In 1902, a princess from the Eastern world performed many classic dance works such as "Greek Dance" and "Rose and Butterfly" in the theater of the fashion capital of Paris.
Her excellent dancing skills even Parisians who are accustomed to seeing big scenes will be amazed, praising her as "the butterfly dance queen of the East".
However, this was also the last time the princess made her appearance abroad, and after she returned to China, she first fell in love with a eunuch for four years.
Later, her legs were broken during the turbulent times, and when she was miserable, this princess was once empress dowager Cixi's favorite princess, and the first person in modern Chinese dance, Yu Rongling.
Young and famous Yu Rongling
Yu Rongling was born in the late nineteenth century, his father Yu Geng was a Qing Dynasty official, and when Yu Rongling was very young, the crumbling Qing Dynasty tried to save himself.
Therefore, they decided to send a group of important officials to foreign countries to establish diplomatic relations with foreign governments. In this way, Yu Rongling, who was only 6 years old, went to Japan with his father Yu Geng and began a new life.
After Yu Rongling came to the Japanese Embassy, due to different languages and no friends, Yu Rongling could only cultivate her own interests and hobbies, and soon she became interested in Japanese dance.
Yu Rongling came to the famous Autumn Leaf Dance Hall in Japan, where he studied Japanese dance with a teacher, Yu Rongling is very talented, and has a very unique understanding of Japanese dance, which is amazing.
Later, Yu Rongling's fame gradually grew, and even the Japanese Dali official Nagasaki noticed this little girl with beautiful dance steps, so he took her to his side to learn diplomatic etiquette and classical dance, which laid the foundation for Yu Rongling's future dance career.
When Yu Rongling was 11 years old, she followed her father to the fashion capital of Paris, and Yu Rongling was very successful in the Paris dance world, and soon won the favor of Duncan, the founder of modern dance.
Duncan taught Yu Rongling all his life's learning, and Yu Rongling also liked this new dance that pursued individuality and freedom, and even Yu Rongling's thinking improved a lot.
After Yu Rongling finished school, he received an invitation from his teacher Duncan to perform, played an important role in the dance drama choreographed by Duncan, and successfully became a hit in Paris, which is known as the fashion capital.
As a result, Yu Rongling was able to go to the French National Opera to study ballet. In this way, Yu Rongling, who was only 13 years old, began to appear on stage in major dance theaters in Paris, attracting the attention of the entire Paris audience.
The Parisian audience also gave this young dancer a resounding nickname "Queen butterfly dance of the East", and even this nickname became more and more loud, and even Empress Dowager Cixi, who was far away on the other side of the ocean, was alarmed.
Lafayette could not contain his excitement and immediately ordered yu Rongling's father and daughter to be recalled to Daqing. As a result, Yu Rongling, a dancer who should have shown his talents in front of the people of the world, could only return to the closed Qing Dynasty.
Cixi's favorite princess
Yu Rongling finally returned to Cixi in front of the Forbidden City after a long journey, and just as she was about to take a rest, Cixi suddenly said that she wanted to see Yu Rongling's dance steps.
Although Yu Rongling was very tired, she felt that this was a good opportunity to promote the new style of dance, so she did her best to perform the dance in front of Cixi.
After watching Yu Rongling's performance, Empress Dowager Cixi was so excited that she gave Yu Rongling the title of lord of Shanshou County, as her own female official, whenever there was a need, Yu Rongling would come out to perform dance, which is commonly known as a court dancer.
It can be seen that Yu Rongling's status is not very high, but this period is also the peak period of Yu Rongling's creation and performance of dance, which has made great contributions to the promotion of new dance in China.
Empress Dowager Cixi also liked this little princess very much, and everyone said that Yu Rongling was her favorite princess. As the saying goes, good things come in pairs, and during this period when Yu Rongling was intoxicated with the dance career, she also met her first love, the great eunuch Xiao Dezhang.
Some people will ask how a eunuch could come together with Cixi's favorite princess, which must be seen in the historical context of the time.
On the one hand, Xiao Dezhang was a great eunuch in the palace, and at the same time a famous martial artist in the Qing Dynasty, with exquisite skills, but for people at that time, dancing and singing belonged to the lower nine streams, which were things that could not be put on the table.
Therefore, this led to Xiao Dezhang and Yu Rongling, although they were favored by Cixi, they were never valued. In this case, Xiao Dezhang and Yu Rongling, two people who are not valued, come together.
However, the love between eunuchs and princesses is absolutely not allowed in the feudal dynasty, Yu Rongling's thoughts are relatively open, but it is acceptable, but Xiao Dezhang seems to be twisted and pinched,
The relationship between the two is completely platonic, with almost no physical contact, only occasional exchange of dance and opera together.
Yu Deling's underground love affair with Xiao Dezhang lasted for four years before it finally collapsed under the oppression of Yu Rongling's father, who could not help his father and was taken home to live.
Yu Deling was alone in the house, and many people who came to propose relatives retreated because Yu Deling was somewhat "not keeping the way of women", and it was not until after the fall of the Qing Dynasty that Yu Deling's fate began to change.
Half a lifetime of desolation
Since the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, Yu Rongling's life has plummeted, and she felt the chaos of the situation and ran to live in the opera house in Paris, France.
It was also here that Yu Rongling met the man he could entrust to all sentient beings, Tang Baochao, military counselor of the Presidential Office of the Republic of China.
When Tang Baochao studied in France in his early years, he already learned about Yu Rongling's deeds, and when he heard that Yu Rongling had come to Paris again, he immediately launched a crazy pursuit of Yu Rongling.
Soon after, the first person to study in the modern army and the first person in modern Western dance both fell in love and soon married in Paris.
Yu Rongling returned to China after marrying Tang Baochao, and she was no longer at her peak, often participating in some charity performances and contributing her strength to the Chinese people who were in misery, which was very rare in that era.
After the founding of New China, Yu Rongling and her husband were both specially hired by Premier Zhou as officials of the Central Museum of Culture and History, responsible for the verification of historical materials, and Yu Rongling could finally serene in his old age.
A few years later, a group of newcomers from the literary and art circles approached Yu Rongling, who wanted to write a book on the history of Chinese dance, when Yu Rongling was 72 years old.
But when she talks about those past events, she seems to be dozens of years younger, and she is happy to talk with the authors tirelessly.
Yu Rongling never expected that this incident would be his last happy time. Yu Rongling's novel "Trivia of the Qing Palace" was soon published, but it was this book that caused her trouble.
During the most turbulent decade in Chinese history, Yu Rongling was labeled for propagating feudal ideas for publishing "Trivia of the Qing Palace".
What's more, she was later broken by someone, and the former "butterfly dance queen" could no longer dance on the stage.
Although Yu Rongling received life assistance from Premier Zhou after she broke her leg, she was already dying of old age and her life was very difficult.
In the end, she died of illness at the age of 84, and a generation of "butterfly dancers" turned into butterflies and flew away, which is regrettable.