Murder of Wang Lianying

Wang Lianying, a Shanghai courtesan, was killed on 9 June 1920.

Wang Lianying was a Chinese courtesan who was killed by Yan Ruisheng and his accomplices on 9 June 1920 outside of Shanghai in the Republic of China. Twenty-year-old Lianying had worked in Shanghai, known as the "Brothel of Asia", since 1916, gaining recognition as the "Prime Minister of Flower Country" during the 1917 courtesan election. Yan, meanwhile, was a university-educated youth deeply in debt due to his expensive habits and frequent gambling.

Seeking to escape his debt, Yan decided to rob Lianying, who was known to adorn herself with expensive jewellery. After some days gaining her trust, Yan convinced her to join him on a drive through the Shanghai countryside. On the trip, the pair – accompanied by Wu Chunfang and Fang Rishan – stopped amidst a wheat field. The three men drugged Lianying with chloroform, after which she was strangled and her body dumped in an isolated location. Lianying's disappearance was noted later that night, and her body was discovered on 15 June. Investigators issued an arrest warrant for Yan four days later. In mid-1920, he was arrested at the Xuzhou railway station; based on his confession, Wu was detained soon after. Although Fang escaped, Yan and Wu were tried, convicted, and executed.

The killing of a famous courtesan by an educated man captured the imagination of Shanghai society. Newspaper coverage was extensive, lasting for months. By the end of July 1920, multiple books on Lianying and her killer had been published. Five theatre troupes staged performances based on the murder by the end of 1921, with a Pathé Orient pressing of arias from one Peking opera finding great commercial success. The case was adapted to film in 1921, with another retelling made in Hong Kong in 1938.

Background

Shanghai, a major port and the gateway to the Yangtze Valley, has long been a commercial hub and a crossroads of western and eastern cultures. In the mid-19th century, as China was experiencing extensive internal conflicts, the city saw an influx of migrants. Meanwhile, with its designation as a treaty port, Shanghai developed a sizable expatriate community. The city continued to grow rapidly through the 1890s and 1900s, with new factories and storefronts opening regularly. By the 1920s, the city was divided into three administrations: the Chinese city proper, the French Concession, and the predominantly British Shanghai International Settlement. Among contemporary Chinese, it had a reputation for modernity and cosmopolitanism, being a major centre of literary, filmic, and musical production.

In China, the practice of prostitution has historically been permitted, and at times licensed and taxed. Shanghai in particular gained a reputation as a centre of sex work, becoming known by the 1900s as the "Brothel of Asia"; in 1915 some 9,700 women were active as prostitutes in the International Settlement. These women, known as "flowers" (花) in Chinese and sing-song girls in English, ranged from well-respected entertainers to street prostitutes. The greatest beauties were lauded in guidebooks and tabloids regularly discussed the intricacies of the business. "Elections" of courtesans, based on their patrons' assessments of their singing prowess and beauty, were held sporadically from the 1860s through the 1910s.

Biographies

Wang Lianying

Wang Lianying (simplified Chinese: 王莲英; traditional Chinese: 王蓮英; pinyin: Wáng Liányīng) was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, to a Manchu commander in the Plain White Banner and his wife. Her father died in her childhood, and Lianying's mother married the teahouse owner Wang Changfa. The family was rendered destitute following the 1911 Revolution, and Lianying dropped out of the girls' school in which she was enrolled. She thereafter entered prostitution, gaining a reputation for her singing voice and her beauty. She was reported to have been well-read.

In 1916, Lianying arrived in Shanghai with a woman identified as her mother. She at first took residence with a popular courtesan, but after irreconcilable differences developed she left to establish her own brothel. She gained recognition following the 1917 courtesan election, winning fourth place and gaining the title "Prime Minister of Flower Country" (花國總理). In the following years she worked with several other courtesans, including the prominent madame Xu Di. She gave birth to a daughter in 1919. By her twentieth birthday, Lianying was working at a brothel in Xiao Huayan, one of Shanghai's major courtesan hubs.

The perpetrator, Yan Ruisheng

Yan Ruisheng

Yan Ruisheng (simplified Chinese: 阎瑞生; traditional Chinese: 閻瑞生; pinyin: Yán Ruìshēng), the perpetrator of the killing, was a twenty-six-year-old man who lived in Qingpu with his widowed mother. The Yan family traced their roots to the Henan region. Yan was university educated, having enrolled at Aurora University at age sixteen. Finishing four years later, he spent time in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was reported to speak English and French fluently; he had also learned to drive, a rare skill at the time. During his trial, he identified as a Roman Catholic.

Yan worked variously as a translator for the Franco-Chinese Mining Company and as a clerk for the French Tramway Company, both in Shanghai. He had also been married, though neighbours said that the couple had been separated some time before the murder. By January 1920, Yan was unemployed. He was a man of expensive tastes, being known to frequent the cinemas, bet on horse racing, and hire prostitutes. Even while unemployed, he did not stop gambling or frequenting courtesans, and thus fell deep into debt. As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, Yan was under increased pressure; according to industry custom, all debts to courtesans were expected to paid in full by the date of the festival.

Murder

Planning

Seeking to escape his debt, Yan borrowed a diamond ring from Ti Hongguan (题红馆), his favourite courtesan. He pawned it for 600 yuan (equivalent to ¥55,222 in 2019), which he subsequently lost betting on horses at the Jiangwan Racecourse. Facing pressure to return the ring, he chose to rob a courtesan. As his target, he chose Lianying. Although Yan had never been a client of hers, she had a reputation for wearing expensive jewellery. A friend had also described as wearing a diamond ring and luxurious clothing during one of their encounters.

Using calling cards borrowed from friends, Yan met Lianying on 4 and 7 June 1920; a third attempt, on 5 June, received no response. During these interactions, Yan estimated that her diamond ring was worth 2,000 yuan (equivalent to ¥184,075 in 2019). He brought several friends, including Zhu Zhija (朱稚嘉) – the son of the wealthy merchant Zhu Baosan – to her house on 8 June for a gambling session, thereby establishing himself as a man of wealth. At the end of their session, Yan invited her to join him for a mahjong game the following day. Having arranged to pick Lianying up at the home of Xiao Lin Daiyu (小林黛玉), another courtesan, Yan subsequently asked to borrow Zhu's car.

On 9 June, Yan began to acquire the implements needed for the murder. He purchased chloroform from the King Sing Dispensary, then hired his acquaintance Wu Chunfang (吴春芳) as an accomplice. Promising to pay Wu 100 yuan (equivalent to ¥9,204 in 2019) for his assistance, Yan sent him to purchase something with which to strangle Lianying. Yan travelled to Zhu's house to retrieve his car. After dismissing Zhu's chauffeur by giving him money for a shave and haircut, Yan met Wu and a third man, Fang Rishan (方日珊), at a teahouse. He attempted to find Lianying, but she was not at Xiao Lin Daiyu's home and thus Yan returned to the teahouse.

Execution

Lianying arrived at the home of Xiao Lin Daiyu at approximately 6:30 p.m., adorned in numerous pieces of jewellery. Yan told her that the mahjong game had been cancelled, and offered instead to take her for a drive through the Shanghai countryside. Initially hesitant, Lianying ultimately agreed to join him. They left Shanghai along No. 2 Hongqiao Road, with Yan driving, Lianying in the passenger seat, and Wu and Fang in the rear.

As dusk approached, Yan stopped the car amidst the fields outside Shanghai, ostensibly to light the lamp. He retrieved the chloroform from the trunk and poured it over a cotton pad, which was used to smother Lianying. When she struggled and begged for her life, they added more until she fell unconscious. At this point, the men separated. Yan, seeing that a peasant was approaching, distracted him by offering a ride in the car. Wu and Fang strangled Lianying, then stole her jewellery.

Lianying's body was loaded into the car, with the intent of dumping it in a more isolated area. As Yan drove, Wu and Fang divided the stolen goods, distracting him long enough to hit a tree and damage the vehicle. When they reached a suitably isolated area, Yan stopped. At this point, Lianying was still breathing, and he thus instructed his accomplices to kill her while he returned the car. By the time he returned at midnight, having paid off the chauffeur to conceal the damage, the other men were gone. Lianying's body was left exposed to the elements, and Yan went to sleep at the home of Ti Hongguang.

Discovery and investigation

Front page of the Shen Bao, 19 June 1920, offering a reward for the capture of Yan Ruisheng

As the night passed, Lianying's parents contacted Zhu to inquire about her; Zhu, assuming that the rendezvous had culminated in a sexual encounter, assured them that she would return soon and promised to look into the matter. However, after discovering the damage to his car on 10 June, Zhu became suspicious. He found Yan near the Tihong Pawnshop, attempting to redeem Ti Hongguan's ring, the following day. When asked about Lianying's whereabouts, Yan left, claiming that he needed to make a telephone call. Later that evening, he asked Wu to bury Lianying's corpse, though this request went unheeded. On 12 June, the supplemental Little Eastern Times and the tabloid The Crystal published notices that Lianying had disappeared, and the following day her father posted a 500 yuan (equivalent to ¥46,019 in 2019) reward for her safe return.

Lianying's badly decomposed body was discovered, alongside the murder weapon, by farmers in a wheat field in Hui Township on 15 June. Initial coverage, carried in such newspapers as the Shen Bao and the Min Kuo Jih Pao, incorrectly reported that the body belonged to a forty-year-old woman. These reports described the body as wearing a striped shirt and pants, with bare feet that had not been bound. Further coverage, published the following day, identified the cause of death and suggested that the victim had been a prostitute. Lianying was identified in the press as the likely victim on 17 June, and the news that she had last been seen with Yan was released three days later.

As detectives with the International Settlement investigated the killing, Lianying's body was sent for identification. On 18 June, her corpse was identified based off a hair ornament. Rewards were subsequently offered for information leading to the arrest of the murderer. One gold pin was recovered from a local pawn shop. Local authorities, seeking to prevent further murders, ordered that no calls for courtesans be allowed after midnight. By 20 June 1920 investigators had interrogated all of Lianying's clients. Zhu was identified as potentially involved in the murder as early as 18 June, and his father's prominence drew the public's attention.

An arrest warrant for Yan was issued on 19 June. He fled Shanghai, at first hiding with family, but later heading northward on the S.S. Yongchow bound for Qingdao. In late July or early August, he was spotted at the Xuzhou railway station by a police officer who recognized him from a photograph. Yan was promptly arrested, and during interrogation he named his accomplices; Wu was located in Zhabei and detained several days later, while Fang escaped. Several pieces of Lianying's jewellery were recovered, including a diamond ring and a pearl necklace; a large diamond was reportedly recovered from Yan's mouth at the time of his arrest. Other pieces were never found.

Trial

Announcement of the execution of Yan Ruisheng and Wu Chunfang, Shen Bao, 24 November 1920

On 9 August, Yan was sent back to Shanghai for trial, where he was remanded to the Shanghai Mixed Court in the International Settlement. Represented by Lawrence Kentwell, he was read his charges by Assessor A. D. Blackburn and Magistrate Kuan. Wu was charged before the same court later that week. At the time, the Chinese courts were claiming jurisdiction and asking that Yan be extradited.

The case was prosecuted by R. C. Faithfull, with Kentwell and Mei Hua-Chuen representing Yan and R. S. Haskell and J. Em. Lemière representing Wu. The trial was attended by numerous members of Shanghai society, men and women alike. Some stood for hours to gain entrance, and when the courtroom became full, they lined the streets. Although the defence challenged the admissibility, both men confessed to the crimes; Yan indicated that the idea had come from American cinema, but insisted that he had not meant to kill Lianying. Further testimonies were provided by Zhu, his chauffeur, Ti Hongguan, and another courtesan. The verdict was returned on 26 August, with Yan found guilty of murder and Wu of armed robbery causing death.

The prisoners were transferred to Chinese custody, the Mixed Court not being able to impose capital punishment. Although the civilian court claimed jurisdiction, on 11 September the Chinese military court began its own trial, with Major Tang presiding. Unlike the earlier trial, which had been well-publicized, these proceedings were held in secret. Neither Yan nor Wu confessed to the military court, instead blaming the killing on each other and Fang. Later, they were also interrogated as to the extent of Zhu's involvement in the case, as well as the whereabouts of the remaining items. In early October, the men were found guilty and sentenced to death.

On 23 November, Yan and Wu were executed at the Western Battery of the Shanghai Garrison Command in Longhua. After a short Catholic service, held upon Yan's request, the men were brought to a courtyard, blindfolded, read their crimes, and shot. The execution was widely attended, including by Shanghai's courtesans. The artist Chen Dingshan later recalled that throngs of people had travelled for the execution, some riding atop the train. Likewise, in an interview with The Paper, the historian Tang Weijie mentioned that more ten thousand people attended the execution – including Yan's favoured courtesan, Ti Hongguan.

Cultural impact

A caricature of Lianying by Jefferson Machamer, published in the New York Tribune (1920)

Press

The killing of a famous courtesan by an educated businessman immediately "scandalized and mesmerized the city's chattering classes". Newspaper coverage of the murder and trial was extensive, with tabloids focusing on the crime and larger papers prioritizing its aftermath. The Shen Bao, for instance, published more than seventy articles on the court trial, with another hundred related to the case, in six months. After the trial, the 5,000-word verdict and accompanying confessions were serialized in the Xinwen Bao from 25 November to 8 December 1920. International newspapers also picked up the story. Chen linked this widespread interest and coverage with the instability of the Warlord Era, suggesting that the trial provided a distraction from other issues.

Rumours spread rapidly, and many were published by contemporary tabloids. Prior to the identification of Lianying's body, The Crystal publicized baseless claims that Lianying had fled a life of debt, that she was continuing her career in northern China, and that her parents were aware of her location. During the investigation, the Little Eastern Times prematurely reported that Yan had been arrested, and conflated him with a person named Zhong Ruisheng. It was also claimed that Zhu Baosan had spent 3,000 yuan (equivalent to ¥276,113 in 2019) to silence the press after his son came under media scrutiny. After Yan's execution, some claimed that he had not been killed, but rather that Zhu had provided his friend with a substitute.

Several publications highlighted the effect of the crime on Lianying's family while lamenting her death. Ten years after the murder, The Crystal published a retrospective; it narrated that Lianying's family had not buried her until 1929, and that her parents were raising her young daughter. Others examined the life of Yan Ruisheng. By mid-July there was a tendency for coverage to focus on the killer, who was framed not as a common criminal but as a "new man" who had been corrupted; the filmmaker Cheng Bugao later recalled that, due to Yan's background, the murder had been seen as "modern" and "fresh".

Critics decried the case as illustrating the erosion of public morality. Extensive discourse emerged over the influence of crime films on Chinese society, noting the case's similarities to such works. Some blamed the crime on the influence of greed, urging readers to abandon their ostentatious clothing and live simply. Others challenged the popularity of gambling. Discussing the case, a writer for the Shen Bao proclaimed that the darkness within the human heart had reached its peak, with savagery hidden behind a cultural veneer of modernity.

Although Lianying's death was linked to her occupation by contemporary commentators, few considered it to have contributed to her murder. Most insinuations were only made obliquely. Nonetheless, there was a shift in discourses about prostitution. Major newspapers such as Shen Bao, following the New Culture Movement and Li Dazhao's arguments for abolishing prostitution, voiced concerns about the practice and its place in Chinese society. Tabloids, meanwhile, framed Lianying sympathetically and supported the continued practice of courtesanship. In the 1920s, authorities in the British Concession closed one-fifth of the area's brothels using a lottery system, with plans to eliminate the remainder by 1925.

Literature

The Tragic History of Lianying (蓮英慘史), World Book Company, 1920

Several works of "news fiction" (新闻小说) based on the case were published by the end of the year. On 1 July 1920, the World Book Company made a call for stories about Lianying and her murder. Four days later, it published The Tragic History of Lianying (蓮英慘史), advertised as delivering an illustrated and comprehensive recount of her life and career. By the end of the year, it had published two more books about the murder: A Secret History of Yan Ruisheng (阎瑞生秘史) and The Autobiography of Yan Ruisheng (閻瑞生自述記). The latter, published before Yan's sentencing, provided a first-person narrative that denied culpability and highlighted the difficulties of prison life. Some of these publications were re-issued multiple times, with The Tragic History of Lianying known to have been reprinted as late as 1925.

Other publishers also capitalized on the murder. An Account of the Murder of Lianying, Prime Minister of Flower Country (花國總理蓮英被害記), first announced on 1 July, provided a narrative of Lianying's life that was framed through Confucian values such as filial piety. This fifty-eight page booklet presented her as staying in prostitution only to support her family, and attributed her death to Yan feeling unrecognized for his contributions to her 1917 election. Two later books drew primarily from newspaper coverage but also included rumours: The Miserable History of Lianying (莲英痛史) and The Miserable History of Lianying, the Prime Minister of Flower Country (花国总理莲英惨史). The former contained several dream sequences, including one in which Lianying foresees her own death, while the latter included the trial verdict in its entirety.

Aside from such works, the literati of Shanghai produced an abundance of elegiac couplets praising Lianying's virtues, as well as various works of fiction. Surveying the newspaper coverage of the case, Jiang Xingpeng of Central China Normal University notes that one story had Lianying return to haunt a debtor, while another depicted her spirit in conversation with the deceased courtesan Lu Baoshen. Zhang Henshui's 1929 novel Two Stars in the Milky Way (银汉双星) referenced the case, with the female protagonist Li Yueying becoming uncomfortable upon realizing that the movie star Yang Yiyun has brought her to the murder location for a romantic tryst.

Theatre

In contemporary Shanghai, stage adaptations of salacious news stories were common. Consequently, efforts were soon made to bring the murder to stage. In mid-September 1920, the Qianku Great World Theatre applied to the Shanghai Municipal Council for permission to perform its adaptation. This application was denied, and the Council subsequently issued an injunction against any stage adaptations. This injunction was lifted in November 1920, following the executions of Yan Ruisheng and Wu Chunfang.

Advertisement for Lianying is Hard to Remember (蓮英被難記, 1920), one of several stage adaptations based on the murder

By then, the city's five major theatre companies all had plans to adapt the story. The Qianku Great World Theatre brought its adaptation to the stage on 25 November 1920. Starring Fen Juhua as Lianying and Han Jinkui as Yan, it retold the events in three acts, with one act performed per day. It interspersed depictions of the murder and hunt with dream sequences in which Lianying's ghost visits her lover before confronting her killers at Senluo Temple.

Also on 25 November 1920, the Laughter Stage troupe led by Zheng Zhengqiu launched a "civilized drama" (文明戲) version of the story. Advertisements emphasized the verisimilitude of the performance, touting extensive research that included attendance at court sessions. Stages were decorated to simulate the wheat field, courtroom, and railway station where key events occurred, and cast members spoke different dialects depending on their characters' place of origin. Performances of the adaptation, which starred Mao Yunke as Lianying and Zhao Ruquan as Yan, continued through January 1921. Special showings featuring Lianying's mother and her sweetheart Yang Xigui were advertised as raising funds for the family.

Shortly afterwards, Peking opera troupes began presenting their own takes on the story. One troupe, the Great Stage, premiered its adaptation on 27 November 1920. For this run, which starred Zhang Wenyan and Lin Shusen, it advertised "rich and colourful" settings that included foreign mansions, brothels, and the courtroom. Another troupe, the Co-Stage, initially presented its story as being retold by Lianying's parents "with their own mouths" and featuring her sister Yuying. The Co-Stage production was highly successful, selling out tickets for the two months of its run.

A third Peking Opera troupe, the New Stage, began performing its adaptation in mid-February 1921. Again emphasizing its ability to retell the story accurately, the troupe used a real car on stage. It also added new scenes, including an escape through a river. This adaptation, which was based on Peking opera but starred "civilized drama" actor Wang Youyou, was a success. During the initial eighty-day run, tickets were regularly sold out, with the best seats being reserved in advance. In 1923, the New Stage brought its adaptation on tour, finding popular acclaim in Hangzhou.

Throughout the 1920s, travelling troupes adapted the story to the stage, with performances in Taiwan noted as late as 1926. Performances based on the story have continued into the 2000s. The comedian Guo Degang developed a crosstalk routine based on the case, and a pingtan adaptation was staged by the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe in 2013 as part of a series on Shanghai's history.

Music

Side A

Side B

Two arias by Lu Lanchun inspired by the case; taken from the Peking opera by the Co-Stage troupe, they were issued by Pathé Orient in 1921

As the people of Shanghai followed the trial, numerous folk songs were recorded in contemporary newspapers. Such works often retold the lives of Lianying and Yan, using a combination of narrative and lyrical elements to present themselves as coming from the persons involved in the case. Many were also recorded in mass-produced songbooks, some of which also included songs from the stage adaptations or original compositions based on the same theme. One folk song, published in The New World on 18 September 1920, concluded:

Look at Ruisheng. [He] was still young. [He] once went abroad. He [graduated] from a college and worked in a foreign firm. [He] belonged to upper-class [society]. Had he been willing to learn from good examples, he would have had a great prospect. [Yet,] he gambled and went whoring excessively so that [he] lost his life.

Recordings of songs associated adapted from the case were also pressed. In 1921, Pathé Orient issued a phonographic recording of two arias by Lu Lanchun that had originated from the Co-Stage production. Collectively titled Awakening from a Dream (惊梦), these were immensely popular, such that entertainers were often asked to give live acapella performances. One of the arias, sung by Lianying in a dream sequence, became so pervasive that the essayist Miu Chongqun described it as representing "the very sound of Shanghai as both an attractive and an evil city." Several further phonographs were released, including a cover by Yan Qilan as well as the songs "Shoot to Kill" (槍斃) by Lu Shushen and "The Shooting Death of Yan Ruishen" (銃殺閻瑞生), recorded variously by Zhang Yijin and Wang Jifan.

The murder of Lianying as depicted in Yan Ruisheng (1921)

Film

The murder of Lianying has served as the inspiration for several films. In 1921, a group of Shanghai youths from the Chinese Cinema Study Society made a feature film based on the events. Directed by Ren Pengnian and released under the title Yan Ruisheng, this adaptation was commercially successful. However, due to its focus on a courtesan and a murderer, it was criticized as failing to promote the public morality. In 1923, the film was banned in Shanghai, and backlash against it and Zhang Shichuan's Zhang Xinsheng (1922) – another film based on a notorious murder case – resulted in the drafting of censorship policies targeting films that "disturbed social order, damaged social mores and (in the case of foreign films particularly) were offensive to Chinese sensibility", publishing them in 1926.

In 1938, the case was again adapted to film, this time by Kwan Man-ching in Hong Kong. Starring Yip Fat-yeuk as Yan Ruisheng and Fa Ying-yung as Lianying, this version was given the English-title Woe to the Debauched! but known in Chinese as Yan Ruisheng. The case later served as an inspiration for Jiang Wen's Gone with the Bullets (2014). The film, in which Jiang starred alongside Ge You and Shu Qi, followed a mafioso in 1920s China who arranged to launder money by staging a beauty pageant. Viewer reviews were generally negative, with particular focus on its slow pacing and loose narrative; in The Paper, Shi Jianfeng wrote that the film was not as exciting as the events that inspired it.

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