Anchee Min (閔安琪 born January 14, 1957) is a painter, photographer, musician, and author who lives in San Francisco and Shanghai. Min's memoir, Red Azalea, and her subsequent novels are either semiautobiographical or reflect a particular time in Chinese history with an emphasis on strong female characters, most notably Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao, and Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruling empress of China.
Born in Shanghai, Min was sent to a labor camp at seventeen where she was discovered by talent scouts. She worked as an actress at the Shanghai Film Studio and went to the United States in 1984 with the help of actress Joan Chen.
Memoir
Red Azalea (1994; a New York Times Notable Book)
- Katherine (1995)
- Becoming Madame Mao (2001)
- Wild Ginger (2002)
- Empress Orchid (2004)
- The Last Empress (due in 2007)