29-30.

Wu Duanduan (b. 1955)

Illustrations to the Play Tea House by Lao She

1996

Woodblock prints

16 x 22 cm

40 x 21 cm

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Lao She’s (1899-1966) play is set against the backdrop of a teahouse in old Beijing. It takes place in three acts: 1898, a year of reform and subsequent crackdown, 20 years later in the warlord era of the early Republic, and 30 years after that, near the end of the Civil War. The many characters mirror social turmoil and people’s desperate struggle for survival. The play ends with the teahouse manager’s suicide. Lao She himself committed suicide in 1966.

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Muban Educational Trust registration number wuvdd005, 006