But in the past week, by tracing the line of the flowers including lilies, white chrysanthemums, white roses and carnations along the stairs, it is easy to find Mr Wu's door, neighbours told the continuous flow of visitors.

Floral tributes marked the passing of the eminent dramatist, who died from coronary heart disease on April 9, at the age of 86.

Many of Wu's old friends, including famous cartoonist Ding Cong, prominent Chinese art historian and calligrapher Huang Miaozi, and renowned Hong Kong writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha) have come, or telephoned, to express their condolences, said Wu's youngest daughter Wu Shuang.

"Our home cannot hold the so many flowers from my father's friends, students, relatives and admirers. So people just put them along stairs from the fifth floor to the ground," she said.

The official funeral service will be held on Saturday (April 19) at Babaoshan Cemetery for Revolutionaries, where many famous Chinese citizens are buried.

Shu Yi, son of the Chinese writer and playwright Lao She (1899-1966) and a writer in his own right, said he was deeply saddened by the passing of his father's best friend.

"Wu was a master playwright and held a prominent position in the history of China's contemporary literature," said Shu.

Forever prodigy

Wu's successful launch onto the literary stage came at the age of 19 with the publication of his first drama "Feng Huang Cheng (Phoenix City)" in the winter of 1937, and at the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

The drama, arguably the first in China with an inspiring patriotic theme, and urged the people to fight the Japanese invaders. Quickly becoming popular, it echoed the feelings of the nation.

Wu earned the title "A Child Prodigy in Drama" and was praised by Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), the late premier of the People's Republic of China.

In the following two years, he produced several popular dramas inspired by the same theme, such as "Zheng Qi Ge (The Song of Righteousness)" and "Hai Zi Jun (Children's Army)," which extolled the courage of the Chinese people during the war.

"Compared with other master playwrights, like Cao Yu (1910-96) and my father, Wu, full of talent, achieved success at a very young age and that's why people called him a prodigy," said Shu.

Born into an intellectual family in Beijing in 1917, Wu was nurtured on Chinese art and literature.

After finishing high school, he entered Zhongfa University (1920-50), but left after studying for only one year in the Chinese literature department and instead headed south to Nanjing where he worked and taught in the then National Drama School.

The 1937-1947 period is regarded as the first high point of Wu's creativity. During this decade he produced 11 high-quality dramas. Among them, "Feng Xue Ye Gui Ren (Return Home on a Snowy Night)" came to be regarded as Wu's best work and established him as a dramatist of repute.

The drama told the story of the tragic love affair between a Peking Opera actor and a bureaucrat's concubine who endures a life of misery. It movingly demonstrated the desire of people to lead beautiful lives and awakened pure and lofty ideals.

The drama was performed thousands of times on stages across the nation at that time and continued to win popular acclaim after the founding of New China in 1949. It has gone on to become one of the classic masterpieces of Chinese theatre, according to Shu.

In late 1947 Wu flee to Hong Kong to escape persecution at the hands of the Kuomintang because two of his dramas "Chang'e Ben Yue (Chang'e Flying to the Moon)" and "Zhuo Gui Zhuan (Catching the Devil)" powerfully satirized the dark side of the Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-Shek.

During his three years of exile in the then British governed Hong Kong, Wu produced and directed several films, including "Feng Xue Ye Gui Ren" and "Mo Fu Qing Chun (Waste Not Our Youth)".

Wu's second artistic high was between 1961-65, during which time he produced the well-known Pingju Opera "Hua Wei Mei (Flower as Our Matchmaker)" in which his wife, Xin Fengxia (1927-98), a famous Pingju Opera singer, played the leading role.

"Chuang Jiang Hu (Itinerant Performer)" produced in 1979 is another favourite. It was based on the real life experiences of Wu's wife.

"Wu has won renown as a master playwright because he was great on a wide variety of art forms, including modern dramas, Peking Opera, other local operas and even films," said Shu.

With such a breadth and depth of achievements in literature and the performing arts, Wu also proved himself a successful director with documentaries on the maestros of Peking Opera, Mei Lanfang and Cheng Yanqiu.

Before his death, Wu donated 24 manuscripts in his own handwriting, said Shu, the chief curator and director of the National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, where a special library named after the writer is planned.

Genius and beauty

The names of Wu and Xin, a talented dramatist and a well-loved Pingju Opera star, were always spoken of as one.

Their love for each other has been described as "the perfect love of the past century."

The marriage, however, was opposed by most of their friends at first, because they came from "too different backgrounds," recalled Shu.

The marriage would defy traditional conventions that dictated marriage partners should be of an equal educational and social standing.

Xin, who grew up alone in Tianjin and was self-taught in the art of Pingju Opera, had become a nationwide Pingju Opera star by the age of 14.

"She was illiterate at that time, but with an extraordinary gift in opera," Shu said. "Wu met her in Beijing when Wu was already a famous playwright."

The couple finally got married in 1951 with the firm support of Lao She and Ouyang Yuqian, both of whom held prominent positions in the world of literature, said Shu.

Their love and devotion for each other never faltered despite the hardships of their early years and the difficulties they would face together, he added.

Xin bid farewell to the stage during the "cultural revolution"(1966-76) because of health problems and Wu spent much of his time caring for her. With the help of Wu, Xin not only learnt to read and write Chinese, but also became a well-known writer in her own right during the latter part of her life.

Wu's health dramatically deteriorated following Xin's death in 1998, said Wu Huan, their son. He said his father's life really ended with the death of his mother.

Many old friends suggested to Wu Shuang that a picture of the legendary couple should be on display at the forthcoming funeral service, in recognition of their inspiring and enduring love.

It was exactly five years to the day - April 19 - that Wu's family held a memorial service for Xin. "Maybe it is just a coincidence and maybe it is a telepathy between them," remarked Wu Shuang.

(China Daily April 18, 2003)