She became China's first female diplomat when she served as vice-consul of the Chinese Embassy in Calcutta (Kolkata), India from 1943 and 1945 during World War II.
She was from a famous intellectual family and one of few Chinese women in her generation to receive an advanced education in politics.
Following a dispute with the Kuomintang in the late 1940s, she was expelled from the party and left China for the United States.
She worked in the United Nations Secretariat and later at Seton Hall University.
In 2011, Xiaoyuan Art Gallery (晓园艺术馆; 31°42′N 119°56′E / 31.70°N 119.94°E / 31.70; 119.94) opened in her ancestral home of Changzhou, Jiangsu, displaying many of her artwork and photos.