and
Kliment Voroshilov in Beijing, 1957 At age 8, Mei Lanfang started training in Chinese opera skills such as acting, singing and acrobatics. Mei Lanfang made his stage debut at the
Guanghe Theatre in 1904 when he was 11 years old playing a weaving girl. 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; the 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." He also played an important part in continuing the performance tradition of Kunqu, noted particularly for his interpretations of
Du Liniang (杜丽娘; in
The Peony Pavilion) and Bái Sùzhēn (白素贞; in
Legend of the White Snake). Mei's famous portrayal of Beauty Yu was so historically moving that Wenting Song said he was one of the greatest vocal artists in modern China. Mei was the first artist to spread Beijing Opera to foreign countries, participating in cultural exchanges with Japan, the United States, and other regions. He toured the world, forming friendships with the western contemporaries of his day, including
Charlie Chaplin. In 1930 he toured North America, visiting Hollywood, where he was welcomed by
Douglas Fairbanks and
Mary Pickford. In 1935, Mei toured Europe, playing to appreciative audiences in Berlin and Moscow. Seeing Mei perform especially impressed the German playwright
Bertolt Brecht and influenced his concept of the
alienation effect. He served as one of the mentors and guardians of the actress
Li Yuru as she began her career. In July 1937, the
Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred, and the
Imperial Japanese Army soon occupied
Beijing. The commander of the Japanese Army ordered Mei to perform for them and appointed Mei to a high rank official position. But Mei refused to sing throughout the war and endured an impoverished lifestyle until the war ended in 1945. After 1949 he served as director of China Beijing Opera Theater, director of the Chinese Opera Research Institute, and vice-chairman of
China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Mei joined the
Chinese Communist Party in 1959. 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. Recordings of his best-known performances have been published in
A Selection of Beijing Operas Performed by Mei Lanfang. In 2000, the story of his life was filmed in a documentary entitled
The Worlds of Mei Lanfang. Acclaimed director
Chen Kaige directed
Forever Enthralled, a film biography of Mei's life, released in December 2008. ==Philanthropy==