Mei Lanfang was born in 1894 into a family of Peking Opera performers. He began his stage debut at 11. In his 50-year stage career, he maintained strong continuity while always working on new techniques. His most famous roles were those of female characters; skillful portrayal of women won him international acclaim, and his smooth, perfectly timed, poised style has come to be known in opera circles as the "Mei School."

Mr. Mei was the first artist to spread Peking Opera to foreign countries, participating in cultural exchanges with Japan, the United States and other regions.

After 1949 he once served as director of China Peking Opera Theater, director of the Chinese Opera Research Institute, and vice-chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Besides his autobiography, Forty Years of Life on the Stage, Several of his articles and essays have been published in The Collected Works of Mei Lanfang. His well-known performing items have been published in A Selection of Peking Operas Performed by Mei Lanfang.