The Injustice to Dou E (竇娥冤 Dou E Yuan), also known as The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo and Snow in Midsummer, is a thirteenth-century Chinese drama by Guan Hanqing written during the Yuan Dynasty. It remains one of Guan's most popular works.
The story describes the young widow Dou E from Chouzhou (楚州) whose husband Cai (蔡) died two years after marrying. Dou was wrongfully accused by Zhang Lür (張驢兒, literally "The Mule Zhang") of the murder of his father, when Dou E refused to marry Zhang Lür. Before her execution (scene: 斬竇娥 "Zhai Dou E"), Dou E swore that her innocence would be proven when :
- dripping blood did not land on the ground;
- snow fell in the midst of summer and
- a three-year drought befell Chouzhou
All three, including the eerie "Snow in June" (scene: 六月雪 "Liu Yue Xue") did occur. After the ghost of Dou E revealed the injustice to her father - Dou Tianzhang (竇天章), who eventually became a liangjunliefangshi inspector (兩淮廉訪使) - Inspector Dou killed the corrupt officials and Zhang Lür.
The story was repeatedly used and modified by later dramatists.
Read more about The Injustice To Dou E: Chinese Opera
Famous quotes containing the word injustice:
“Let me live onward; you shall find that, though slower, the progress of my character will liquidate all these debts without injustice to higher claims. If a man should dedicate himself to the payment of notes, would not this be an injustice? Does he owe no debt but money? And are all claims on him to be postponed to a landlord’s or a banker’s?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)