What was a "celebrity" like, and what was a "celebrity" like in old Shanghai?

Nowadays, Shanghai celebrities have become a derogatory term. These Shanghai "celebrities" gathered a lot of people in the WeChat group, shared an afternoon tea for two in a luxury hotel and a hotel room in Shanghai, took turns taking photos, and built their own "celebrity" life on social media. Therefore, the online discussion around the event is very similar to the large-scale group ridicule scene of pseudo-exquisite "celebrities".

But in Shanghai, these celebrities are different.

At that time, old Shanghai had a charm that people could not extricate themselves from. No matter how controversial and turbulent the external situation is, whenever the lights are on, everyone is involved in this fascinating illusion, as if these are the real world. ......

At that time, there were two famous ladies active in society:

One is the controversial Lu Xiaoman;

One is Tang Ying.

Let's start with Lu Xiaoman. Everyone knows the story of her and Xu Zhimo. In those days, remarriage after divorce was discussed anyway. Lu Xiaoman and Xu Zhimo were both "prominent" figures at that time. In addition, the death of Xu Zhimo later made future generations even more disgusted with Lu Xiaoman.

In fact, Lu Xiaoman has a good background and received a good education since childhood. Later, Lu Xiaoman was hired as a diplomatic translator by Gu Weijun, the foreign chief of Beiyang government, and was known to the society.

In fact, Lu Xiaoman's talent is not here, but drama and painting.

As for why Lu Xiaoman is famous in society, there are two points:

First, female talents like Lu Xiaoman are scarce resources;

Second, in the traditional culture of China, women are not encouraged to show their faces.

Therefore, such a talented and beautiful young woman will naturally attract attention when she appears in public. Well, later, someone will use "social butterfly" to characterize Lu Xiaoman, which really belittles her. Lu Xiaoman's fun should come from her lively nature. Later, Lu Xiaoman and Xu Zhimo came together, and they also upgraded their feelings in getting along.

It is also the personality that dares to "resist" that makes Lu Xiaoman dare to pursue the life he wants when he opposes the tradition at that time. Because Lu Xiaoman's first marriage was ordered by his parents. Unfortunately, Wang Geng doesn't seem to care about her feelings, which makes them go further and further. Finally, Lu Xiaoman divorced Wang Geng on 1925 and married Xu Zhimo on 1926.

After Xu Zhimo's death, Lu Xiaoman stopped going out to socialize. She silently endured criticism and accusations from outside. As she said in her elegy to Zhimo: "How many years ago, the dust became a nightmare. After five years of mourning, I will always be in a hurry, and heaven will repeat itself. I want to die because my mother is old; Don't hate talking to anyone. You are worried about getting sick and you are far away from your soul. The world should not last long, and there must be an answer. "

Next, talk about Tang Ying.

From the perspective of marriage, Tang Ying and Lu Xiaoman seem to have had sex, both of which are parents' fates.

His first wife was Li Zufa, the son of Li, a wealthy businessman in Shanghai. Before that, Tang Ying and Song Ziwen had a love affair, and there was a long history of friendship between the two families in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Nevertheless, the relationship between Tang Ying and Song Ziwen is doomed to be fruitless. It's just impossible to know whether this relationship has caused emotional harm to Tang Ying. However, more than 20 love letters written by Song Ziwen have been locked in a small drawer in Tang Ying, which shows her true feelings for Song Ziwen.

Shortly after breaking up with, she married the "Li family in Xiaogang village". At that time, the Li family was also a celebrity, and Li Zufa's father, Li, was a giant businessman in Shanghai. Married into such a wealthy family, Tang Ying's life was pleasant at first. She still maintains the ostentation and extravagance of social butterfly and continues to live a life of infinite scenery. However, Tang Ying's husband is a quiet person and doesn't like his wife's "showing off". Soon, the two broke up at 1937. Tang Ying didn't feel depressed after her divorce. On the contrary, she became more comfortable in social life.

In addition, Tang Ying and Lu Xiaoman have another sex, that is, opera.

She once performed Wang Baochuan in English, which became a temporary topic. Besides, Tang Ying and Lu Xiaoman were both socially active women at that time, and both Chinese and English were very good, so they were compared and became friends.

After Lu Xiaoman came to Shanghai, they quickly became good friends, and performed the Kunqu Opera "Picking up Paintings and Calling them Paintings" at the Central Grand Theatre on 1927. At that time, people couldn't tell whether people entered the painting or the people in the painting reappeared.

So bright, of course, there are many suitors.

There is also a story that Yang Xingfo, Sun Yat-sen's secretary, once enthusiastically pursued Tang Ying. For ordinary people, Yang Xingfo should be a stranger. In fact, his achievements are remarkable. He is a modern economic management scientist, a pioneer of human rights movement in China and a social activist.

In addition, there is an interesting story that Liu Haisu, a famous painter, held a dinner party specially for the wedding of Tang Ying and Lu Xiaoman. Bringing ex and suitors together, the topic of discussion is nothing more than that love is the foundation of marriage and so on.

After eating this meal, Lu Xiaoman dissolved his first marriage and held hands with Xu Zhimo, while Tang Ying refused Yang Xingfo. There seems to be nothing wrong with the logic, but Lu Xiaoman came to Shanghai after her marriage and met Tang Ying.

So, if this story is true, then maybe she got married again? Storytellers always feel that such women have nothing to do with Lace, as if they are not worthy of their "identity". In fact, this situation is similar to modern times.

Most people's qualitative understanding of them probably comes from a book "Old News of Spring Application", which reads: "Shanghai-style ladies are famous for their communication, starting in Tang Ying and Lu Xiaoman ..."

In fact, what the author wrote was objective, just saying that these two were "celebrities" in Shanghai social circle at that time. So many versatile people, of course, there are scenery everywhere. However, in the eyes of future generations, "communication" seems to have other meanings.

However, without looking at other aspects, just look at the usual life of these two people. Although Lu Xiaoman leads a luxurious life, she no longer has right or wrong choices about her friends. After his second marriage, Tang Ying focused on his family.

It can be seen that the two men just made a step forward in their hobbies than the women at that time. Instead of being immersed in a luxurious life in broad daylight as understood by later generations.

Even, some people say that Tang Ying is very picky about his clothes and leads the fashion in Shanghai. In fact, it is not surprising that women with ideas will naturally form their own characteristics in dressing.

Ben is two outstanding women who dare to pursue their own lives. Although one looks cold and the other is carefree in his later years, both of them are going their own way. In some people's interpretation, they have to emphasize the content of their "appearance" and spare no effort to label it. You know, at that time, women could go out of the house, except for the permission of their families, which was more of an inner yearning. It takes more courage to show your talents in front of the world. After all, this used to be the way of "actors".

However, in the eyes of traditional forces, this talent show is no different from "street performers", and naturally their identity is similar to that of "social butterfly".