元杂剧的兴盛，使元代成为中国戏曲史上的黄金时代。当时有姓名记载的杂剧作家就有200多位，有记载可查的杂剧剧本有700多种。元杂剧从多方面反映了当时的社会现实，表达了人民大众反抗压迫、追求美好生活的愿望。
关汉卿是元代成就最高、影响最大的剧作家，他一生写了60多部杂剧，现存的还有18部。关汉卿的杂剧大多表现了下层妇女的苦难和斗争，歌颂了她们的机智和勇敢。他的代表作《窦娥冤》是元杂剧中最著名的悲剧。剧中描写了善良的女子窦娥，遭到坏人陷害，被官府关进监狱，最终含冤被杀的故事。这个悲剧深刻地表现了作家对社会的不满，对弱者的同情。关汉卿的创作对后世戏曲的发展产生了巨大的影响，他不仅是中国伟大的戏剧家，也是世界文化名人。
关汉卿像 A portrait of Guan Hanqing
《窦娥冤》插图 An illustration of the drama The Grievance of Dou E
王实甫也是元代著名的戏剧家，他一生写了14种剧本。他所创作的《西厢记》，是中国古典戏剧的杰作。剧本描写了崔莺莺和张生的爱情故事，歌颂了他们追求自由婚姻、反抗封建礼教的精神，提出了“愿普天下有情人都成眷属”的主题。剧中莺莺、张生、红娘的可爱形象，在中国几乎家喻户晓。
《西厢记》插图 An illustration of the drama The West Chamber
除此以外，元代著名的杂剧作家还有马致远、白朴、郑光祖、纪君祥等。元杂剧在中国文学史上占有很高的地位，可以与唐诗、宋词相提并论。
元杂剧中的许多剧目一直到今天仍在戏剧舞台上上演，有的还被拍成了电影和电视剧，影响十分广泛。18世纪，元杂剧《赵氏孤儿》曾流传到欧洲，被改编成《中国孤儿》，受到了世界的瞩目。
It was after long years of evolvement of Chinese local opera that zaju came into being in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD). It was already a relatively matured form of drama integrating music, singing, dancing, performing and speaking.
The rise of zajua made the Yuan Dynasty the golden age of Chinese opera. As far as we know today, there were more than 200 registered playwrights and more than 700 zaju scripts.
Guan Hanqing was the greatest and most prolific playwright of the time. He created over 60 plays of which 18 are still extant. Most reflected the misery and struggles of women at the bottom of the society and highly praised their wisdom and courage. His representative work The Grievance of Dou E (also translated as Snow in Midsummer) is the best known of the zaju tragedies. It tells of a kind-hearted young woman falsely accused and thrown into prison by the local authorities and finally murdered. Through this play, the author expressed his indignation and his sympathy for the weak in society. Guan's plays had great influence on the development of drama of later generations.
Wang Shipu was another renowned playwright of the period, writing altogether 14 plays of which The West Chamber was considered as a masterpiece in the history of Chinese drama. This play, a love story of Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng, acclaimed their courage in the pursuit of a free marriage in opposition to feudal ethics, declaring that, "all those in love shall be wedded".The main characters such as Cui Yingying, Zhang Sheng and Hong Niang continue to be known by most Chinese.
Other well-known playwrights include Ma Zhiyuan, Bai Pu, Zheng Guangzu and Ji Junxiang.
Like the Tang poetry and Song ci, zaju of the Yuan Dynasty also holds a very high position in the history of Chinese literature. Many items are still performed on the stage of today, and some have been made into films and TV plays. Their influence is very broad. In the 18th century, The Orphan of the Zhao Family was introduced to Europe and was converted into a play entitled The Orphan of China.
