Jingju reached its peak in the first half of the twentieth century, when it was enhanced by the emergence of some of China's best actors, notably Mei Lanfang (1894–1961), a superb player of female roles. He contributed to the spreading awareness of the form by touring other countries.

Performances declined during the Japanese invasions of China, but were revitalized after the Communist revolution in 1949, and the name Jingju was devised. After mid-century, the practice of men playing women's roles diminished, and women began to perform more frequently in Jingju. During the Cultural Revolution, Jingju was transformed into model revolutionary opera, with a repertoire limited to plays that supported the Party line, and the sumptuous costumes were replaced by Mao suits and peasant dress. Restored to its original scope in the 1980s, Jingju continues to evolve as a living form of theatre, with performances of traditional, newly written historical, and contemporary plays. Combining the heritage of a millennium of xiqu (music-drama) development and absorbing the admirable aspects from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century forms in the years since the emperor's birthday in 1790, Jingju has become the leading form of xiqu in China.