Yearlong events to celebrate Tang Xianzu

A series of cultural events have been planned to mark the 400th death anniversary of Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), a celebrated playwright, whom fans call "China's William Shakespeare".

Zhang Hongxing, the mayor of Fuzhou in eastern China's Jiangxi province, announced the events in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright from Fuzhou composed more than 2,000 poems and essays, most of which were written during his later years. He is particularly remembered for his four plays - The Peony Pavilion, The Purple Hairpin, Record of the Southern Bough and Record of Handan - collectively known as The Four Dreams of Linchuan.