She appeared in 45 films and 48 plays,[3] most notably in the classics The Spring River Flows East (1947), Myriad of Lights (1948), and Crows and Sparrows (1949).

[5] In 1935, Wu Yin made her film debut in Cai Chusheng's classic New Women, starring Ruan Lingyu.

[4][5] When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Wu Yin fled Shanghai for the wartime capital Chungking, where she acted in many plays and at least three films.

[4] During the Cultural Revolution she was tortured and lost the ability to walk,[3] and her husband, filmmaker Meng Junmou (孟君谋), was persecuted to death.

[1] After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wu Yin was politically rehabilitated on 11 December 1978, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1985.

In 1957, Wu Yin was awarded the First Class Prize by the Ministry of Culture for her role of Mrs Xiao in the film Crows and Sparrows.