Cao Yu Ancestral Home Museum

　　The Cao Yu Ancestral Home Museum is situated by Machang Lake, the location of Cao Yu’s ancestral residence, within the large tourism and leisure park Meiyuan. It was completed in October 2010. The building was constructed based on the descriptions in the “Wan Family Genealogy · Ancestral Home,” covering a construction area of 3,065 square meters. Its structure and layout largely resemble those of Cao Yu’s ancestral home in the early years of the Republic of China.

　　The Cao family were originally a farming and scholarly household. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, amid widespread turmoil across the land, Wan Bang, a military officer from Nanchang Prefecture in Jiangxi, came to serve as an official in Qianjiang, Hubei. He was drawn to the strong sense of kinship here, married a local woman named Yang, and never left again. From then on, this branch of the Wan family flourished in Qianjiang. Over the years, the family grew with more branches, but starting with Cao Yu’s great-grandfather, they almost never moved out to build a new home—instead, they kept expanding the existing residence as the family grew. Cao Yu’s ancestral home was originally built during the Ming Dynasty, and through generations of expansion, by the early years of the Republic of China, it had several traditional-style buildings facing south, covering over ten acres of land. It was destroyed during wartime in 1939.

　　The original Wan family generational characters were: “Yi Shi Ren Guo, Mu Shi Jin Ting, Shi Ji Wen De, Jia He En Guang”—a set of sixteen characters. The traceable lineage begins with the sixth generation, Wan Shi Hong, and continues downward. The seventh-generation member Wan Kun pursued Confucian scholarship, repeatedly earned academic honors, and received imperial recognition and titles. However, by the time of Cao Yu’s great-grandfather, Wan Shixu, the family’s fortunes began to decline. His grandfather, Wan Jiyun, and his father, Wan Qiweng, both made a living by running private schools under difficult and impoverished conditions. Cao Yu’s father, Wan Dezun, was the twelfth-generation descendant; his son, Wan Jiabao, who adopted the pen name Cao Yu, became a renowned literary figure with his monumental dramatic works.

　　According to the “Wan Family Genealogy,” descendants of the family spread out and settled both inside and outside the county town, as well as in areas east of the river, and even across various provinces and cities nationwide, extending as far as North America, totaling no fewer than a thousand households. Wan Degang, current Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party, and Minister of Science and Technology, shares a cousin relationship with Cao Yu’s father, Wan Dezun; Wan Degang is the fifth-generation direct descendant of Cao Yu’s great-great-granduncle, Wan Shirui.

　　The exhibition route of the Cao Yu Ancestral Home Museum follows the layout of 26 rooms and halls in Cao Yu’s ancestral home, including the “Hall Room,” “Main Hall,” “Dexin Hall,” “Private School,” “Wan Dezun’s Bedroom,” “Flower Hall,” and “Stage Room.” The exhibits include over 400 sets (pieces) of “Cao Yu Family Genealogy” materials and household items, farming tools, and other artifacts left by Cao Yu’s ancestors. Additionally, a dedicated exhibition hall displays over 70 physical items related to intangible cultural heritage in Qianjiang that have been included in national and provincial protection lists, such as Jingzhou Flower Drum Opera, Jianghan Plain Shadow Puppetry, Qianjiang Folk Songs, Qianjiang Wood Carving, and Qianjiang Lanterns. Replicas of many historic couplets from famous scenic spots in old Qianjiang are also incorporated into the exhibition.

　　The Cao Yu Ancestral Home Museum is situated at the heart of “Meiyuan” and forms a cohesive architectural complex with distinct Qianjiang regional characteristics and a modern cultural ambiance, together with the Cao Yu Playwright Award Creation Center of the Chinese Dramatists Association, the Plum Blossom Award Art Exchange Center of the Chinese Dramatists Association, and the Cao Yu Grand Theatre.

　　Contact number: 0728-6231208

　　Cao Yu (1910~1996)　　Cao Yu (1910–1996), originally named Wan Jiabao and styled Xiaoshi, was a native of Qianjiang. He was one of the pioneers of China’s New Culture Movement, one of the founders of Chinese spoken drama, a renowned drama educationist in China, and an outstanding master of modern Chinese drama. His tormented soul found peace at 3:55 AM on December 13, 1996, but his immortal legacy will forever be enshrined in history. Early Hardship Revealed Brilliance Cao Yu was born on September 24, 1910, in a hutong in Tianjin’s Xiao Bai Lou area. His 92-year-old grandmother named him Jiabao. His father, Wan Dezun (1873–1928), styled Zongshi, whose first wife (Madam Yan)… More+