Of the many historical plays produced during the Anti-Japanese War, Guo Moruo's five-act play Qu Yuan staged in 1942 is the most famous.

Guo Moruo (1892-1978), originally named Guo Kaizhen alias Dingtang, a native of Sichuan Province, had pursued studies in Japan. Not only was he a romantic poet but also a man conversant in historical study. He finished the play within ten days, a wonder in terms of writing speed.

Qu Yuan was a great Chinese poet in the Warring States Period (475-221BC) and his Li Sao was a literary classic. Guo Moruo outlined successfully the poet's tragic life in a limited time (from morning to midnight) and stage space.

At the beginning of the play, Qu Yuan was found expressing his ideal through a description of an orange tree and teaching his students to keep a pure soul. At this time, King Huai of the Kingdom of Chu had accepted Qu Yuan's political proposal of forming a united front with the Kingdom of Qi against the Kingdom of Qin. However, Zhang Yi, an envoy sent by the Kingdom of Qin acquired Queen Zhen Xiu's trust with his eloquence. The Queen believed that she would lose her favorable position once King Huai allied with Chu through marriage. Beautiful as she was, the Queen was such a cruel woman that she framed a case against Qu Yuan. As a result, King Huai rejected Qu Yuan's proposal and removed him from his official post. Indignant, Qu Yuan left home and walked to the bank of a lake. Soon after, he was imprisoned in a temple. On a stormy night, his poetic inspiration surged and he shouted aloud in the midst of thunder and lightning, cursing the dark reality and swearing to "Burn the darkness which enveloped all crimes" in order to embrace the dazzling light.

Here, Guo Moruo depicted a patriot who "trusted others but was suspected, (who) was loyal but framed". In the play, the playwright portrayed dramatis personae with a romantic poetic sense, a pure heart and a magnanimous personality. It was a eulogy of Qu Yuan.

On the basis of Li Sao, Guo Moruo depicted a fictitious female character of Chan Juan. As a maidservant, she always waited on Qu Yuan. An innocent girl who flouted the authority and the nobility, she was beauty incarnate in a moral sense. Finally, she drank the poisonous wine used by the Queen to harm Qu Yuan and died with a smile.

Staged first in Chongqing in 1942, Qu Yuan caused a stir. Obviously, it added another gem to the treasure of modern Chinese drama.