In 1279, the conquerors marched on to the South China Sea coast and cornered the fleeing Southern Song emperor and his ministers. On being confronted by certain capture and death, minister Lu Xiufu, with 7-year-old emperor on his back, jumped from their boat, and they were soon submerged. The Song Dynasty, founded 320 years ago, thus ended.

An ancient painting depicting Yuan Zaju.

In their expeditions, the Mongol rulers found the Southern Song troops to be weak, and the Han scholars intractable. After the Yuan Dynasty unified China, therefore, its rulers adopted unprecedentedly stringent policies.

Zaju was popular as early as the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, but it was in the Yuan Dynasty that it truly emerged and brought China's performance art to its zenith.

In the face of their "under-class" social status, Han scholars of the Yuan Dynasty were forced to adopt new ways of life in order to survive. Some went to remote mountainous areas to live as hermits, others became farmers, and some continued to live in the city on the proceeds of selling their calligraphic works and paintings. Among them, a particular group -- playwrights or cairen-- appeared. Their legacy of dramatic works has won for them a place among master dramatists in world history.

Many of these playwrights were forced by the Yuan rulers to work for theaters and brothels. These talented and learned men were never known to indulge in wine or women, despite working within an environment where such vices were a way of life. Observers of social injustice and human suffering, they served as a mouthpiece for the toiling masses, evading restrictions imposed by the Yuan rulers to speak out on behalf of the broad masses of the people through their plays.

The Injustice Done to Dou E (also known 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 phenomena occur exactly as she foretells. Three years later, her father comes back as judge and conducts a re-trial of this case, and clears Dou E of the false charge.

Since ancient times, emperors had regarded themselves as sons 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 no distinction 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."

In another drama, The Rescue of a Courtesan, Guan Hanqing celebrated Zhao Pan'er, a prostitute who was ready to take up cudgels for a just cause. The woman he depicted was sympathetic, intelligent and courageous.

True to his word, Guan Hanqing was like a copper pea the Yuan rulers could not swallow, and he was not alone in this respect. A number of playwrights like Guan Hanqing resisted the Yuan rulers in various ways. They cited past events to disparage the present, and honored ancient uprisings to demonstrate the strength and determination of the oppressed. There were dramas depicting comeuppance for evildoers, encouraging the people to do good deeds, and also those that showed their yearning for a happy life and true love. Outstanding dramatists of the time included Bai Pu, Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Guangzu and Gao Ming.

He sees in the street a mobile theater enclosed by a wooden enclosure. The walls around the door are adorned with colorful posters. In the street the sound of gongs and drums can be heard from inside the theater, whose entrance is crowded with people. The gatekeeper shouts, "Roll up, roll up! Quick before we sell out! Today's play is Settling a Love Quarrel, followed by 'Liu Shuahe'."

The farmer pays 200 cash and enters the theater, which has a round stage surrounded by tiered seats, like a circus. The performance has not yet started. Several female artisans sit on the stage, beating drums and gongs.

Before the drama 'Settling a Love Quarrel" starts, a clown performs. He wears a colorful cloth robe, a black kerchief around his head, and a long pin through his hair. His face is made up in black and white. He sings and dances, and does various conjuring tricks. The drama then begins, to the accompaniment of music played on traditional stringed and woodwind instruments.

There are three roles in this play: Squire Zhang, Second Younger Brother, and a young lady. The plot unfolds in the city, where the elderly Squire Zhang and Second Younger Brother are taking a stroll. On seeing a pretty young lady a licentious idea comes to Squire Zhang. He decides he wants to take the young lady as his wife, assuming his wealth will secure her consent, and asks Second Younger Brother to act as matchmaker. The young lad ridicules Squire Zhang, who fails to win the lady, and makes a spectacle of himself in the attempt. Shamed into anger, Squire Zhang swings a cudgel, making the audience gasp in fear for the young lad's life, but to everyone's surprise and relief, the cudgel breaks in two and spins harmlessly out of sight, arousing gales of laughter.

The farmer is fascinated by the drama, but has to visit the bathroom. Unable to find one, he leaves in disgust.

Yuan Zaju performances were strictly ordered. Performances proceeded continuously, with no curtain rise or fall between acts. Dramas were in four acts -- a beginning, a small climax, a big climax, and the finale.

Roles comprised mo (male roles), dan (female roles) and jing (clown or devil), each category further subdivided according to the portrayed age and prominence of roles.

Zaju performances comprise both singing and talking. Only the leading actor/actress sings, while the minor characters either speak or just appear.

Peking Opera, which is a distillation of various forms of Chinese drama, has 3,800 titles, but only a small number are actually staged. Most of the classical pieces, such as The Injustice Done to Dou E, Zhao Family Orphan, The West Chamber,River-watching Pavilion, Zhaojun Goes Out of the Pass, and Attending a Meeting Single-handed, were adapted from Yuan Zaju. Some dramas, such as Zhao Family Orphan and Chalk Circle, were successfully introduced to Europe centuries ago.

Kunqu, now designated as world cultural heritage, has a repertoire of more than 400 dramas, one quarter of which came from Yuan Zaju.

It is worth recalling that although the Yuan rulers and the Han scholars were at opposite ends of the social scale, and waged life-and-death struggles, they all had the same eventual destination -- the grave. Yuan Zaju has, however, survived to this day. To date, more than 160 Yuan Zaju titles have been discovered, and more are sought, as according to historical records a total 450 Zaju were written in the Yuan Dynasty.