Mei Lanfang
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.