His father Mei Bochen (Chinese: 梅伯忱) was a small merchant.

In December 1948, he was appointed Ministry of Education of the Republic of China, but having held the position for only one year.

After the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists in Chinese Civil War in 1949, Mei relocated to Taiwan.

In July 1958, he was appointed Ministry of Education again, and concurrently served as President of National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu City.

[3] Mei married Han Yonghua (Chinese: 韓詠華) in 1919 in Tianjin.