I’m annoyed by the spring breeze/Why my heart is annoyed by the spring breeze/I can’t tell you/I’m so grateful for the wine/It’s raining at night/The raindrops penetrate/into the photo/Looking back seems like a dream that can’t move/I’m fascinated by staring at you/ In the faded photo/Ah, like a flower although not red..."

This song by Jacky Cheung interprets a name that was somewhat mysterious to Chinese people in the 1930s -

Li Xianglan. It is difficult for people under the age of 40 to feel the infatuated and melancholy atmosphere brought out by the adagio, because at that time, Shanghai was a cultural and emotional gap in China that had never been filled with foreign cultures and cultures. China's new culture is all colliding and impacting here. However, through this popular singer, we may be able to get a glimpse of some intriguing situations at that time.

Japanese people born in China

In order to become popular in Shanghai, Li Xianglan had already found and recognized her own sparkling temperament. Her original name was Yamaguchi Shuko, and her family called her Doudou. She was Japanese and was born in Liaoning, China on February 12, 1920. She moved to North Yantai near Fengtian (now Shenyang) in the province, and soon her family moved to Fushun. Her grandfather Hiroshi Yamaguchi loved Sinology and admired ancient Chinese culture since he was a child, so he moved from his hometown Saga Prefecture in the 36th year of Meiji (1906). She came to China and lived there for a long time. When she was born, the puppet Manchukuo was established under the banner of "Five Nationalities Harmony". Many Japanese believed that a new era was about to begin, but the reality was the opposite.

The last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, was nominally the head of state of Manchukuo, but in fact he was just a puppet. The real power was held by the Japanese Kwantung Army. They killed innocent people and made the people miserable. They saw the land of China devastated and devastated. The tragic situation made their father Fumio Yamaguchi, who worked at the Shenyang Railway Bureau, and his mother Ai Ishibashi, who also admired Chinese culture, very sad but helpless. They could only pin their hopes for Sino-Japanese friendship on their daughter who was born in China. She was promised to be her adopted daughter by her friend General Li Jichun, who was the president of Shenyang Bank at the time. It was Li Jichun who named Li Xianglan. "Xianglan" was a pen name he had used, and Li Xianglan later used it as her stage name.

In 1943, the young and naive Li Xianglan, full of love for China and Japan and longing for future life, came to Peking and studied at Peking Yi Goddaughter Middle School under the name "Pan Shuhua". "Pan" was her other name. The surname of Pan Zhengsheng, her father's sworn brother who was the mayor of Tianjin at the time; "Shu" comes from the name of Yamaguchi Shuko; and "Hua" means born in China, which of course also includes the name. She hopes that China and Japan will enjoy friendly relations.

Beiping Yijiao Girls’ Middle School is a girls’ middle school with complete senior and junior high schools. It was there that she received a good education. It laid the foundation for her future acting career. She recorded her study situation at that time in her book "The First Half of My Life - The Biography of Li Xianglan": "I came from the Northeast to visit relatives. As a Chinese - the goddaughter of the Pan family - —went to Yijiao Girls' School, named Pan Shuhua... When we went to school, the three of us went together, and sometimes I was the only one left after school. At that time, I often dropped by Beihai Park to practice Chinese pronunciation or look up the dictionary on the uninhabited island. I also went to the Ancestral Temple in the distance. "

Because she was born with beauty, spoke fluent Chinese, and had a beautiful singing voice, when "the daughter of the Li family grew up," her artistic talent and special background soon became known. The puppet "Manchuria Film Association" was manipulated and planned by the Japanese invaders. They mobilized her to join the association and decided to promote her as a Chinese singer to advocate for the aggressive policy. She was young and ignorant and full of hatred for the puppet "Manchukuo". "Infinite hope", he sang Chinese songs such as "The Fisher Girl", "The Resentment of Zhaojun", "Meng Jiangnu" and other Chinese songs in Japan's Fengtian Radio's new program "Manchu New Songs", and even became famous with the song "Tuberose". As a result, "Singer Li Xianglan" was pushed to the forefront, and quickly became popular in the music and film circles, becoming a household name "superstar".

After becoming famous, Li Xianglan also starred in some movies that promoted the Japanese army or whitewashed Japan's war of aggression. At that time, everyone thought she was Chinese, which also brought her misfortune in the future.

As the Japanese invasion of China escalated and the Pacific War broke out, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan. Japan became the enemy of the people of the world and fell into deep quagmire. On one side, she is filled with murderous intent, and on the other side, she is singing and dancing to bring peace. Amidst the shadows of swords and swords, her singing is like wine mixed with ecstasy, which not only soothes people's souls, but also kills their strong fighting spirit. Despite the troubled times, her popularity only increased. In the early days of the Pacific War, her performance at the "Japanese Theater" was enthusiastically cheered by the audience. There were actually 7 and a half circles of fans surrounding her, causing chaos and becoming a sensational news. At that time, she received a letter from Matsuoka Kenichiro, the eldest son of Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. The letter said: "The value of a person cannot be measured by fame or not. The value of a person is not reflected on the person's surface. You should value yourself. Now is an era when personal value is fooled. You must respect yourself more, otherwise you can only You are at the mercy of the current situation in the country. I hope you will always respect yourself." These words are thought-provoking. In the darkest period of Japanese history, the son of Foreign Minister Matsuoka, who was designated as a war criminal after the war, wrote such a letter to a female star who pretended to be Chinese (or "Manchurian") and worked for Japan's Far East policy. This not only makes people feel the power of liberalism, but also makes people feel the weakness of liberalism. It can only serve as a form of resistance and will not achieve anything.

Fluent in Chinese and Japanese, stunning appearance, and a European vocal style like that of the then Hollywood starlet Diana Duping, fully embodies the Japanese ideal of Chinese women. In this way, Li Xianglan became the "sugar-coated cannonball" in the Kwantung Army's war policy.

Singer's Years

Li Xianglan's experience is unique. Although she is a pseudo-Chinese actor created by the Japanese, she shoots videos to promote Japan's Far East policy to express condolences to the Japanese soldiers, and becomes the goodwill envoy of Manchukuo and China to Japan that Japan needs, but these are not.

Enough to obliterate all her achievements in art.

Her singing voice is melodious and moving, and her singing skills are profound. When she was a student, she studied coloratura soprano from a famous soprano, Mrs. Podolesov, and later worked as a singer on a radio station. This was the starting point of her singing career. She sang countless classic love songs throughout her life. According to her own memoir "Half of My Life", the three most popular songs were "When Will You Come Again", "Suzhou Nocturne" and "Tuberose". "When Will You Come Again" is an episode of the 1930s film "Three Stars with the Moon". Although the original singer was Zhou Xuan, her singing has a unique style. Just like several old photos of her, she has a beautiful and charming face, wearing a cheongsam, which is oriental but not Chinese, and there is a hint of ambiguity between her eyebrows. "Suzhou Nocturne" was specially written for her by Japanese composer Ryoichi Hattori, based on Chinese melodies and with reference to American love songs.

"Tuberose" is probably the most well-known to everyone. This song was composed for her by composer Li Jinguang specially invited by EMI Records with reference to Chinese folk tunes, but the melody and rhythm are completely in European and American style. It was composed into a brisk slow rumba and spread throughout the bustling occupied areas. It's a pity that this is a song that has not been banned yet. Although it is very beautiful, many people can only sing it in private. She said in her autobiography: "Although the song was very popular, it did not last long, and later both the Japanese and Chinese versions were banned from being sold... The reason was that any foreign soft love song would make Fengji disgraceful. Disorder." Not only that, in 1945, she was summoned by the Ministry of Industry for singing this song in Shanghai. She said: "They suspected that I sang this song in the hope that the Chongqing government or the Communist Party government would come back." Until the rest of her life, she still remembered Li Jinguang, the lyricist of this song. In 1981, she specially invited him to visit Japan. They took the stage to sing "Tuberose" at a cocktail party, and a group of "Tuberose" fans walked around the venue while singing.

At that time, when the head of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Yoshio Kusakari, visited Shanghai with Japanese TV, she told the TV reporter that she almost married Chen Gexin. When a reporter asked her why she didn't mention a word in her published autobiography, she laughed and said: "The most important things cannot be written in books."

In 1992, when she came again In Shanghai, Chen Gexin had passed away. As soon as she saw Chen Gang, she eagerly asked about Chen Gexin's situation when he was still alive, recalling their deep friendship 47 years ago. When parting, she choked up and said to Chen Gang: "Your father and I are very good..." Later, when she saw Chen Gang again in Tokyo, she also said to him: "Your father is a handsome man, and if it weren't for your mother, With you, I will marry him..." She hummed softly over and over again "Wangyoucao" written by Chen Gexin for her: "My love, the stars in the sky are scattered, but as long as you are by my side, I will I don’t know loneliness. My love, the world has fallen into a dream. With you by my side, I don’t feel empty. I silently chant your name in the mud and forget about these troubled days. My love, although the years are fleeting, I don’t feel empty. In my dream, my leaves are evergreen."

In any case, she was born in Manchukuo, a country full of Japanese aggression ambitions, and she showed her respect to Japan as a Chinese actress, and it was absolutely impossible for her to fall in love. 's aria. After returning to Japan in 1952, she married Noguchi, an American sculptor who was 15 years older than her, but they broke up four years later. Talking about the reason for the breakup, she said: "It was neither due to third party problems nor financial problems. It was just that we couldn't get together for too long, which led to differences in personality." In fact, they had agreed on the so-called " The "conditions for divorce": respect each other, not affect each other's work, and break up amicably like friends when conflicts arise. In the four years of marriage, they actually lived together for less than one year.

After divorcing Noguchi, she was invited to perform in the opera "Shangri-La" in New York. During the performance, she met Hiroshi Ohtaka, a young diplomat sent by Japan to work at the United Nations. The 28-year-old Japanese young man gave her a bouquet of bright roses every day and visited her backstage several times. With such a bold and passionate courtship, they soon fell in love and eventually became a couple. In order to cherish this rare relationship, after marrying Ohtaka Hiroshi, she changed her name to Ohtaka Shuko. Soon, with the support of her husband, she quit the film industry and became a member of the Japanese Parliament (Senator of the Liberal Democratic Party), and was re-elected for 18 years.

Although her love life has gone through many twists and turns, what is commendable is that she always has a precious friendship. When she was 10 years old, she was in the third grade of Fushun Primary School. On the train to Shenyang for an autumn outing, she met a Russian Jewish girl of the same age as her, Liuba, who lived in Shenyang. She attaches great importance to this friend. She said: "Liuba is my most precious friend. The reason why I became the singing Li Xianglan is because of Liuba; the reason why I became the living Li Xianglan is also because of Liuba. Liuba. "Baby is like a talisman arranged by God in my life, sometimes like the sun, sometimes like the moon, she is always with me." With Lyuba's help, she began to learn from Mrs. Podolesov, the famous opera singer of the Bolshoi Theater of the Soviet Union. He is also a friend of Lyuba's family and studies coloratura soprano. It was precisely because Mrs. Podolesov held a solo concert at the Yamato Hotel every autumn that the section chief of "Fengten Radio Station" Dong Keizo discovered her and hired her as a full-time singer for the radio station's new program, which launched her into acting. the way. Looking back on all this, she said with emotion: "Isn't it? Without Liuba, I would not learn to sing, and there would be no singing Li Xianglan!" Not only that, Liuba also saved her life. After learning that Li Xianglan was imprisoned and was about to be shot, Liuba returned to her home in Peiping and obtained her a Japanese household registration certificate belonging to the Yamaguchi family, which exempted her from the crime of traitor.

With the imperfect love, perfect career and perfect friendship, she brought an unsatisfactory end to the first half of her life.

Back and forth

History often makes people embarrassed and makes people feel a kind of pain that tears the body and mind. After the Battle of Midway, Japan was retreating steadily.

With the advent of Japan's defeat, the 13-year illusory history of the "Puppet Manchukuo" manipulated by the Japanese Empire also came to an end.

The "Puppet Manchukuo" was destroyed, and the whole country launched a crusade against the traitors. action. Li Xianglan, a popular movie star and singer, was also taken to the trial stand.

In February 1946, as a main actor of the Puppet Manchuria Film Association, she was found guilty of assisting the Japanese invaders in propaganda. The prosecutor finally sentenced her to death for "being Chinese, but working with the Japanese to make films pretending to be Chinese, assisting Japan's mainland policy, betraying China" and "using Chinese and Japanese languages, taking advantage of friends relationship to engage in espionage activities." However, she knew in her heart that she had never engaged in espionage activities, nor had she assisted Japan's mainland policy. To prove her innocence, she presented documents proving her Japanese identity in court, and the judge acquitted her. This surprising fact made people in the courtroom angry. In the face of everyone's roar, she burst into tears and sang a song. She used her singing to express her deep love for the China that raised her, and at the same time she made deep repentance for her crimes in the first half of her life. The singing caused a roar, and everyone told her in singing: "Let us repay evil with kindness."

Tracing her life, people find it difficult to understand why she was almost arrested just because of unconscious singing and performing. Sentenced to death. She is simple and kind-hearted and hopes for friendship between China and Japan, but she is used and fooled by others. She becomes a tool of Japan's policy of aggression against China and is hated by the Chinese people. From this point of view, she is just a victim of history, and all her subsequent experiences were due to the times. "A person who has been fooled by the times and a false policy will be happy if he wakes up from the nightmare and has the opportunity to reflect on his behavior at that time or explain it." These words said by Lieutenant General Yoshioka, Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, can also be used as her explanation of the first half of her life.

On February 29, 1946, she bid farewell to Shanghai in tears and took a boat back to Japan. After returning to Japan, she began to continue her career in the Japanese film industry as a Japanese actress Yoshiko Yamaguchi, and gave herself the name "Koran Yamaguchi". She claims that her name is a "Chinese-Japanese mixture" and a "spiritual hybrid" of Japan and China. During this period, under the guidance of director Akira Kurosawa, she reached a new peak in her film and television career, playing multiple roles in American movies and musicals. In 1974, she was elected as a senator of Japan and became active on the social stage as a politician. At the same time, she also co-authored "Days in China - Li Xianglan: My First Half of Life" with news writer Fujiwara Sakuya. Through this autobiography, she bravely exposed the huge disaster that the Japanese militarism's war of aggression against China had brought to the Chinese people, and expressed her sincere wish for peace that "Japan and China will no longer fight, we are both black-haired and black-eyed." As a victim and witness of history, she also educated Japanese teenagers to remember: "This is all the truth!" In 1989, Japan's Fuji TV launched the TV series "Goodbye, Li Xianglan" adapted from it. Subsequently, Mr. Keita Asari successfully adapted the musical "Li Xianglan". Since its premiere at Tokyo's Aoyama Theater in January 1991, the musical has performed 184 times with more than 180,000 viewers. A 17-year-old Japanese high school student Masahiro Takahashi once wrote to Keita Asari: "The musical "Rikaran" not only told me the historical events and background of the times, but also told me the facts of the war and taught me how to communicate with neighboring countries. ——Inspiration for China to open up the future together."

From 1974 to 1992, Li Xianglan was continuously elected as a member of Congress to help Japan and China rebuild their old relationship. After the later idea of ????the "Open Door Policy" was proposed, the Chinese government opened its arms to welcome her. With the publication of her autobiography and the reissue of her classic album, she has regained favor in the hearts of a new generation of Chinese people.

Two motherlands, two mothers

Li Xianglan calls Japan her motherland and China her motherland. She said that she has two mothers - one in Japan and one in China; she has a heart - half in Japan and half in China.

Life and history, including the memories of Sino-Japanese relations, do not disappear because of its "unfortunateness" and "unpleasantness". China has nurtured her, and Japanese nationality is an indisputable fact for her. This special identity kept her heart in conflict throughout her life.

In 1937, as a Chinese, she accompanied her classmates to Zhongnanhai to participate in a silent prayer meeting held in memory of the compatriots who died on December 9th. At the meeting, everyone expressed their determination: some wanted to go to Nanjing to find the Nationalist Government, some wanted to go to northern Shaanxi to join the Red Army, and some expressed their intention to stay and fight until their last breath. When asked "What should I do if the Japanese army invades Beijing?", she didn't know how to answer, so she had to say: "I stand on the city wall of Beijing." For her who loves both her motherland and her own homeland, This is a difficult choice, and "standing on the city walls of Beijing" may be the best choice. As she wrote in her autobiography, "I can only say this." Standing on the city wall, Japanese artillery fire came from the outside, and Chinese lead bullets came from inside the city wall. No matter which side was hit, the bullets from both sides "can hit me, and I may die first." Instinctively, I thought this was my best way out."

This emotion has troubled her for a long time. In her autobiography, she once described her powerlessness and extreme pain in the face of this contradiction: "China. People don’t know that I am Japanese, and I have deceived the Chinese. A sense of guilt lingers in my heart, as if I have entered a dead end and am in a desperate situation.” She herself has made several decisions to reveal the fact that she is Japanese. , but neither of them had the courage to do it. Despite this, since she has lived in China since she was a child, her feelings for China are still very real. She is a historical witness of Japanese militarism's war of aggression against China. She experienced the "September 18th Incident", the "Marco Bridge Incident", and witnessed the "Pingdingshan Incident". When some Japanese people flatly denied this criminal history, she dared to solemnly and painfully speak out under the heavy pressure of the Japanese right wing. Declaration: Japan should apologize to the Chinese people! In her autobiography, her language expressions are often "going to Japan" and "going back to China."

In 1987, she finally got her wish and returned to Shanghai as a politician and friendly person to look for her Chinese heart that exuded the scent of tuberose and her motherland, homeland, and old friends that were linked to her soul and dreams. In November 1992, she was invited to China to participate in the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival held in Guilin. Although she is over seventy years old and living in Japan, she still speaks a lot about Beijing movies. During her stay in Beijing, she visited her former residence. Although it had long since "changed from old to new," she could still clearly identify it. She also tasted Beijing snacks to satisfy her deep homesickness. Later, she returned to Shanghai and met Li Jinguang again at the Garden Hotel. They recounted their old friendship and both of them shed tears. After the meeting, she carefully helped Mr. Li walk out of the hotel step by step. Unexpectedly, this would be the last time they met, and Mr. Li passed away the next year.

In the same year, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the director of the Four Seasons Theater Company, Mr. Keita Asari, also led the theater group to visit China again with the musical "Li Xianglan" after its first visit to China in 1988. There were 15 performances in Beijing, Changchun, Shenyang and Dalian where the story of "Li Xianglan" took place. This performance, invited by the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Culture, has received great attention from senior leaders of China and Japan. Former Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita also made a special trip to Dalian to attend the premiere of "Li Xianglan". The Four Seasons Theater Company also sent its best lineup to return "Li Xianglan" to her homeland 47 years after the end of the war.

The play describes her ups and downs in her life and vividly reproduces the history of Japan's war of aggression against China. It warns people not to forget the war and has aroused great repercussions in the country. The troupe has been highly praised by the audience every time it performs, and has performed nearly 500 performances in total.