Guan Hanqing of The Injustice Done to Dou E
2 min readGuan Hanqing ，the founder of Zaju，was born in Qizhou ，i.e.，present-day Anguo City，Hebei Province.In his youth he worked as a doctor，but gave up this profession and chose to write plays that exposed the seamy side of society.He created 67 Zaju works，18 of which are still performed.
The Injustice Done to Dou E ，which is alsoknown as Snow in Midsummer is one of Guan Hanqing’s representative works.It tells of a girl named Dou E to whom a local tyrant takes a fancy and wishes to marry.On refusing to be his wife，Dou E is falsely charged with murder，and sentenced to death.At her execution，she proclaims her innocence，saying that on being beheaded her blood will spurt high enough to stain a piece of white gauze hanging overhead，that snow will fall in midsummer，and that the region will be hit by drought for three years in succession.All these phe-nomena occur exactly as she foretells.Three years later，her father comes back as a judge and conducts a re-trial of this case，and clears Dou E of the false charge.
Since ancient times，emperors had regarded themselves assons of heaven and the most honored of mortals，but Guan Hanqing exposed the injustice of heaven，earth and society through the words uttered by Dou E:”Those who are kind are poor and die young，while evil-doers enjoy wealth and longevity.Heaven and earth both bully the weak and fear the strong，not daring to go against the flow.Earth，you make nodistinction between right and wrong；and Heaven，you mistake the wise for the foolish.”
Guan Hanqing wrote in a biographical melody entitled Do Not Give in to Old Age ：“I am a copper pea that can withstand steaming，boiling，hammering and stir-frying.”He went on:“I will never stop no matter what misfortunes befall me，whether my teeth fall out，my mouth turns crooked，my legs are crippled，or my arms broken.”
