Master of Yuan drama, author of The Injustice to Dou E
The founding figure of Yuan-dynasty drama, first of the "four great masters of Yuan opera." He spent his life among the theaters and pleasure quarters of the common town, writing more than sixty plays and turning his gaze to the downtrodden. His masterpiece, The Injustice to Dou E, tells of a wronged, powerless woman who, on the way to execution, swears three dire oaths — blood on white silk, snow in the sixth month, three years of drought — all of which come true, indicting the injustice of the human world through the portents of Heaven. He was the first to give voice, on the stage, to the grievances of the lowly.
Before her execution Dou E vows: if I am wronged, let snow fall on this midsummer day. After the deed, snow indeed swirls down. With this heaven-shaking injustice Guan Hanqing lets a woman with no power or standing expose iniquity in broad daylight in the most resolute way — "snow in the sixth month" became a byword for suffered wrong.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.