Mei Lanfang

Mei Lanfang (Chinese梅兰芳,梅兰芳; Pinyin: Mei Lanfang, * 1894, † 1961 ) was one of the most famous Peking Opera performer.

He put on the stage only female roles ( Dan旦) dar. He became known for his vocal and presentation technology. His efforts for the recognition of Peking Opera made ​​him known worldwide. By Mei Lanfang Peking Opera became popular again, a trend that continues today - even if the female roles are now played almost exclusively by women.

In addition to Charlie Chaplin Bertolt Brecht was fascinated by his art, which wrote several essays on the Chinese theater in general and the issue of alienation or " disillusion " in particular. More Mei Lanfang's admirers were Douglas Fairbanks, Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Meyerhold.

Mei Lanfang's life story was filmed in 2008 by the famous director Chen Kaige, with the Hong Kong actor Leon Lai in the lead role, Chen Hong in the role of his first wife and Zhang Ziyi as his lover. Critics, however, say the film become the person Mei Lanfang justice neither man nor as an artist.