Years later, one of their daughters, Zhou Caiyun, recalled in an interview that she had accidentally learned from her mother in high school that her mother had fallen in love with her father who performed on stage while watching a play offstage.
On New Year's Day 1923, the play sung in the Shanghai Beach Grand Theater that day was "Hongmen Banquet", with Zhou Caiyun's father Zhou Xinfang playing Liu Bang's adviser Zhang Liang.
28-year-old Zhou Xinfang wears a white python embroidered with gold flowers, wears a white Wensheng scarf, and looks handsome and flowing from a distance...
At this glance, Qiu Lilin, the "first lady in Shanghai" who was sitting in the box on the second floor at the time, was overwhelmed with emotion, and slowly deviated from her original gorgeous and smooth life track.
At that time, 18-year-old Qiu Lilin was still walking into the theater for the first time to watch Peking Opera, and she did not understand the art of Peking Opera at all. Zhou Caiyun laughed and said: My mother probably fell in love with his father because of his handsome appearance.
In any case, in order to be with the identified person, Qiu Lilin ignored the strong opposition of her family, left everything to elope with Zhou Xinfang, and began their lifelong love.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >01 elopement</h1>
On New Year's Day 1923, Qiu Lilin, the third lady of the Qiu Tianbao Silver Building in Shanghai, went to the theater to watch a play at her brother's arrangement. Her family was very wealthy, the youngest of her siblings, and extremely favored by her parents.
Educationally, Jolieline was placed by her mother to receive a Seven-year Western education in a French Catholic Church school, proficient in English and French, and avant-garde in thought.
The "Hongmen Banquet" she watched at that time, the protagonist Zhang Liang was played by zhou Xinfang, a famous actor at the time.
Peking Opera master Zhou Xinfang was born in 1895 in Jiangsu to a family of entertainers, and since the age of five, he has studied opera with a teacher, and at the age of seven, he has performed on stage under the stage name of "Seven-Year-Old Child", at this time, his stage name "Qilin Tong" has become a household name in Shanghai.
Because the gap between the two people's social status, family background and age is too large, Qiu Lilin, who has already moved her heart, did not rush to introduce herself in front of Zhou Xinfang.
However, from this first day, she originally did not understand drama, and began to go to the theater every week to watch the play. Moreover, as long as it is a play in which Zhou Xinfang participates, she will never be absent.
In order to promote the acquaintance of the two, Qiu Lilin managed to hold a charity sale in the East Relief Garden, inviting a group of celebrities to come, so as to naturally include Zhou Xinfang in the guest list.
This bazaar directly contributed to the formal acquaintance of the two.
It didn't take long for them to start dating secretly.
At that time, Qiu Lilin had been taken in and out of Shanghai social occasions by the eldest brother in the family. No matter what type of social occasion, Qiu Lilin is a striking focal point and the "first lady" of Shanghai Beach. The family's expectations of her are self-evident.
When the tabloid reporter revealed that she was secretly dating Zhou Xinfang, a well-married man, there was no doubt that this was a bombshell for the Qiu family. Their relationship was immediately opposed by their families.
Zhou Xinfang, who has been learning drama with his master since he was a child, has already obeyed his master's arrangement to marry and have children. Although he had no emotional basis with his wife at the time and had been separated for a long time, this was obviously a reason why he should not fall in love with Julielyn.
After learning that Zhou Xinfang had concealed her marriage history from her through the tabloids, Qiu Lilin was also disappointed and immediately sent a breakup letter to the other party.
Zhou Xinfang anxiously wrote back to explain to her that she had filed for divorce from her original wife, and repeatedly begged Qiu Lilin to wait and not give up their feelings easily.
Julielyn was moved. She decided to maintain the relationship.
However, the Attitude of the Qiu Family still did not change. In order to stop them, Qiu Lilin's mother even more forcefully imprisoned her beloved daughter directly in the home, and immediately chose a son-in-law for her.
The ideal spouse chosen by Qiu Lilin was Zhao Gongzi, a British student with a handsome appearance, her grandfather was a former Qing inspector, and her father was the deputy minister of finance in Yuan Shikai's government, and her family was now well-off and running a textile factory.
At the same time, Qiu Lilin's brother is also putting pressure on Zhou Xinfang, hoping that he can retreat from the difficulties and give up their feelings.
However, in the face of various resistance from her family, Qiu Lilin was not at all moved. In order to get rid of the obstruction of her family and smoothly spend time with the person she likes, she wrote to Zhou Xinfang and pleaded with the other party to elope with her.
One afternoon, Qiu Lilin took advantage of her family's lack of preparation, and at the right time, took two personal maids and luggage and went straight to the train station.
After discovering that Qiu Lilin ran away from home, the Qiu family was anxious. Her brother heard that he had seen Qiu Lilin take the train to Suzhou at the railway station, so he rushed to Suzhou and checked all the large and small hotels, but still did not return.
Looking at Zhou Xinfang, who should elope with her sister, or casually perform on stage at the Shanghai Theater on time, the Qiu family can only helplessly publish a statement in the newspaper, severing ties with Qiu Lilin, but no longer able to hinder her behavior.
In response to her family, Qiu Lilin also issued a statement saying that she was an adult and had the right to make decisions for herself, hoping that others would not interfere with her.
On the other hand, Zhou Xinfang did not evade responsibility. After Qiu Lilin planned to elope, he placed Qiu Lilin under a pseudonym in a hotel in Suzhou before returning to Shanghai to sing normally.
At that time, he had not yet completed the divorce procedures with his first wife, but his relationship with Julien had always been very deep. The two did not hold a wedding, but quietly lived a small life that belonged to the two.
It was not until 1929 that Zhou Xinfang completely divorced the original partner.
Qiu Lilin immediately wrote to inform her mother of the news, and sincerely apologized to her mother for running away from home that year.
In fact, every spring during the Spring Festival, Qiu Lilin also insisted on returning to her mother's house, but her mother has always been reluctant to see her.
This time, Julielyn's mother forgave their rebellious behavior. Qiu Lilin, who had been away from home for five years, finally returned to her mother's house with her husband and children.
In 1933, her mother gave them a grand wedding at the best hotel in Shanghai. The two, Qinse and Ming, raised six children together.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >02 guardian</h1>
Qiu Lilin, who has always been pampered, unexpectedly began to play the role of protector after living with Zhou Xinfang.
She accompanied her lover to the theater to sing rain or shine, and even developed the habit of carrying a gun in her bag to protect her lover's safety in a mixed environment of three religions and nine streams.
This was even a secret, she had been hiding from Zhou Xinfang and not letting him worry.
In addition, as a rich lady who has been well fed and clothed since birth, Qiu Lilin must also worry about the family's economic problems at this time.
At that time, although Zhou Xinfang had become a generation of famous actors, after deducting layers in the theater, he finally got not much silver in his hand.
Moreover, Zhou Xinfang's mother has a serious gambling addiction and will even pawn her son's costume for money.
At that time, she severed ties with her family, and She was only twenty years old, and she was not frightened by these circumstances. Instead of seeking relief from her mother's family or asking her husband to properly solve the problem, she actively sought to solve it herself.
After some thought, Qiu Lilin directly went to the owner of the theater where her husband sang and put forward her own ideas.
First of all, she asked the theater to pay her husband Zhou Xinfang's salary not to be paid annually as in the past, but to be paid monthly.
In addition, she also proposed the "three or seven points account" for the first time in history, so that Zhou Xinfang could get a dividend in the theater's ticket sales income.
When the theater owner heard this request, he naturally immediately refused.
Jolielyn did not flinch. She calmly said that if this could not be done, her husband Zhou Xinfang would directly strike.
In the end, in order not to lose the "pillar" and cut herself off, the theater owner, although extremely reluctant, still agreed to her request.
After that, Zhou Xinfang began to receive dividends from the theater, and the family's economic problems were solved. Qiu Lilin also got the reputation of "iron abacus".
In the world, Julie lin has also been protecting her beloved husband. After the July 7 Incident, the patriotic Zhou Xinfang actively performed patriotic plays.
Wu Sibao, the leader of the Wang puppet secret service, invited Zhou Xinfang to perform at the concert, and Zhou Xinfang, who was quite dignified, categorically refused this invitation from the traitorous agent, directly offending the other party.
Obviously, to go means to give in and be humiliated; not to go, the fierce agents will threaten their lives.
In order to protect Zhou Xinfang's safety, Qiu Lilin immediately sent him to hide in the homes of foreign friends, and then tried to resolve the crisis alone. She entrusted the right intermediary and gave all her money to Wu Sibao's wife. Under this dredging, Zhou Xinfang successfully passed this difficulty.
After that, Zhou Xinfang simply stopped performing and secretly participated in some patriotic activities at home. Jollyn is also actively involved in this.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >03</h1>
Before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, in addition to the eldest son staying at home to learn to sing with his father, Qiu Lilin sent the remaining five young children to study abroad one by one. Many of her relatives have also slowly emigrated overseas.
If Qiu Lilin wants to leave, with her family environment and her own language ability, there is no problem at all.
However, her husband, Zhou Xinfang, believes that his audience is in China, and the roots of his career are in China, and he cannot leave. In order to accompany her husband, Qiu Lilin stayed in China for a long time except for occasionally visiting her children abroad.
From the old society to the new society, I have traveled through the upper class, and I have also seen the three religions and nine streams at the bottom. Qiu Lilin should have a deep understanding and awareness of people's hearts and times.
However, even so, she still resolutely chose to stay in China in order to accompany her husband.
On March 27, 1968, at the age of 63, Jollyn died alone in a helpless environment. Forty-five years of protection and planning have come to an end.
In 1995, Qiu Lilin and Zhou Xinfang's ashes were buried together by returned children at the Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery in Shanghai. Their love stories also flow to more people through dictation and writing by their children.
Although they have left, their children have all become the best, creating a generation of top Chinese giants. In particular, it is worth mentioning that their third daughter, Zhou Caiqin, even has an international influence comparable to Bruce Lee.
When Zhou Caiqin was young, she was extremely popular in the European and American showbiz circles, not only starring in films such as "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Su Si Huang's World", but also became the first Chinese "007 Bang Girl".
In 2010, Zhou Caiqin also played the role of Jia Mu in the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber", which was well received.
Time flies... A glance in the crowd on that day in 1923 quietly changed the life of a generation of famous women, Qiu Lilin, thus composing a touching and profound love legend!
Although it was originally derived from emotional impulses, the "strange woman" Qiu Lilin, with her own courage, reason and wisdom, transformed an originally impossible combination into a love that may be trapped in reality into a forty-five years of envy and companionship.
Qiu Lilin, should have spent a life without regrets!