He used Juying (菊影) as stage name, and later changed it into Juyin 菊隐.
In 1928 he and Xiong Foxi organized a performance of The Cricket, that offended a warlord, made him wanted.
In 1930, he took part in the founding of the Traditional Opera College of Beiping, later became the first principal of it, and implemented a series of reforms.
In the autumn of 1935, he went to study in France, observed the performance of various schools of Western Theater.
In 1950, he directed Lao She's Dragon Beard Ditch for Beijing People's Art Theatre.