Ruan Lingyu is not only a well-known "tragic star" in the silent film period of Chinese movie , but also a tragic figure with a ill-fated fate in her private life. She is the second female star of suicide after the first actress in Chinese film history Ai Xia .
March 8, 1935, it was International Labor Women's Day , after leaving behind an angry protest that "people's words are fearful", Ruan Lingyu died on medicine, thus opening a sad page in the history of Chinese film.
Silent film superstar Ruan Lingyu was only 25 years old when she died. Her film performance art is entering a more and more perfect mature state, representing the highest level of performance in China's silent film period and has become extremely popular in the film industry. At that time, she was a movie actor who could make many audiences "a must-see" every film.
So, why did such a female star with a great future and beloved commit suicide by fearing others? This is the first question.
Once the news of Ruan Lingyu's suicide came out, it caused a sensation in the entire Shanghai. Her body was placed in the Wanguo Funeral Home on Jiaozhou Road, Shanghai. Starting from March 9, the number of people coming to pay tribute to the remains reached more than 100,000 within three days. The entire Jiaozhou Road was squeezed out. On the day of the funeral, there were crowds along the way, and the overcrowding caused the funeral procession to move slowly. It took more than ten miles from Jiaozhou Road and Jing Cemetery, but it took three hours to walk halfway. Such a formation alarmed the authorities. They not only sent police officers and police cars, but also drove two armored vehicles, , as if they were facing a great enemy.
Old China, there are many people like Ruan Lingyu who are angry when she is young and promising. Why did her death cause such a huge shock to society? This is the second question.
Ruan Lingyu committed suicide by taking poison. This is an unquestionable fact, but the society and the public opinion are discussing "Who killed Ruan Lingyu?" or the rogue Zhang Damin ; or the stinky Tang Jishan , or the coercion of public opinion. In short, Ruan Lingyu's death was not suicide, but was killed.
Why do people ignore the fact that Ruan Lingyu committed suicide and persistently look for the real murderer who killed Ruan? This is the third question.
The answers to the above three questions can only be found from all the factors and links that prompted her to rise and fall in the short life of this "tragic star".
The family is poor and has a wrong relationship
1910 on April 26, 1910 Ruan Lingyu was born in a working family in Shanghai. His father died when Ruan Lingyu was six years old due to overwork. In order to make a living, my mother became a maid from a wealthy family named Zhang. The Zhang family is the home of Ruan Lingyu's ex-husband Zhang Damin.
When Ruan Lingyu was fifteen years old, she learned acting in her school, "the art is amazing". This time her ex-husband Zhang Damin was also present. Originally, Lingyu lived in the Zhang family because she was the daughter of a servant. In addition, Lingyu was young, Zhang Damin did not take her seriously. Unexpectedly, this performance made Zhang Damin "stunned" her and couldn't help but feel lustful.
Zhang Damin's father was an official in Guangdong in the late Qing Dynasty, and was in the third year of high school. Later, he went to Shanghai to do business and undertake wood and paint transactions, and his wealth was very strong. The career is big, with as many as nine wives and concubines, and more than seventeen children. Mrs. Zhang, who is in charge of the family, has four men and two women, and Zhang Damin is their youngest son. In order to let the fourth brother learn to do business, my father often took him out of dance halls, song halls, horse racing halls, and dog racing fields. In less than a year, Zhang Damin had not yet started his business skills, but he had become a veteran in eating, drinking, prostitute and gambling.
Zhang Damin ignored his humble background and pursued him reluctantly. With his experience in love with men and women, Zhang Damin quickly gained the favor of Ruan Lingyu. He would buy whatever Ruan Lingyu needed and would take the initiative to fund Ruan Lingyu's tuition.
In January 1926, Ruan Lingyu and Zhang Damin lived together.
From living together to breaking up, Zhang has never completed any formal marriage procedures with Ruan, nor has he held a formal marriage ceremony. What's more, Zhang Damin's parents also disagreed with this marriage and made things difficult for every means. Ruan Lingyu's credibility, negligence and Zhang Damin's deception and entanglement led to the beginning of Ruan Lingyu's tragic life.
Female relationship breaks down and suicide attempts
In the first few months after Ruan Lingyu and Zhang Damin lived together, the two of them went to the park, watched movies, and took a walk. Zhang Damin likes to run horses. Every morning, Ruan Lingyu goes out with him to go horses. Zhang Damin likes to dance and teaches Ruan Lingyu to dance and often goes to and from the dance hall. When Zhang Damin saw that Ruan likes singing and dancing, he rented a piano for her to study. They have had a very comfortable time.
The source of life for Ruan Lingyu and Zhang Damin at this time depends entirely on the monthly money Zhang Damin earned from his family. If you just live at home, this little money will be enough. But Zhang Damin is a young man and is used to living in the world. In the first few months of living with Lingyu, he was able to guard his beautiful lover. As time went by, he couldn't hold it in, so he sneaked to the racecourse to gamble and returned to the old circle of life that was full of money.
At this time, that little money was obviously not enough. In order to prevent him from giving the money to Ling Yuhua, his mother also notified the accountant not to give any extra money. Ruan Lingyu's mother was also fired because the Zhang family did not agree to the marriage. The mother and daughter lived all by the money given by Zhang Damin. However, for the sake of his own squandering, Zhang Damin gradually gave her two less and less living expenses.
Lingyu's mother was very anxious and discussed with her daughter that Lingyu was a self-reliant person. She said to her mother: "Mom, it's better to beg for yourself than to ask for others. He has no job and is in the hands of his parents. I don't have to beg him anymore. I'm young, I'll go out to work."
At this time, star film company filmed "The Famous Couple" and recruited a young actress. Ruan Lingyu was delighted. This was exactly the job she liked. She was determined to try her luck, but unexpectedly she was selected. Wan Lingyu returned home happily, and from now on, she will be a good person. I don’t want Zhang Damin to come to her house at this time. It turned out that his father died of a stroke and his brothers wanted to separate the family, but the children who did not get married could only get half of the inheritance, and the other half could only get it after marriage. Zhang Damin told his relationship with Ruan to his mother. Not only did his mother not admit it, she wanted to take back the house they lived in.
After Ruan Lingyu was hit like this, she no longer had any fantasies about the Zhang family and was determined to focus on making movies, gain a foothold in the film industry, and do her career. After "The Famous Couple", Ruan Lingyu starred in four films in Beijing, "The Blood and Tears Monument", "The Lost Yang Bridge" and " Baiyun Tower " in a row in a star company. She began to make new progress in her film performances.
Since Zhang Damin got half of his inheritance, he was determined to make a fortune, but he was unwilling to work hard, so he set his mind on the casino. But he was no match for the boss of the racetrack. In less than three months, he not only lost all his bets, but also had a lot of debt. The creditors kept coming to him to force the debt. Only then did Ruan Lingyu begin to see clearly what kind of person Zhang Damin, whom she trusted for life, was. In a rage, she rented two houses outside and left Zhang Damin with her mother.
This is her first separation from Zhang.
Zhang Damin is not an ambitious person. He came to the door to compensate him again and said all the good things. Ruan Lingyu is kind-hearted, and she will give up if she doesn't beat anyone else. So the first separation ended here. It’s just that Lingyu lives outside, and Zhang Damin lives in Zhang’s mansion.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Damin was still addicted to gambling and once lost 700 yuan. Lingyu learned that she felt that the person was helpless and separated again. Later, Zhang Damin claimed that if Ruan drove him away, he would go to Ruan's company to review and also enter the newspaper.
Ruan Lingyu surrendered in front of Zhang Damin's tyranny and the rogue appearance, ending her second separation.
Zhang Damin is a veritable gambler. Not only did he not learn from the lesson, he wanted to make money back from the casino. But where to find the gambling money? He thought that half of the inheritance was in his mother's hands, so he made up a lie and cheated the money into his hands. As a result, within three months, all the more than 5,000 yuan was lost and all the debts were owed. Mrs. Zhang learned that she kicked him out of the Zhang family's door.
Helplessly, Zhang Damin came to Ruan Lingyu's house in shame and refused to leave here. Ruan Lingyu was so shameless that she was so regretful. Although she is not very familiar with the world, the harsh facts tell her: Zhang Damin is a rogue, gambling, and liar. Zhang Damin wants to get rid of her, as easy as throwing away an old piece of clothing, and he wants to break up with Zhang. Once this rogue starts to make trouble, people will definitely regard her as a bad woman who seduces the son of a noble family and then despise her.
For a man, money is more important than reputation, but for a woman, losing her reputation means losing everything, and she will not be able to stand in the film industry in the future. Who knows her suffering? Who would sympathize with her experience? There are only two ways in front of her, either to compromise and to stay with such a man for the rest of his life or to break up completely, that would have to make a big fuss and be ruined. I compromised, but I don’t know how I live my life in the future. Even if I have a lot of money, I can’t block such a hole. But if you make a big fuss and lose your reputation, it will become a topic after a meal. She couldn't help but think of death. Instead of living humiliatedly, it was better to die innocently. Just like she easily agreed to Zhang Damin with her body, this time she easily chose the destination of her life.
She thought a lot this night, and thought for a long time until Zhang Damin fell asleep in bed, then walked back to the house and swallowed all the bottle of sleeping pills. Fortunately, her mother discovered it in time and Lingyu was spared from death.
After Ruan Lingyu returned home, she still insisted on not living with Zhang Damin, otherwise she would rather die. Seeing this, Zhang was a little panicked and called his brother and sister-in-law to persuade him. Ruan's good friend also came to hear the news. Everyone blamed Zhang Damin and Zhang expressed his regret. Under the kind advice of everyone, Ruan Lingyu had to reconcile with Zhang Damin again. However, her heart was still bleak.
Although the relationship between Ruan Lingyu and Zhang Damin has been reconciled, the cracks between them from their feelings to their lives cannot be filled.
career is smooth, and the marriage is ill-fated
When Ruan Lingyu was in a very depressed mood, Lianhua Film Company invited her to participate in the filming of "The Dream of the Old Capital", and played a prostitute in the film. Although she is a villain, the drama is very heavy. Ruan Lingyu accepted it happily, and gained appreciation from colleagues in the film industry and the audience for her outstanding acting skills, establishing her position in the film industry. At the same time, the video also refreshed the audience with its fresh style and achieved great success in its business. Since then, she has also participated in the filming of films such as "Suicide Contract" and " Yijian Mei ", and her career has been almost smooth sailing. At this time, her salary increased to 700 yuan a month. In addition, each film has a considerable pay, which allows her to enjoy a living standard of a middle class or above. She has already brought her own car and hired a private driver.
However, Zhang Damin is like a shadow, always entangled in Ruan Lingyu's life. Originally, he relied on his parents' money to gamble, but now, he relied on Ruan Lingyu's salary to gamble. The gambling bills are all asked from Ruan Lingyu, and if you pay them as much as possible, otherwise you will make a big fuss. If you don’t have cash, you have to give them to him even if you take off your clothes and jewelry. Like a devil, Zhang Damin brought huge pressure to Ruan Lingyu's economic and spiritual. Helplessly, Ruan Lingyu tried to find him three jobs, but none of them made him change his bad habits.
Under this situation, Ruan Lingyu had reached a point of disheartening with Zhang Damin. If it weren't for her cherishing her reputation too much, this embarrassing situation would have never been maintained.
At this moment, another person took advantage of the situation and got into Ruan Lingyu's dim life. He was Tang Jishan, the manager of Teahua Company, a wealthy businessman at the time.
This person is not only a "tea class," but also a veteran in love. Some people call him a veteran in playing with movie stars. He once chased the most popular actress Zhang Zhiyun , but later he lost interest in Zhang Zhiyun because she was already gone and abandoned her.
Since Tang Jishan met Ruan Lingyu, he has used all his skills to deal with women. Tang had heard of the relationship between Ruan Lingyu and Zhang Damin. In addition, Zhang Damin was not in Shanghai at this time, which was a good time to attack Ruan Lingyu.
One day, Zhang Damin secretly sneaked back to Shanghai if life in Fujian is difficult. When he returned home, he saw that the door was closed and the building was empty. He was very shocked. After inquiry, I found out that Ruan had moved to No. 1, Lane 147, Haige Road. Zhang found his new home. While meeting Ruan Lingyu, he also saw another man sitting in the room, which was Tang Jishan. Tang didn't even stand up, but just met coldly. Zhang Damin immediately understood everything and ran away angrily.
The next day, Ruan Lingyu invited Mr. Wu Chengyu, a lawyer who had been delisted and closed, to go through the procedures for breaking off the relationship. Zhang had no good plans and had to follow. However, in the contract to sign a detachment, one of them is intriguing, that is, Ruan Lingyu bears a monthly allowance of Zhang Damin of 100 yuan, with a term of two years. Another thing is that Ruan Lingyu fell into the tragic ending, which is that Ruan Lingyu was afraid of making up for the ugly things and did not announce it to the public. Unexpectedly, this became the handle for Zhang Damin to slander Ruan.
After Ruan Lingyu and Tang Jishan fell in love to living together, they did have two stable years of life. In the past two years, she has made many films, several of which are excellent films, especially " Goddess " and "New Women" are one of the best films in China's progressive films. These films not only make significant contributions to the Chinese film industry, but also Ruan Lingyu herself is also the most brilliant creation in her entire artistic life.
But the good times didn't last long. Gradually, Ruan Lingyu felt Tang's oppression on her, which made her deeply uneasy.
Tang Jishan is not as rogue as Zhang Damin. He was caring for Ruan Lingyu at first, but he was suspicious and jealous. Therefore, he strictly controlled Ruan Lingyu's movements and almost always kept Ruan Lingyu at home except for filming. When you are unhappy or drink too much, you will beat and scold Ruan Lingyu. On the eve of Ruan Lingyu's suicide, she was slapped by Tang.
It is obvious that Ruan Lingyu has become the second Zhang Zhiyun in Tang Jishan's hands. Although Ruan Lingyu was afraid of ending with Zhang Damin again for caution, she did not marry him immediately; although Ruan Lingyu was out of self-love, she avoided others saying that she had taken a fancy to Tang for money, and after living with Tang, she proposed that both parties be financially independent; although Ruan Lingyu lived with Tang, she was very cautious in all her actions, hoping to get a peaceful and comfortable family. But in the end, things went against her wishes. What she needed was exactly what Tang could not give her. The facts woke her up from her fictional dream. It turned out that in Tang's mind, she was just his toy, and Zhang Zhiyun's fate was doomed.
From then on, she could no longer be able to get rid of the deep mental pain caused by her personal misfortune. People who are familiar with her said that before she was married to Tang, she was a happy angel, and she always lived happily every time she met her friends. But later, after following Tang, she lost her original innocence and was depressed all day long.
Two lawsuits, and the right and wrong were abounding
Besides, Zhang Damin, who had not come to cause trouble for more than a year, saw that in the separation contract, the monthly clause of 100 yuan was about to expire, and Ruan Lingyu became more and more popular and lived a luxurious life with Tang, so he was not willing to give up. So he went to Ruan Lingyu to hit the bamboo pole again and again, and used the property division regulations for the breakdown of the marriage to claim compensation. Ruan Buyi threatened to enter the newspaper and file a complaint.Ruan Lingyu once again made up her mind to calm down the situation and agreed to give him money.
However, Tang Jishan was not a vegetarian. Not only did he not allow Ruan Lingyu to give Zhang Damin money, he also sued Zhang Damin for the crime of damaging his reputation. Zhang Damin originally intended to blackmail three or four thousand yuan, but never thought that Tang Jishan was rich and arrogant, so she didn't take him seriously at all and was the first to be tricky. On the day of the court, Zhang made a statement about his relationship with Ruan in an invigorating manner, and then Hu Buli Ruan took away some of his jewelry and farming, which finally caused Tang to fail to win the case.
During the Tang lawsuit against Zhang, the filming of "New Women" starring Ruan Lingyu was also completed. "New Women" was premiered and was staged publicly during the Spring Festival of 1935, which received a warm response from society. The film exposed and criticized society because "New Women)" revealed the bad deeds of shameless journalists and was touching their pain points. They pointed the finger at the starring actor Ruan Lingyu and instigated Zhang Damin to attack Ruan Lingyu.
He immediately went on the battle and caught Wu Chengyu, the public lawsuit he invited when Ruan Lingyu and he went through the separation procedures two years ago, was a closed lawyer and had lost his legal person status. He then denied the separation contract. In particular, he used a more ruthless move than Tang Jishan, and shot both arrows at the same time. On February 26, 1935, he accused Ruan Lingyu of the crime of possession and forgery of documents in the Junior Court of the Shanghai Second Special District Court, and went to the local court to file a lawsuit against Ruan Lingyu and Tang Jishan for obstructing family and adultery.
The court accepted Zhang Damin's complaint, and the newspaper rushed forward. They poured all the dirty water on Ruan Lingyu, who was helpless and weak, and you can see it by reading the sensational titles in the newspaper. "Ruan Lingyu's adultery case occurred", "Zhang Damin will accuse Ruan Lingyu of adultery", "Borrowing Zhang and marrying Tang is for property"...
Ruan Lingyu is a person who regards reputation as more important than life. How many times he endured humiliation was for this pitiful reputation. This retribution world caused such an uproar to destroy her reputation, and she felt she could not fight it. Although the world is big, there is no place for her to argue; there is no soulmate who can confide in her grievances. She was desperate, but she felt desperate.
kissed the cheek and said goodbye, and she had decided to die
1935 on August 7, 1935. In the morning, the sisters Liang Saizhen, who were usually very close to each other, went to the park for a trip. After lunch, I went to a foreign beauty salon to perm my hair. At night, I put on my unpopular clothes and went to Li Minwei's house for a banquet. Ruan Lingyu looked dazzling and charming that night. During the meal, she kissed the pink cheeks of every actress here. People thought she was drunk and did what she wanted. Finally, she said with emotion: "There is no banquet that will last forever. I am leaving, I am losing my companion!"
On the way home, she drove to the Yangtze Hotel with Tang Jishan to dance together. She paused until midnight before driving home.
When Tang Jishan returned to the room, she went to bed early. After Ruan Lingyu accompanied her mother to the stairs to sleep, she kissed her adopted daughter Xiaoyu's cheek. Then he went back to his room, wrote two suicide notes, and finally swallowed all three bottles of rat poison.
Tang Jishan was worried that the disaster would lead to him, so although there were many clinics nearby, he did not send it to him, but wanted to find a remote hospital to avoid going out. After he sent Ruan to the hospital, he went through many twists and turns. Although he applied artificial respiration, , oxygen delivery, and immersed Ruan naked in a hot tub, he finally returned to his life due to delayed rescue. The star Ruan Lingyu finally died of hatred at 6:38 pm on March 8th - International Women's Day. Two medical staff who usually have sex with Ruan Youyou heard the news and cried bitterly, shouting, "I'm unjustly dead!"
has lost its fragrance, and the history has left melancholy
1935 August 9, Japan was the trial period of the Ruan Lingyu case, and the court period became a funeral day. In the Wanguo Funeral Home on Jiaozhou Road, Shanghai, there are garlands and flower baskets sent by relatives and friends, and Ruan Lingyu slept among the flowers. This was the tranquility she had longed for in her life, and it was for the first time and forever. People in the shadow world kept watching silently beside her. A white cloth hanging in front of the hall door "Such a Life".
People couldn't help but shed tears and wonder, why did such a popular young movie star commit suicide?
After knowing that Ruan Lingyu's extremely tragic life was over, she found the answer.
So, why did the death of a filmmaker attract so much attention from the society?
In simple terms, the flesh-and-blood characters she created on the screen with true feelings touch the hearts of thousands of viewers. In her less than ten years of artistic career, Ruan Lingyu has played various roles, including workers, handicraftsmen, flower sellers, singers, female students, concubines, prostitutes, girls, nuns, beggars, female writers, etc. She "has committed suicide four times, was imprisoned twice, and the rest are sadness, epilepsy, being killed, ill death, etc. "If her masterpieces are gathered together, it is almost a grand view of Chinese society."
Many viewers regard her screen role as an encyclopedia of society. She expresses the joy, pain, and indignation of the general people. People often find enlightenment in life in her role. How can the sudden misfortune of such an actor who is intimidated with the audience not cause people's horror and grief?
Of course, people will never let the murderer who put her to death, which is why people firmly believe that Ruan Lingyu was killed.
In this regard, we can say that Ruan Lingyu's death is a major tragedy in society. In the history of China, her death was a social case that shocked the old world!
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