Gu Mei(1619-1664), styled Meisheng or Meizhuang, was a native of Shangyuan. She was one of the most sought-after courtesans of her day and later became favorite concubine of Gong Dengzi, a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination in the late Ming dynasty. After she married Gong, she changed her surname to Xu, assumed the sobriquets Shan Cai Jun and Meisheng and was also known as Hengbo Furen. Beautiful and talented, she was expert in poetry, music and painting. Noted for her long strokes in ink orchid works, she was an orchid painter so accomplished as Ma Shouzhen. According to Guochao Huazheng Lu (Record of the Qing Paintings) by Zhang Geng, Gu Mei was "skilled in painting ink orchid. She was so original that she never followed the steps of her predecessors." The works of women painters were not attached much importance partly because their creations lacked in enterprising spirit. It was a rare achievement among women painters that Gu Mei broke through established orchid painting methods.