山) or “Yuan of Yi Mountain” (1190–1257) was a poet from Xinzhou, in what is now Shanxi province, noted for his poems in the '' ci'' and the ''sanqu'' forms and for including poems in the ...
. However, the defeat of the Jin dynasty by the
Mongol Empire resulted in a major upheaval in social relationships. Nevertheless, Bo Renfu achieved honorary rank and an official position in the Yuan dynasty as Minister of Protocol.
[Crump, 7]
See also
*
Zaju
''Zaju'' was a form of Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy (or, happy endings). Although with diverse and earlier roots, ''za ...
Notes
References
*Crump, J. I. (1990). ''Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan''. (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies The University of Michigan) .
1226 births
1306 deaths
Yuan dynasty poets
Yuan dynasty dramatists and playwrights
People from Xinzhou
Poets from Shanxi
13th-century Chinese poets
14th-century Chinese poets
14th-century Chinese dramatists and playwrights
13th-century Chinese dramatists and playwrights
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