The Injustice to Dou E
The Injustice to Dou E (竇娥冤
Dou E Yuan) is a
Chinese drama by
Guan Hanqing during the
Yuan Dynasty. This is one of Guan's most popular work, even in today.
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 refuesed to marry Zhang Lür. Before her execution (scene: 斬竇娥 "Zhai Dou E"), Dou E swore her innocence that will be proven by the upcoming abnormalities:
- the dripping blood that never drop on the ground,
- the snow in the midst of summer, and
- the three-year long drought in Chouzhou
And all those, including the eerie "Snow in June" (scene: 六月雪 "Liu Yue Xue") did occur. After the
ghost of Dou E revealing the injustice to her father, Dou Tianzhang (竇天章), who eventually became a
liangjunliefangshi inspector (兩淮廉訪使). Inspector Dou put the corrupt officials and Zhang Lür to justice at the end of the story.
The story is repeatedly used by later dramatists and modified to various versions.
See also: Capital punishment