Born in Beijing in 1894, Mei became an active part of China’s New Culture Movement, which began in the 1910s after the Qing Dynasty, the final imperial dynasty, fell in 1911 to the Xinhai Revolution.
A view of Mei Lanfang performing in 1930 Collection of the Chinese National Academy of Arts / Courtesy of the China Institute of America By 1930, Mei Lanfang had already achieved superstardom as an ...