文/傅华轩
On March 8, 1935, the famous actor Ruan Lingyu committed suicide by taking sleeping pills at the age of 25. A popular star, 25 was the peak of his career. Why did he commit suicide? What made her go to a dead end?
In 2005, Ruan Lingyu was selected by the 14th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival as one of the 100 most outstanding film actors in China's century-old film history, making outstanding contributions to China's film industry!
Ruan Lingyu was born in Shanghai on April 26, 1910, originally named Ruan Fenggen and scientific name Ruan Yuying. Ruan Lingyu grew up in a poor family at the bottom of Shanghai. When she was 6 years old, her father who worked in a factory passed away due to illness. The family lost their source of income. In desperation, her mother went out to work as a servant, relying on her mother to work as a servant. Getting a little money is struggling to sustain life. When she was a child, Ruan Lingyu lived in the Zhang family where her mother helped her and spent her childhood.
Zhang's family is a well-known wealthy businessman in Shanghai. There are many servants in the family. Ruan Lingyu has no siblings at home because of her father's early death, and she stays with her mother almost all day. When her mother was cooking, she helped choose vegetables, and when her mother was sweeping the floor, she helped wipe the table. In this way, Ruan Lingyu spent nine years in the Zhang family in the deep house compound. In the eyes of Zhang's family, Ruan Lingyu was just a servant's child, a little servant, and no one took a look. Ruan Lingyu grew up in the contempt of Zhang's family, which made her a sensitive and strong personality.
Ruan Lingyu’s mother is very hard, but she knows the usefulness of reading. She saves money from her teeth for her daughter to study. Ruan Lingyu has been studying until she graduated from middle school (Shanghai Chongde Girls’ High School) ), graduating from high school in that era, it was not easy. By 1925, 15-year-old Ruan Lingyu had grown into a beautiful and slightly young girl. At this time Ruan Lingyu is a standard Jiangnan beauty. She has fair and delicate skin, dignified facial features, delicate eyebrows, tall figure, slender waist, and graceful walks. In addition to her looks and figure, Ruan Lingyu has a gentle femininity, which makes all men who see her can't help but be moved. As a woman with both beauty and wisdom, Ruan Lingyu naturally does not lack suitors. She quickly made a man fascinated by her. This person also changed Ruan Lingyu's life and even led to her death. This man's name was Zhang Damin, who was the fourth young master of the Zhang family.
The Zhang family used to be a family of officials, and later made a fortune in the wood paint business. There are four young masters in the Zhang family. The first three young masters are more capable and have done their own careers in society. Only the fourth, Zhang Damin, is the youngest and the least promising. He had just graduated from university at that time. Because of Zhang Damin's young age, the Zhang family loved him very much and followed him in everything. He was spoiled since childhood, and in today's words he feels good about himself. Ruan Lingyu grew up in Zhang's family and grew up with Zhang Damin. They are very good playmates, and they can be regarded as childhood sweethearts. In the eyes of outsiders, Zhang Damin is a pretty good man. At the age of 18, he has just graduated from college. He is young and vigorous, handsome, loves to dress up, loves to play and love various sports, he is a typical "high, rich and handsome".
Zhang Damin and Ruan Lingyu had already admired each other when they were young, but Ruan Lingyu’s mother repeatedly warned her daughter: People are young masters, we are servants, and you must not climb higher. People, we are not worthy of others, the door is not right, or there will be endless troubles. It's a pity that the mother's teachings were not heard by the hot-headed young girl. Also, people in love are mentally retarded and even blind. By the time Zhang Damin was 18 and Ruan Lingyu was 15 years old, the two had officially begun to fall in love. In the open Shanghai, the manner in which men and women love each other is no less than today. Ruan Lingyu's mother quickly discovered her daughter's abnormality, and she immediately expressed her firm opposition, but she could not be more than a stubborn daughter. In the end, Ruan Lingyu's mother could not bear to punish her daughter, and still acquiesced in her daughter's dating with Zhang Damin.
But this matter was also known to Zhang Damin’s mother. Mrs. Zhang expressed strong opposition and publicly stated that she would never allow her precious son to find a servant’s daughter as his wife. It was too embarrassing to see. Relatives and friends. Zhang Damin’s father also expressed his reluctance to accept this relationshipThe improper door is not the right household. The Zhang family, who has a face and a face, will become the laughing stock of Shanghai Beach. Moreover, for people like the Zhang family, marriage itself involves many factors, and it is not a simple marriage. The Zhang family had taken a fancy to Zhang Damin for the daughter of a rich businessman. If the two got married, the Zhang family would marry a "cornucopia", which is beneficial to both. But the young Zhang Damin stood firm. He repeatedly defended Ruan Lingyu and fought with his parents. When his parents refused to accept it, Zhang Damin, who had never lived independently from home, resolutely took Ruan Lingyu and ran away.
Zhang Damin and Ruan Lingyu rented a house in a small alley in Shanghai and started living together. You see, this is the Great Shanghai during the Republic of China. Unmarried people can live together! This is annoying to the elders of the Zhang family. Zhang Damin's father was furious and almost announced his separation from his son. But Zhang Damin's mother angered Ruan Lingyu. She believed that the reason why her very obedient son dared to disobey his parents was because she was seduced by the vixen Ruan Lingyu. Therefore, in the first few months of Zhang and Ruan living together, they did not have any financial resources. They mainly relied on some deposits brought by Zhang Damin and the secret support of his brother to make ends meet. Later, the parents couldn't let go of Zhang Damin's son, and gave Zhang Damin some living expenses on a monthly basis. Ruan Lingyu's mother also urged the two to go home, but Zhang and Ruan did not have this idea at this time. They were still intoxicated in the world of the two, loving each other like paint.
At that time, Zhang Damin and Ruan Lingyu were young young people who had just tasted the sweetness of love, and they didn't know the hardships of life at first. Zhang Damin is a wealthy young master. For one thing, he has no means and ability to make a living, and secondly, he has no desire to go out to find a job. What he does every day is to take Ruan Lingyu around for fun, dance, watch movies, go shopping, and play mahjong. eat and drink.
It is undeniable that Zhang Damin is a man who is particularly good at having fun. He dances very well and teaches Ruan Lingyu very well. As for the card game, the two are also top-notch. Eat all the famous restaurants in Shanghai. Such a "corrupt" lifestyle naturally costs a lot of money. Zhang Damin quickly ran out of his savings. The living expenses given to him by his parents were usually used up by the middle of the month, and the two began to fall into a dilemma. Zhang Damin didn't care about it. He thought that he would go home if he couldn't get along, and his parents would definitely take him in. Ruan Lingyu's personality is relatively stubborn and very spine. She thinks that she will be looked down upon if she goes back in such a desperate manner, coupled with her humble background, so she firmly advocates relying on their own abilities to make money to support the family.
But Zhang Damin obviously couldn't go out to work. He played late at night, and then slept until noon the next day. Every day, he lived so unconsciously. So, Ruan Lingyu can only find ways to make money to support the family. But what can a girl like Ruan Lingyu do? Be a secretary, a clerk, or a clerk? These are not Ruan Lingyu who has no work experience, and these jobs make too little money to feed two people. It was at this time that Ruan Lingyu's life had another major turning point.
During the Republic of China, the film industry has developed rapidly in China, and Shanghai is the most developed center of China's film industry. Many directors, investors, and actors are mixed in Shanghai Beach, and a film is produced with extremely high efficiency, and they can often make a lot of money. In the booming film industry, there is a character named Zhang Huichong. He later became the first-generation famous director in China and the first martial arts star in China. He is no one else, he is Zhang Damin's elder brother. Zhang Huichong and Zhang Damin have a very good relationship with their brothers. Because of their open-mindedness, they have never opposed and guarded his brother's love with Ruan Lingyu. Zhang Huichong watched Ruan Lingyu grow up and had a good impression of Ruan Lingyu. He often came to see this brother with his parents behind his back, give money and things, and often chat with his sister-in-law Ruan Lingyu.
At that time, Ruan Lingyu was already dissatisfied with Zhang Damin, who was not enterprising, and she did encounter practical problems in her family life, so she often complained to her elder brother Zhang Huichong. Zhang Huichong secretly helped the two of them many times, but the assistance was limited after all, and the money he gave was quickly spent by his brother. Ruan Lingyu believes that relying on others to help is not a long-term solution, she has to rely on her own self-reliance.I asked Zhang Huichong to help find her a job. Zhang Huichong hesitated and asked her: Do you want to be an actor? At that time, film actor was a profession that many Shanghai girls (including talented Zhang Ailing) were yearning for. Ruan Lingyu expressed her willingness on the spot. Zhang Huichong then introduced her to the set, thus starting Ruan Lingyu's acting career.
At that time, Chinese film was still in its infancy. There was no advanced art theory and perfect actor education. The success of actors depended on hard work and seven points. Ruan Lingyu is A talented actor. She joined the film company at the age of 16, and became popular in less than two years. The movies at that time had no sound and almost no subtitles. Similar to the current pantomime, the interpretation of the story was all based on the acting skills of the actors themselves. This was a head-on-head effort. Ruan Lingyu completely conquered the director with her amazing acting talent. Her biggest advantage is that she can get into the scene very quickly. Every shot is almost done in one step. Each scene is usually only shot once, and rarely the second time. For this reason, she was also called "the most film-saving actor" by the director at the time.
From 1926 to 1928, Ruan Lingyu starred in five consecutive films including "Famous Couples" and became a rising star on Shanghai Beach. In 1928, Ruan Lingyu transferred to the Great China Baihe Film Company. In just one year, she starred in six films including "The Mirror of Love", and the market response was also very good. In 1930, Ruan Lingyu changed his door again and joined Lianhua Pictures, starring in "Weeds and Flowers" (playing the flower girl) and other films. At this time, Ruan Lingyu was 20 years old. With her outstanding acting skills, she established her position as the number one actress in the Chinese film industry at that time. If there is a film festival like now, it will surely be the first to be named the best actress.
When her career was going smoothly, Ruan Lingyu's family had problems.
In 1928, Zhang Damin’s father passed away. He left an inheritance of 250,000 silver dollars to each of his three sons. The youngest son Zhang Damin, whom he scolded as a rebellious son, received only a few thousand dollars, which is equivalent to expelling the "son". qualifications. But the few thousand yuan was quickly squandered by Zhang Damin. In this way, Zhang Damin completely changed from a rich young master to a man who must be supported by his wife, a scumbag who eats soft food. In the following few years, the two lived mainly on the pay earned by Ruan Lingyu's filming. This person who spent the hard-earned money earned by his wife was still a young master all day long. Ruan Lingyu is usually busy filming, and when she comes back, she will have to serve her husband like a young master. Her life is a bit sad, and she owes him such a useless man in her previous life. Fortunately, family issues did not affect her career success for the time being. From 1931 to 1932, she filmed five consecutive films, all of which were very successful and received strong praise from the market. As an acting actor, Ruan Lingyu's drama is so wide as to make people jaw-dropping. She can play enchanting concubine, unruly rich daughter, shy Xiaojiabiyu, pure female student, slutty dancer, Huihui's girl, and amorous. The sociable, the miserable little widow, the nun who moved everything, the pretty and moving female secretary, the singing girl who looked forward to flying, the gorgeous and graceful lady and so on.
All the roles that have been played are all like them. A large audience is devoted to the five bodies she admires. Loyal fans, all Ruan Lingyu's movies must be watched, even three times and five times. Ruan Lingyu is a miracle in the history of Chinese cinema. She is indeed an amazing artist! In the era of movies with no dialogue and only a few subtitles, audiences would know what she was acting in a minute or two after Ruan Lingyu's appearance. Every movement of her is appropriate, and all the inner monologues are expressed vividly and clearly through facial expressions and body language.
At this moment, the turbulent social environment interrupted Ruan Lingyu’s performing arts activities. In 1932, the January 28th Incident suddenly broke out. The 19th Route Army in Shanghai fought fiercely with the Japanese invaders. The Zhabei District of Shanghai was bombed into a flat area by the Japanese army. Due to the war, Ruan Lingyu arrived in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, Ruan Lingyu met Tang Jishan, the second man in her life, who also caused him the most harm. This person was a well-known tea exporter at that time, with a family of millions,Also very interested in making movies. But his drunkard's intention is not to drink. The so-called investment in movies is not to make money, but to meet a large number of female stars, so that he can hunt for pornography. He is a big pervert who plays with women. Ruan Lingyu met Tang Jishan by chance at a party in Hong Kong. Ruan Lingyu was 22 years old and Tang Jishan was almost 40 years old. She had a wife in her hometown of Guangdong, and she was living with the actress Zhang Zhiyun in Hong Kong. When we first met, Ruan Lingyu didn't leave any impression on Tang Jishan, she was just socializing, but Tang Lishan was very interested in the beautiful and famous Ruan Lingyu. In his opinion, Ruan Lingyu is much better than her current lover Zhang Zhiyun in all aspects, and her relationship with her is enough to show her identity. So Tang Jishan began to pursue Ruan Lingyu, even though he knew Ruan Lingyu had a husband.
Ruan Lingyu was in a period of distress and hardship. She had just fled from Shanghai to Hong Kong with her family. She had language barriers and financial constraints. Her husband Zhang Damin was still half-dead, and only knew how to eat and drink and play. And Tang Jishan is a lover, best at grasping women's psychology, and he is extremely rich and willing to spend a lot of money on women.
In this way, Tang Jishan took advantage of it. His aggressive emotional offensive made Ruan Lingyu lose his judgment, and the two soon had a substantial relationship. This kind of thing cannot be concealed for too long in the showbiz, Tang Jishan’s lover Zhang Zhiyun heard about it. Seeing Tang Jishan’s true face, Zhang Zhiyun wrote a letter to Ruan Lingyu out of good intentions. One of the sentences was: you see me, you can see your tomorrow. Tang Jishan is not a good thing. Don’t let him Fascinated. But at this time Ruan Lingyu, who was just over 20 years old, was not deeply involved in the world, and many things were still naive, and she was in a passionate relationship with Tang, so she didn't take it seriously. Soon, Ruan Lingyu secretly returned to Shanghai with her mother and Tang Jishan. In order to win Ruan Lingyu's heart, Tang Jishan spent a lot of money to buy a small three-story foreign mansion on Xinzha Road, Shanghai. This is where Ruan Lingyu later committed suicide. In the following year, Tang Jishan treated Ruan Lingyu very well. At this time Ruan Lingyu also thought that she had found a man who truly loved her, and she was completely obsessed with happiness.
However, Ruan Lingyu’s sense of happiness did not last long. Ruan Lingyu’s husband Zhang Damin learned that his wife had eloped and immediately chased him from Hong Kong to Shanghai. At that time Zhang Damin almost exploded! He thinks that he ran away from home in order to marry Ruan Lingyu, gave up the inheritance rights of the family property, and became a penniless poor ghost, and Ruan Lingyu abandoned him after he fell down. It was extremely ruthless and unjust. Zhang Damin quickly found Ruan Lingyu. Ruan Lingyu said that it was impossible for the two to be together again. Zhang Damin asked Ruan Lingyu to compensate him for his loss, which is the 250,000 silver dollar inheritance he did not get. Of course Ruan Lingyu couldn't come up with such a large sum of money, so Zhang Damin came to ask for it again and again. Zhang Damin was not entirely for the money, he knew that Ruan Lingyu would never be able to take out the money. The reason why he refused to give up entanglement was more out of hatred for Ruan Lingyu, believing Ruan Lingyu betrayed him.
Zhang Damin's repeated begs made Ruan Lingyu exhausted and exhausted. At first, Ruan Lingyu was guilty and gave out dozens or hundreds of oceans to Zhang Damin, but then Zhang Damin's appetite grew and he needed 5,000 oceans to open his mouth. Ruan Lingyu could hardly afford it. After several unsuccessful discussions, Zhang Damin threatened Ruan Lingyu, claiming to use her mother as a servant, and all the incidents of her running away from home at the age of 15 were exposed to the media. Ruan Lingyu had been cautiously keeping the secret of being humble, but seeing Zhang Damin threatened with this, she became furious and drove her away. Zhang Damin was already very upset at this time. Seeing Ruan Lingyu so tough, he decided to break the jar. He came to the court and handed a testimonial, saying that when Ruan Lingyu was living in the Zhang family, he stole a lot of things from the Zhang family, and then gave all the stolen things to Tang Jishan. The purpose of Zhang Damin's false accusation is to bring Ruan Lingyu and Tang Jishan to court together and expose them both.
At this time, Tang Jishan was also angry. He pursued Ruan Lingyu not because of feelings, but because he wanted to find a famous lover to decorate his image. Now it is actually involved in the "famous" theft case, Tang Jishan Not only did he hold a grudge against Zhang Damin, he also became dissatisfied with Ruan Lingyu. He also went to the court to file a complaint, saying that Zhang Damin hadReputation framed! Tang and Zhang went to court, and the only way to find out the truth was to have Ruan Lingyu testify in court, but this would force Ruan Lingyu to admit that she had eloped with Zhang Damin, and at the same time had to admit that she abandoned her husband and lived with the married man Tang Jishan. In fact, this is something Ruan Lingyu cannot bear. But Tang Jishan didn’t care about this. He threatened financially (Ruan Lingyu’s family was basically dependent on Tang at the time). Ruan Lingyu had to make an announcement in the newspaper stating that although he lived with Tang Jishan, his economy was self-reliant. Take any belongings from the Zhang family. As soon as Ruan Lingyu's announcement was made, public opinion in the whole country was uproar. All newspapers reported that Ruan Lingyu had absconded with her husband and lived with a married man.
And when Ruan Lingyu was in distress, Tang Jishan had a new love again. She frequently went out and out with a socialite in public, and bought a house for the other party. Tang Jishan's undisguised behavior made Ruan Lingyu a topic in the media again. Everyone said Ruan Lingyu fell in love with a married man but was fooled by others. On February 12, 1934, the 23-year-old actress Ai Xia committed suicide by taking poison. Ruan Lingyu also thought of a word after hearing the news of Ai Xia's suicide: death. At this time, Zhang Damin still came to ask for money from time to time, and Tang Jishan no longer returned to Ruan Lingyu's villa, and occasionally they quarreled fiercely when they met. Tang Jishan even beat Ruan Lingyu and drove Ruan Lingyu out of the house. The neighbors watched Ruan Lingyu stand for a few hours in the middle of the night. Tang Jishan yelled in the villa, not allowing the servants to open the door! Ruan Lingyu also became more and more painful, almost to the point of being intolerable.
On March 6, 1935, the Shanghai Local Court summoned Ruan Lingyu by a formal subpoena, requiring her to testify against Zhang Damin at 9 am on March 8, 1935, or she would be subject to detention. Ruan Lingyu feels that she is a female star on the cusp, once she goes to court, she doesn't know what it will be like, and she doesn't know how much it will be attacked by public opinion. She would rather die than accept such humiliation! March 7th was the birthday of Jin Yan, the actor and actress who played with Ruan Lingyu. Ruan Lingyu laughed uncharacteristically at the banquet and kissed all the actresses present.
When everyone saw her gaffe, they thought she was drunk and hurriedly sent her home. In fact, Ruan Lingyu was already determined to commit suicide at this time. On March 8, 1935, Ruan Lingyu had another fierce quarrel with Tang Jishan, and after she might be beaten by Tang Jishan, she committed suicide by taking sleeping pills at two in the middle of the night. Ruan Lingyu was soon discovered by her mother after taking sleeping pills. She was still conscious and not in a coma. Ruan Lingyu’s mother urgently notified Tang Jishan, and Tang Jishan did not send Ruan Lingyu to a major hospital in Shanghai for her so-called reputation. Instead, she found a small clinic far away from Ruan Lingyu’s residence for treatment. By the time Ruan Lingyu came to the hospital after several twists and turns, more than four hours had passed, and the best treatment time had already passed. To some extent, Zhang Damin, Tang Jishan and ruthless public opinion jointly murdered Ruan Lingyu.
A generation of superstars has fallen.
On March 14, 1935, Ruan Lingyu's coffin was moved from Shanghai Wanguo Funeral Home to the cemetery of Lianyi Mountain Villa in Zhabei. Following the coffin are her friends from life, with a total of three hundred people. Behind these people is an extremely alarming number of funeral crowds. The funeral procession followed the long line of coffins. Where the hearse passed, there were empty alleys for thousands of people, and as many as 200,000 people were sent off along the road. An American journalist had just arrived in Shanghai on the day of the funeral. He was shocked by all this, and immediately asked his Chinese counterparts: This scene is too grand. Did the emperor or president of China pass away? Chinese colleagues told him: No, the woman who died was named Ruan Lingyu, a movie actor that people liked very much.
