Tian Han's Southern China Society and His Tragedies

One of the remarkable achievements made by May the Fourth New Drama lies in the establishment of dramatic literature based on western models. Tian Han is one of the excellent representatives in this regard. As a pioneer of poetic realism of modern Chinese drama, he explored multiple themes and techniques in his dramatic production. The Southern China Society headed by him played a role of avant garde in promoting dramatic performances in the southern part of China.

In 1927, Tian Han (1898-1968) taught at the Department of Literature of Shanghai Art University. There he cultivated a profound friendship with Ouyang Yuqian, Tang Huaiqiu and Gao Baisui, together with whom he organized dramatic performances. In Tian Han's opinion, such people as Ouyang Yuqian could be called "dragons" as they had achieved illustrious results in art, while university students were only inexperienced "fish". Therefore, they were called members of the "Dragon and Fish Society" as they often performed plays together

Due to limited conditions, the "Dragon and Fish Society" had to use a living room as a theater, which could only accommodate an audience of fifty or sixty. The plays staged were mostly written and directed by Tian Han. Among other things, they included some one-act plays such as The Night Talk of Suzhou Life's Will A Minor Scene in a Riverside village and some multi-act plays like Death of a Noted Actor The society performed these plays in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other places, producing wide influence. Some critics thought that the emergence of the Southern China Society injected some vitality to the new drama.