Ma Zhiyuan

Timeline

1. c. 1250–1290Dadu · BeijingIn his early years he traveled to Dadu to seek official appointment, later serving as an official in the Jiangzhe Province and other posts. His official career made him familiar with the ways of the bureaucracy, providing the life foundation for his later resignation and seclusion and for his creation of sorrowful and bleak dramatic works.
2. 1311–1320Jiangnan · East ChinaAfter resigning from office he lived in seclusion in Jiangnan, taking the style name Dongli and devoting himself to zaju and sanqu composition. During this period he completed zaju such as Autumn in the Han Palace and Tears of the Green Robe along with a large body of sanqu, and was counted among the Four Great Masters of Yuan Qu with Guan Hanqing and others; his works are noted for their bleak and somber quality.
3. 1321Jiangnan · East ChinaHe died in the first year of Zhizhi, at about seventy-one years of age. After his death his sanqu works were collected in Dongli Yuefu, and his zaju have been transmitted to the present day, becoming an important legacy in the history of Chinese classical drama.