Guan Hanqing

Also known as Hao Yizhai

Guan Hanqing came from Dadu, the Yuan capital; his given name is unknown, and he styled himself Yizhai. Zhong Sicheng's Register of Ghosts (Lugui bu) says he held a post in the Imperial Academy of Medicine and puts him first among the deceased masters of the previous generation, while Xiong Mengxiang's gazetteer of Dadu describes him as unconstrained, learned and full of wit. More than sixty zaju plays are attributed to him, of which over a dozen survive, including Injustice to Dou E (Dou E yuan), Rescued by a Coquette (Jiu fengchen), The Single Sword Meeting (Dandao hui) and Riverside Pavilion (Wangjiang ting), ranging over court cases, love and history. He also wrote songs, among them the suite Not Giving In to Age, in which he calls himself a copper pea that will not cook soft. His birth and death years are unrecorded. Zhou Deqing's preface to Rhymes of the Central Plain names Guan with Zheng, Bai and Ma, the grouping later called the four masters of Yuan drama.