Lu Xiaoman (; 7 November 1903 – 3 April 1965) was a beloved cultural figure in 20th century Chinese history. She was given the name of Mei (眉, eyebrow, a metaphor for feminine beauty in Chinese), but later changed her name to Xiaoman. Although she was well known for her very passionate and public relationship with

Xu Zhimo Xu Zhimo (, , Mandarin: , 15 January 1897 – 19 November 1931) was a Chinese romantic poet who strove to loosen Chinese poetry from its traditional forms and to reshape it under the influences of Western poetry and the vernacular Chinese langu ...

, she was a celebrated painter, writer, singer, and actor. She studied under painters such as

Liu Haisu Liu Haisu (; 16 March 1896 – 7 August 1994) was a prominent twentieth-century Chinese painter and a noted art educator. He excelled in Chinese painting and oil painting. He was one of the four pioneers of Chinese modern art who earned the titl ...

, Chen Banding (陈半丁), and

He Tianjian He Tianjian (; 1891 – 2 April 1977), formerly romanized as Ho T'ien-chien, was a Chinese '' guohua'' painter and a leading member of the Shanghai School of art. Biography He Tianjian was born He Jun (贺骏) in Wuxi, Jiangsu province in 1891. ...

As an artist, she specialized in flowers, birds, and light ink landscapes (''danmo shanshui'') on long Chinese scrolls. She was also known to write poetry, prose, and fiction, but her writings were never published. Nevertheless, her appreciation for poetry inspired her to create a series of ink paintings in honor of the Tang poet Du Fu, which are displayed at his commemorative historical site. Lu Xiaoman was also a singer, and she debuted on stage after receiving training in the renowned

Peking Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

(''Jingju''). She quickly gained attention from bachelors of wealthy, famous families after her first performance, which led to her rise in fame. In the 1950s and 60's, she worked as a paid artist at the Shanghai Academy of Chinese Painting, but only to produce works for the academy. Even so, she was able to create and successfully sell paintings at Duoyun Zhai apart from her obligations to the academy.

Early life and education

Lu was born in Shanghai in 1903 and raised in

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

province. She was educated in Beijing Women's Normal Primary (北京女子师范大学附属小学) when she was 7 years old. She attended Beijing Girls' Junior High (北京女中) at the age of 9 and finished at 14. She later attended Beijing Sacred Heart School (北京圣心学堂). She also studied in France and was fluent in English and French by the age of 18. Chen Yi, the mayor of Shanghai, gave her a position in the Shanghai Institute of Culture and History after learning that she had remained in the city after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949.

Career and personal life

She was employed by Gu Weijun, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Government, as a Trade Interpreter. In 1922, she married Wang Geng (王赓), but they divorced soon after their marriage. After that, she was in a relationship with

, which caused a great stir as two divorcees getting married was considered radical even among China's progressives. In 1931, Xu died in a plane crash.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Xiaoman 1903 births 1965 deaths Republic of China painters Painters from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese women writers Chinese women short story writers Short story writers from Shanghai Burials in Suzhou 20th-century Chinese short story writers Republic of China short story writers