Ⅱ.Mei Lanfang

To opera aficionados, the name Mei Lanfang is synonymous with Peking Opera. During the three decade boom of Peking Opera since the 1920s, when varied schools took shape, the Four Great Dan Actors emerged, and Mei was the most outstanding of the four.

In the early period, women were not allowed to perform on the opera stage with men. Hence, men played the female roles, called Dan.

Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) not only inherited the fine traditions of Peking Opera, but also improved it with his own creations, establishing the renowned Mei School. In his 50-year stage career, he well portrayed more than one hundred female roles, from emperor's concubines, daughters of noble families, female generals, to goddesses.

Mei was a well-known patriotic artist. In 1931, after the "Sept. 18 Incident" that marked the beginning of Japanese invasion of Northeast China, he staged Resisting Jin Invaders and Life-and-Death Hatred in Shanghai. During the Second World War, he grew a beard and lived a secluded life, to show his resistance against the Japanese occupation.

Mei was the first to introduce Peking Opera to the world and made successful tours to Japan (1919, 1924 and 1956), the United States (1930) and the Soviet Union (1935 and 1952). In recognition of his literary and artistic achievements, two American universities, the University of Southern California and the Pomona College, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Since Mei Lanfang's visit to Japan in 1919, Peking Opera has become more and more popular with people all over the world, making excellent contribution to cultural exchange between China and the West. Its footsteps have covered 40 countries and regions in the world, winning acclaim wherever it goes.