The Palace Museum has collected 5 photos of young women, labeled "No. 1" and "No. 2" respectively. According to current aesthetic standards, although they may not all be called beauties, they are dignified in appearance, fashionable in clothing, and quite a bit like celebrities.
So, what are the identities of these people who are neither princesses nor palace maids, nor do they appear to be from famous families? After consulting relevant historical materials, we learned that they were all famous prostitutes in the "Yan Gang" selected by the Shanghai Game News in the late Qing Dynasty. Although they only have scales and claws, they can see through the customs of the world at that time.
The Flower List is a beauty contest between prostitutes. Similar activities have appeared as early as the Song Dynasty. In the 23rd year of Guangxu's reign, Li Boyuan, the chief writer of the Game Newspaper, made the flower list selection public and systematic for the first time, and successively launched the "Three Categories of Beauty List" in the newspaper, which became a major event with widespread influence in Shanghai. The so-called "Three Guests of the Yan Gang" are the three names of the prostitutes in the audition: Huabang, Wu Bang, and Ye Bang.
Li Boyuan, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu, whose real name is Jiabao and Yuan Bo, founded the Game Newspaper in Shanghai in the 23rd year of Guangxu's reign. This was China's first literary tabloid in modern times, and its purpose was to "use falsehood to confuse truth and metaphor to persuade and punish." Because this newspaper focused on brothels and looked like a professional newspaper in Huahua World, Li Boyuan received nicknames such as "General Manager of Fengyue Site", "Leader of the Coquettish Circle", and "Promotion of Huahua World".
Founder Li Boyuan
At the beginning of publication, the first thing to do was to announce the list. The specific selection rules are as follows: Following the Western democratic election method, the election results are determined by the number of "recommendation letters" and the number of votes. There are roughly three steps, namely soliciting letters of recommendation, counting votes, and announcing the results.
A letter of recommendation is a letter of recommendation written to the selected prostitute. The main content includes the name and address of the recommended person, a description of her figure, appearance, conduct and coping behavior, and the reasons for the recommendation. Recommendation letters received are published in newspapers in the form of "letters", attracting readers' attention every day.
On "Girls' Day", the seventh day of July this year, the first flower list was officially released. There were three people, No. 1 Zhang, No. 2 Cai Xinbao and 30 other people, and the top three gold and other 107 people. From the perspective of place of origin, the top pick, runner-up, and top pick are all taken by "Suzhou people."
At that time, Shanghai was full of prostitutes. Prostitutes are divided into many types and grades depending on their origin, place of origin, and status. They can be summarized as: Study Room, Junior High School and Junior High School, as well as the lowest platform, Pheasant, Flower House, Nail House, Salt Water Girl, Tang Bai, Pobai Party, etc.
The objects of the "Huabang" election belong to high-end prostitutes such as "Shuyu" and "Changsan". Although the winners on the list cannot be officials and do not receive prizes, once the list is opened, each person's name is followed by their residence and comments, allowing tourists to "find out by following the picture." The former will naturally lead to a boom in business.
When the prostitute with small feet left the hall, she was carried on the shoulders of the turtle slave.
Published articles are equivalent to the "literary list" in the imperial examination. Later, Li Boyuan established a "military gang" in the name of Wu Keju. The Martial Arts Ranking, also known as the "Yi Ranking", is not a competition or competition, but "imitating the precedent of Beijing Liyuan" to select those with outstanding skills among geishas.
Then, the "Yebang" was launched in an even more original way, targeting the maids of high-end prostitutes. It means that prostitutes are flowers and maids are leaves. Good flowers must be accompanied by green leaves. Wu Bang and Ye Bang rank among the top three along the Huabang route.
Why are photos of famous prostitutes included in the palace?
The traditional election of prostitutes has been transformed into different tricks to satisfy the entertainment psychology of urban people, thereby maximizing commercial interests. But for Li Boyuan, a romantic wife
First of all, the court paid attention to Li Boyuan. Li Boyuan supported the Reform Movement of 1898 and had close relations with Liang Qichao and other reformers. He has been outspoken at times, expressing his grief and outrage over national events. There are even extreme remarks such as "The West Palace towers over the sun", pointing directly at the Empress Dowager Cixi who controls the government!
His condemnation novel "Yi Bao" takes the officialdom of the late Qing Dynasty as its theme and describes all kinds of corruption and darkness in the officialdom. It can be called an ugly picture of the late Qing bureaucracy. His activities may have attracted the attention of the imperial court, and relevant information was collected for this purpose, so these photos entered the palace and were collected intentionally or unintentionally.
Second, prostitutes lead the way. Shanghai is the first city to open a port and is also the place where Chinese and Western cultures meet. With their unique identities and experiences, prostitutes can easily break through conventions and become early adopters and promoters of new things. They lead fashion, especially dress and behavior, and are seen as representatives of fashion. In this context, these photos also serve as a means of appreciating fashion or “cleaning up the weather.”
Postcards of famous prostitutes in the late Qing Dynasty
The third is to meet entertainment needs. In the late Qing Dynasty, Shanghai was regarded as the entertainment center of the East and was also in a competitive position with Beijing in terms of traditional drama. Published a lot of news about brothels and prostitutes, and also reported on Liyuan and Youxing. In a sense, prostitutes and prostitutes are "literary and artistic workers", while famous prostitutes and social ladies have the status of social stars.
Celebrities such as Tan Xinpei and Zhu Suyun, who were appreciated by the Empress Dowager Cixi, often came to Shanghai to perform and were enthusiastically sought after. The main entertainment activity in the palace is to go to the opera, and there is a large collection of Peking Opera and Kun Opera stills. Therefore, it seems reasonable to collect several photos of famous prostitutes at the same time.
Of course, no conclusion can be drawn on these speculations until the exact historical basis is found.
Before the late Qing Dynasty, although brothels in Beijing were in darkness, there were almost no decent brothels due to the prohibition of pimping by the upper class. After the Xianfeng period, prostitutes were very popular, and they hung gauze lanterns in their homes and put red stickers on their doors in Rouge and Stone alleys. There are many cars and tourists every afternoon.
During the Wuxu and Jihai years of Guangxu, prostitutes from Shanghai came to Beijing to set up brothels, also known as "Shuyu". The famous prostitute Sai Jinhua was one of the early "gold diggers". After Gengzi came to power, a police force was established in the capital, which stipulated that brothels in the inner city should be moved to the outer city, pay taxes according to regulations, and be allowed to open.
At that time, the residences of prostitutes in the capital were roughly divided into three categories: small classes, tea rooms, and lower rooms. Among them, the first-class "small classes" and the second-class "teahouses" were mostly concentrated in the Bada Hutongs outside Qianmen, so they were called "Bada Hutongs" and reached their peak in the early years of the Republic of China. and “Being below the teahouse is not considered high-class.”
The flower list trend also spread to the capital. The game newspaper said: "If you can try it, there are No. 1, No. 2, and the names of Tanhua. The literati in the Beijing Dynasty were obsessed with imperial examinations. They noticed it anytime and anywhere and showed it unconsciously. Therefore, when judging flowers, they use No. 1 and No. 2. Nouns such as "number" and "tanhua" are called flower lists. "In the 25th year of Guangxu's reign, a piece of news appeared in a game newspaper. It is said that the capital city was also on the list this year, and its "top pick" Xiao Pingguo paid hundreds of taels in bribes to sponsors.
In 1913, Beijing Game News held a flower bed talent show in Bada Hutong. This was the first prostitute election after the founding of the Republic of China. In order to highlight the new trend of the Republic of China, the winners were no longer called No. 1, No. 2, No. 2. They imitated the Western education system and were renamed "Doctors and Bachelors" and "were awarded badges as certificates." However, the standards still follow the convention and are divided into four subjects: talent, erotica and art, each subject awards a doctorate and several bachelors. For example, in 1919, the three "doctors" of talent and color were Hua Jun and Zhang Jinfeng.
I found a photo of a woman reading a newspaper collected by the Forbidden City. No matter the body shape, sitting posture, hairstyle, clothes, or the scenery inside, They are all similar to the image of prostitutes. If you look carefully at the newspaper in her hand, you can find the words "Tuan Qiang Bao" written on it.
It was founded in the first year of the Republic of China and ceased publication in 1936. So this woman was probably a high-end prostitute in Beijing in the early years of the Republic of China. The purpose of taking photos does not exclude newspapers from using the "star effect" to advertise themselves.
Famous prostitutes reading newspapers in Beijing during the Republic of China
The five photos of prostitutes collected by the Palace Museum undoubtedly belong to famous prostitutes from different eras. So, were they also selected by the officialdom? Here, we will conduct a brief examination of each of them based on clues from existing historical data.
Lin’s Spring Festival No. 1, 1898
There are many descriptions of Lin in the existing game newspaper information. She was the No. 1 flower list in the 24th year of Guangxu's reign, and the No. 2 "Peony" in the "Flower Selection" the following spring.
After Ding You's flower list was published in 1897, only a year later, many prostitutes on the list were snatched away, one after another. Therefore, Qingbai banknotes were listed for the second time in July 1898. This time the champions are: Lin No. 1, Hua No. 2, Shen Hechuan and Xie Qianyun.
From this flower list, the photo is attached with the newspaper. Cooperating with the newspaper photo library, each person prints 10,000 photos of famous flowers, publishes them regularly in the newspaper, and attaches them daily. Later, because there were too many newspapers, the photos could not be posted, so readers were asked to pay. The large number of copies of these photos of famous prostitutes made them regarded as social stars and sought after.
This photo of Lin collected by the Forbidden City may be one of the 10,000 small photos taken and printed at that time. It's just that the flower order for 1898 was opened in July of that year, and the caption under the photo is "The first spring order of 1898." The "Spring Single" here seems to be a mistake for the "Summer Single".
In addition to the colorful list, "flower selection" is also held regularly. That is to select twelve prostitutes in the order of December, and then combine each person's attitude and personality to make each company flower one flower per month, with plum blossoms as the main one and peonies as the second. Starting from the year of Jihai, flowers are selected on the "Flower Festival" on February 12 of the lunar calendar, named "Gong Rui Flower Selection".
The results of this selection are: Plum Blossom Lin Baozhu, Peony Linjiang Snow, Orchid Xie Qianyun, Pear Blossom Golden Ruyu, Liu Hua Fan Caixia, Lotus Lan Yun, Begonia Shen Yunshan, Osmanthus Li Yuanyuan, Chrysanthemum Zheng Juxiang, Hibiscus Hong Shufang , camellia calyx plum, narcissus high Qiaoyun.
Judging from the photo, Lin is not beautiful, and her eyes are slightly dull. Why does this woman come out on top? Some comments say that her character is "fair and prudent". It seems that the so-called glamorous list is not entirely based on the pursuit of glamor. Personality factors also need to be considered.
Li Yuanyuan, "No. 2 of 1898"
In the flower selection of Hai Rui Palace, Lin was rated as "Peony", and won the eighth-" Osmanthus fragrans". Apart from this, no other material has been found to describe him.
The photo identifies her as "No. 2 in 1898," but the first three people on the 1898 roster were Lin, Hua, and Shen. If the mark is correct, it is speculated that this person is probably the Wuxu No. 2 of the Wuxu Movement. Coincidentally, the author found a picture of her game newspaper stills in a postcard from the late Qing Dynasty, which can also be used as circumstantial evidence that this person was on the "Martial Arts Ranking".
Little Gu Sunlan, ranked first in the Gengzi Summer List
Guangxu Gengzi held two rosters in Shanghai and Hangzhou from 0755 to 79000. The process and characters are unknown. The label of this photo is "Little Gu Sunlan, the first in the Gengzi Summer List", and it is speculated that this person may be the first place winner in one of the photos.
In addition, a flower selection was held in the Gengzi year, and relevant information was collected into a book, and the book "The Number One Scholar Bribery" was published. It can be seen that little Gu Sunlan ranked fourth and won the "Pear Blossom".
Xiao Lin Zhubao, No. 1 on the Gengzi Music Chart
This person’s name was not found in the existing Democracy Newspaper information. Chaqunqiang reported that there was an article about his life experience in the game newspaper: "Xiao Lin Zhu Bao is also a prostitute in Shanghai. She is not very good-looking. She wins by singing to attract customers. There are hundreds of wine service stations every day. Whenever a song Come, the song has gone. In the summer of the Renyin year of Guangxu, he died suddenly from an illness. At a critical moment, Jude sang the game and paid 10%."
Xiao Lin won by singing, so of course he had a chance. Win the martial arts list. The photo is labeled "No. 1 on Gengzi's Qu Bang", which shows that Wubang is also called "Qu Bang". From the photos, it seems that it is not an exaggeration to say that she is "ugly".
Shen and Hua Lanfang, number one on the flower robbing list
This is a photo of two people, Shen on the right, Hua Lanfang on the left, number one on the robbing list. Both of them are famous prostitutes, or rather famous prostitutes and prostitutes, so there should be no problem in judging their identities.
What is "tribulation"? Game News once published an article Game News. Although the following cannot be found in the remaining newspapers, it is basically certain that in the Gengzi year, there was a flower order and flower selection for the Tianjin prostitutes who took refuge in Dunan. According to the photo annotations, it is speculated that the first place on the "robbery list" is Hua Lanfang.
After the Gengzi Year, Li Boyuan stopped publishing, and other newspapers followed suit. But Whitewater Beach, the newspaper that had been on the list before, was the only one. It can be judged that these photos are from the "nude photo sheets" of newspapers.