关汉卿

In 《窦娥冤》 a young widow is executed for a murder she did not commit. Before she dies she swears that her blood will fly up onto a white banner, that snow will fall in June and that the district will suffer three years of drought, and all three come true. 六月飞雪, 'snow in June', still means a terrible injustice.

He heads the Four Great Yuan Dramatists, with 马致远, 白朴 and 郑光祖. More than sixty plays are credited to him, and about eighteen survive. In one song he called himself a 铜豌豆, a copper pea that no steaming or pounding could soften, and he is said to have acted in his own plays.