943, Soong Mei-ling went to the United States to seek help for the fight against Japan. In the open-air square of Hollywood , Soong Mei-ling told everyone through a speech: China is being ravaged! At the subsequent parties, 200 Hollywood stars and socialites were invited. There is a person who is considered to be invited the most, but she is excluded. Soong Mei-ling said that she is not worthy of being my guest of honor. Why did she make Soong Mei-ling so disgusted? She is the Chinese actress who was popular in Hollywood in the 1930s - Huang Liushuang . She is the daughter of a Chinese American laundry worker, but she became a Chinese star who became popular all over the world earlier than Bruce Lee and . She has appeared in more than 50 movies in her life, and her name "Anna May Wong" stays on Hollywood's Avenue of Fame. Her portrait is carved on the dollar in honor of her outstanding contribution to the film career in Hollywood. She worked hard to raise funds for China's anti-Japanese war and cause, but she was humiliated and ended in depression throughout her life. For a long time afterwards, she was a "nameless woman" who was secretly secretive.
905, the Huang family, who opened a laundry in Chinatown, USA, welcomed their second daughter, Huang Liushuang.
Huang Shanxing was a little disappointed, but he didn't care much, after all, in Taishan, his eldest wife had given birth to his eldest son.
When she was a child, she started helping in her father's laundry, busy delivering washed clothes to customers every day.
California is shining brightly. Just at the intersection of Chinatown , you can always see a group of people walking around there, and there are machines running next to it. Onlookers said that this is making a movie. What is the movie
?
One night, Huang Liushuang took out the pocket money saved from lunch, walked into the cinema, and watched the first movie in her life.
Huang Liushuang was deeply fascinated.
At home, she will look in front of the mirror and interpret the characters in the movie over and over again. So much so that her mother thought the child was mentally abnormal.
She began to beg the film producer to let her try it too, so she won the nickname "Curious Chinese Doll".
When she was 14 years old, Huang Liushuang had already become very beautiful. She got a role as a supporting role in a movie.
Just a glimpse is enough to attract the attention of the film company.
7 years old, Huang Liushuang filmed her first film in her life to play the leading role.
This movie is "The Sea of Death".
Huang Liushuang interprets the protagonist Lotus in the play.
This is a butterfly lady-like character.
Stills of the movie "The Sea Death".
has a word that no longer appears frequently in our context, which is Orientalism .
Orientalism originally means the Western study of Eastern society, culture, language and humanities.
But under the classic American Orientalist narrative, the East has become a place of obedience to occupation and rule in every way.
The so-called Orientalism is the East in the eyes of the West, and they don’t care or care about what the real East looks like.
The fisherman girl Lianhua, played by Huang Liushuang, rescued an American man from the coast. She fell in love with him while taking care of the man and promised him. Later, the man was instigated by his friend and left Lotus and returned to the United States.
Lotus gave birth to their children alone, waiting for their lover's return.
Later, the lover returned with his newlywed wife. After the sad and desperate lotus gave the child to the man, he walked into the sea.
The film critics at that time praised Huang Liushuang's performance for being extraordinary, deep and restrained but accurate.
People say that her crying scene is extremely contagious and reaches the level of a master.
Through "The Death of the Sea", Huang Liushuang boarded the express train of Hollywood's star journey.
She started another life, and her life was gradually drifting away from the one she planned for her father to "marry Chinese immigrate descendants and then take care of her husband and children".
923, Huang Liushuang was able to collaborate with the famous movie star Van Punk at the time and starred in the role of a Mongolian female slave in the magic movie " Baghdad Thieves ". Stills from the movie "The Thief of Baghdad" (also known as "The Moonlight Box").
This picture saved in Tianjin Library freezes the superb acting skills and charming appearance in Huang Liushuang's film.
She has a childish girlish head, but her legs and most of her torso are exposed.
When the thief pressed the knife on her petite back, Liu Shuang's delicate body turned around, her eyes were horrified, and her whole body was trembling. In this scene of
, people focused on Huang Liushuang, ignoring the starring actor who was in the spotlight.
This film became the king of box office in the United States that year, and was popular all over the world, attracting thousands of fans in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Just as the whole world was immersed in Huang Liushuang's beauty, her naked clothes in the film made the Chinese people at that time panic.
and even the government of the Republic of China banned the screening in the name of ghost movies.
Huang Liushuang's father Huang Shanxing also believed that she was shamed for the family and asked her to give up the new career of actor.
Shanghai's "Movie Magazine" criticized Huang Liushuang for being a name, saying that her performance was self-destructive.
"Movie Pictorial" satirized her as just a puppet who was tricked by others and played supporting roles in the movie. Huang Liushuang really didn't respect herself.
Tianjin Movie magazine criticized: "Hollywood has humiliated us Chinese again with the image of Huang Liushuang's prostitute!"
Under the dual pressure of the outside world and the family, Huang Liushuang was almost collapsed.
But Huang Liushuang has to face a bigger dilemma.
Huang Liushuang’s dream is to become a great actor.
In the early days, she was immersed in the applause and cheers of Hollywood, but the clever Huang Liushuang discovered those same characters, and she never had the chance to step closer from the role.
The United States stipulates that intermarriage is not allowed between different races. The censorship system of
movies requires that kisses cannot be made between aliens.
This also destined that she could only play the role of a prostitute, an opium dealer, and a supporting role under the orientalist narrative.
The character she plays is often ending with suicide or being killed.
When Huang Liushuang was a child, the white boy behind the seat stabbed her with a needle. When she was angry, the white boy said in surprise and amused, "It turns out that yellow people still have pain ?"
's arrogant expression was very similar to Hollywood's response to her protest: "Or Act, or get out of the way. "
She once laughed at herself with sadness, "In the film, I have been dead for thousands of times!"
In order to resist racism in Hollywood and for her acting career, Huang Liushuang thought about it over and over again, why not go to Europe to try her luck?
But reality is cruel.
Although Huang Liushuang also made a great film like "Chinatown Fun Dream", the same experience is that his kissing scene with the male protagonist was deleted.
The hypocritical Europeans, like Americans, cannot accept love between different races.
Moreover, lacking the operation of the Hollywood movie machine, her popularity is actually declining.
The only thing that made her happy was that she let Europeans know that in the distant Eastern country, women can be so beautiful and elegant.
She found that the West’s understanding of the East is more about the characters in the movie.
Here, people see her as Chinese, not Chinese-American.
She began to think about her identity, and she was proud of her identity as a Chinese.
Under the clouds of World War II and the anxiety about the decline of career, Huang Liushuang had to repeat the same mistake and return to the United States.
She surrendered to Hollywood.
Huang Liushuang is extremely eager to play a positive role.
This is helpful for your acting career or reversing the world's stereotype for Chinese women.
In June 1935, the novel " Earth " adapted from Pearl Buck was prepared for filming. This novel shows the struggle history of Chinese farmers.
She desperately wants to play the heroine Alan in the book.
She believes that Alan's kindness and perseverance will greatly change Europe and the United States' perception of Chinese female roles.
However, the reality is that the director only lets him audition for the only vicious female character in the novel - A Lian.
Later, Huang Liushuang's friend revealed that she was extremely depressed at the time. She almost choked and said, "How can they be, how can they be..."
In the end, Huang Liushuang, like other Chinese actors, failed to participate in the filming of this film. The reason given by the producer was: they are "too oriental."
A story about the lives of farmers on the land of China was finally played by European and American actors who painted their skin yellow.
is extremely ridiculous, extremely helpless.
The casting of the earth greatly hurt Huang Liushuang's heart. She decided to return to her motherland and soothe her wounded heart.
936, Huang Liushuang set out from San Francisco, USA and boarded the Huffer cruise to China. There, there are a large number of fans looking forward to her arrival, and there are also indignant film critics waiting to question her.
When she got off the boat, the reporter in the crowd asked her angrily: Why do you want to star in a video that insults China?
Huang Liushuang's eyes were filled with tears. She didn't understand why her Chinese people viewed her like this.
She defended herself: "I have no choice! Even if I don't play, it will be played by Japanese and Korean actors, and I will lose the opportunity to try my best to change China's image."
She defended herself over and over again.
Huang Liushuang did not lie. Although she was unable to change the plot and character personality in Hollywood filming, she would argue with reason when it came to deliberately vilifying the Chinese. She told the producer, "The real Chinese never do this!"
Later, because of Huang Liushuang, she became famous, and she was more cautious about playing a role that was deprived of the national stamina, and she could also put forward suggestions for modifying the script and was adopted.
Huang Liushuang (third from left)
In China, she finally returned to her hometown - Chang'an Village, Taishan, Guangdong.
In this traditional and far away from modern village, she has the opportunity to think about her cultural belonging.
Huang Liushuang, who has always shown her image as a modern girl, gradually figured out why Chinese people don’t like the role she plays.
If you feel discrimination against yellow people in the United States, then in China it is the suppression and discrimination against women by society.
In the first year of Huang Liushuang's arrival in China, a movie "New Women" reflects the image of Chinese working women and Chinese women who do not rely on their husbands to live independently was released.
Then the starring Ruan Lingyu committed suicide, leaving behind a complaint of the four words "human words are fearful".
At this time, the National Government launched the New Life Movement , which gradually evolved from advocating civilized life to opposing women's modernization. The spokesperson of the government made generous speeches, requiring women to maintain the political status of second-class citizens and to abide by the four virtues of "virtue, honor, and merit."
The government of the Republic of China even stipulated the shortest size of women's skirts and no perm allowed.
Huang Liushuang thought that she often exposed her legs in previous videos and dressed coolly.
She finally understood that her career and life would definitely lead him to a dead end.
Despite this, this journey of root search that is not harmonious and perfect still strengthens Huang Liushuang's cultural belonging.
Huang Liushuang made up her mind to no longer play the role that shames the Chinese people in the future.
shows the impact of China's journey on her.
As early as 1931 when the Japanese army launched the September 18th Incident , Huang Liushuang was extremely indignant and published articles in many magazines to condemn the atrocities of the Japanese army.
Huang Liushuang, who returned to the United States this time, is more determined to raise funds for the anti-Japanese war.
She gave speeches at charity rally many times, angrily denounced Japan's aggression and called on the American people to support China's anti-Japanese war.
She set an example and publicly auctioned her jewelry, jewelry and clothing, and remitted it back to China to support the cause of the War of Resistance.
942, Huang Liushuang filmed two dramas: Myanmar bomb and the wife from Chongqing.
In it, she played the admirable female character in Anti-Japanese War .
Finally, Huang Liushuang also donated all the remuneration earned from filming the film to support the anti-Japanese war.
This move finally won her praise. Countless overseas Chinese and movie fans wrote to her, praising her as a "patriotic daughter."
But what is sad is that her efforts to fight against the War of Resistance were not recognized as the National Government.
943, Soong Mei-ling visited the United States to seek support for the fight against Japan.
At the party held for it in Hollywood, celebrities gathered and the stars were shining.
The Chinese actress Huang Liushuang, who everyone thinks is the most important, is missing.
After multiple inquiries, it turned out that a gentleman named Xiong under Soong Mei-ling specifically told him not to invite Huang Liushuang. He Jisi, the author of the biography of
, once tried hard to analyze this reason.
He believes that there are three main reasons.
First, the National Government at that time despised its overseas compatriots.
At that time, most of the people who went to the United States to make a living were southerners from Guangdong and other places. They speak Cantonese , and the National Government advocates speaking Mandarin.
so they were coldly treated by the National Government at that time.
Second, Huang Liushuang's acting career is an important issue.
The images she created on the screen, such as the fragile and light lotus, the vicious dragon girl, and the treacherous mistress and prostitute, are believed to have hurt the image of Chinese women on the world stage.
Soong Mei-ling wants to let Hollywood officials know what she thinks.
Although Huang Liushuang has been committed to China's anti-Japanese cause for a long time, her previous image is unforgivable.
She can't be the representative of Chinese patriotic women.
Third, Soong Mei-ling is a person who pays great attention to level. Huang Liushuang, the daughter of the laundry worker, cannot be on par with her.
This point can be proved by something that happened during her visit to the United States.
then British Prime Minister Churchill was visiting Washington .
Soong Mei-ling insisted on finding a place between her own residence and Washington to meet Churchill.
Song Mei-ling's brother and the then ambassador to the United States Gu Weijun advised her to compromise for the future and security of the country.
But Soong Mei-ling believes that she is higher than the British Prime Minister and that Churchill should have come to see her.
so this meeting was not reached.
Soong Mei-ling's cold reception and narrow evaluation directly announced Huang Liushuang's social death.
Although Huang Liushuang tried not to care about the opinions of the outside world, she was also unable to respond to the sharp and drastic evaluations of the outside world.
In the years that followed, although Huang Liushuang's career occasionally had hope of revival, it did not reach another peak.
Hollywood made Huang Liushuang and also ruined her reputation.
Smoking and drinking damaged her liver. In early 1961, the first generation of actresses who became famous in Hollywood passed away quietly at the age of 56.
The Huang family lived a long life, but Huang Liushuang died early, which must be attributed to the depression, unwillingness, entanglement and pain that accompanied her life.
Her life was accompanied by prejudice and discrimination, and she was despised throughout her life.
Huang Liushuang was unmarried all her life.
She once said sadly, "American men cannot marry me, and Chinese men are unwilling to marry me because I am an actor."
Huang Liushuang's pay allowed other brothers and sisters in the family to receive a higher education, and they all became decent middle class.
But when they mentioned Huang Liushuang, they thought she was shamed for her family.
In the United States, she is a Chinese doll who cannot play a positive role.
In China, she is a Hollywood puppet who discredits China's image.
Her efforts to fight against Japan were considered insignificant, and the actor's patriotism was considered extremely ridiculous.
She has been breaking through the shackles of the times throughout her life, and has been beaten by reality all her life.
She kept struggling, like a small boat going upstream, and finally returned to the past helplessly.
In the cracks between Chinese and Western cultures, she eventually became a "nameless woman in the era."
Source:
[1] Wu Bin. Huang Liushuang's cracks in life[J]. Reading, 2017(10):9.
[1] Hao Jisi. Huang Liushuang [M]. Beijing United Publishing Company, 2016.
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