Yang Jiaofeng on "Towards the Republic", No. 65:
In "Towards the Republic", there is a small detail that I don't know if you have noticed, that is, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, the attitude of the Qing Dynasty and Japan towards the Yoshino.
According to the play, the Yoshino was originally a fast cruiser tailored by the Qing court to the British, for various reasons, including the obstruction of Tobe Shoshu Ong Tonggong. As a result, the payment was delayed, and eventually the fast-speed, high-velocity ironclad cruiser was purchased by the Japanese.
In order to buy the Yoshino, the Japanese are the national mobilization, not only the emperor only eats one meal a day, but even the Japanese women buy warships by selling chastity donations, so is this history real?
Yang Jiaofeng on "Towards the Republic" No. 65: A major scandal in modern Japan, selling yourself to buy a warship is not a fabrication, look at this group of abandoned Nanyang sisters!
One
First of all, to correct it, in fact, this historical fact in the play is a bit biased, the ship that the Qing court purchased unsuccessfully was purchased by the Chilean Navy, the Bailang Guencarada, the reason why the Qing court failed to purchase successfully, mainly because Japan obstructed it.
The international public opinion of this ship at that time was "Sino-Japanese naval battle, which won the victory", due to the capriciousness of the Chilean side, constantly increasing prices, and finally under the disturbance of the Japanese, the Qing court refused to sell how much money it gave.
Since this ship is similar to the "Yoshino", folklore, the Yoshino was set by the Qing court, and as a result, it was bought by Japan, so this misunderstanding lasted for many years, and was written into the history books by many people as historical facts.
Of course, whether the Yoshino was booked by the Qing court is not the point, today's focus is to talk about a pair of CPs in the play - Junko and Asahiko.
It is reasonable to say that in such a serious historical drama, the feelings of men and women are rarely mentioned, and even if there are, they are similar to the kind of aunts and wives of Yuan Shikaina. And like young men and women, or a Japanese couple, and such a "pure" love relationship, it is really rare and precious.
This little couple, going out on a date together, staring at each other with affection, seeing that they were about to develop further, suddenly stopped. This caught us off guard by reading many Japanese films, too surprised, too unexpected, and thought that this was not an action movie, but a pure love movie.
Who knows, as soon as the picture turns, this Junko turns around and sells his virginity to a bad old man, the same routine, the same recipe, but there is no same shot, this bend is dizzying.
Two
It turned out that Junko sold her virginity for a reason, that is, in response to the emperor's call, tightened her pants belt, and donated money to buy a warship, that is, the "Yoshino".
Because of this, Junko buried her love for Asahiko and silently sold herself in tears, for the following reasons:
"A coolie who can't earn fifteen dollars a day, I'm a girl, what else can I do?"
Yeah, there's nothing more contagious than the Emperor's call, what else can I do as a little girl?
"I want to be a screw on the Yoshino!"
As a result, Junko donated the money she had sold herself for, presumably buying a screw on the Yoshino.
The later plot makes people feel even more incredible, this kind of thing happened, Junko should hide Asahina, but she is very "proud" to tell Asahina. After Yoshino bought it, Asahiko also went out as a low-level officer, and before leaving, he received a letter from Junko, along with an amulet.
In the letter, Junko tells Asahina that her virginity (the first night) has been sold, and the money from the sale has been donated, hoping that this will motivate you to go to the Qing Kingdom and Korea and win the first night of the women of their country as compensation.
Many people see here, it is simply incomprehensible, it is difficult to accept, is "Towards the Republic" like other anti-Japanese dramas, deliberately smearing the Japanese, describing them as so unbearable, so beastly?
Officers are defeated and cut off one by one, and women rely on prostitution to donate money, which is not too perverted for the Japanese, right? In fact, this plot is not completely fabricated, there is still some historical basis, and the screenwriter is also based on this fact, making a bold "fabrication".
Three
When "Towards the Republic" played this plot, the majority of male compatriots were all wide-eyed, was this an Easter egg given to us by the crew?
After all, when you see a man and a woman, still Japanese, or Japanese with wide clothes and untied, it always makes people want to be crooked. Of course, this is no wonder to everyone, after all, this year, when it comes to Japan, many people's first reaction is its A (characteristic) V culture.
Japan's characteristic culture, mainly exported, can responsibly tell everyone that the number of Chinese men reading is far greater than that of Japanese men.
Moreover, the popularity of some well-known actresses is also much higher than that of Japan in China, such as the enlightenment teachers of many male compatriots, and teacher Cang, who has married and had children, and put them in Japan, which is not well-known.
The main reason is the state's control over this aspect, and it is legal for Japan to watch such films, and it is only necessary to buy or rent CDs. China is illegal, there is no need to buy, can only get some pirated views, so the average number of reads is far more than the Japanese.
In fact, the export of this characteristic culture in Japan began hundreds of years ago:
There is a place in Japan, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on the other, which is a very ideal treaty port, and this is Nagasaki. During the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate, it was the only and only port opened to the outside world in Japan for a long time.
As early as the seventeenth century, a group of prostitutes appeared here, mainly to serve Chinese and Dutch. Among them, the "prostitutes" who serve Chinese are called "Tang RenXing", "Tangguan Xing", "Guan In-house" and so on. The "prostitutes" who enter and leave the Dutch pavilion are called "dejima line", "orchid house line" and so on.
Four
Japan's small-scale export of features continued until the beginning of the Meiji Restoration:
The Meiji Restoration was to follow the path of the West, but at that time, Japan's territory was small, land resources were tight, and many people lost land. Under the premise of internal and external troubles, a policy has been introduced, and the people targeted by this policy are the Nanyang women we are going to talk about today.
There was no demand, no trade, and at this time Nanyang was a colony of the Western powers, and there were a large number of laborers working there. Such a large group of young and strong men, doing high-intensity work every day, boring and boring, for a long time, there is nowhere to vent their energy.
If it cannot be drained in time, this group of people is easily irritable, which is not conducive to local rule, and it is for this reason that the Japanese "Nanyang Women" filled this loophole in time. With their nourishment, the laborers worked very energetically, and the Western colonists rejoiced.
Of course, the most happy are the Japanese and the Japanese government:
There is a book called "The New Japanese Village of Nanyang", which records a sentence from the author:
"Despite being insulted by the xenos as a member of the prostitution nation, we must admit that the expansion of these territories is all due to the Work of the Women's Army."
Nanyang women sell themselves to make money, on the one hand, to support japanese families to live a good life, on the other hand, to support the government, after all, the government also needs money to develop the economy and the military.
When the whole society, even the government, including family members, are supporting this behavior, there are more and more Nanyang women, and they are not ashamed and proud.
Just like Junko's doubts, she could earn a few dollars by working part-time and selling coolies, and the monthly income of "Nanyang Sister" could reach seventy to eighty US dollars, which was four or five times that of ordinary Japanese laborers at that time.
Five
The time point when Nanyang Sister was active was from 1870 to 1920, which was comparable to the Sino-Japanese War in 1894.
That is to say, part of the money earned by Nanyang sisters was indeed used to support Japan's naval construction, saying that they could also be related to the fact that they sold themselves to donate money to buy warships.
Moreover, at that time, the Japanese people's "patriotic" feelings were extremely high, and in order to "love the country", let alone sell themselves, I am afraid that selling their children may do it.
However, the outcome of this group of people was not very good, Japan from a barbaric country, after the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the First World War. Yanran has become one of the great powers, since it is a great power, it must always be "civilized", and now the strength no longer relies on prostitutes to sell themselves for so much foreign exchange.
So in 1919, Japan officially declared "abolition of prostitution", and the Nanyang sisters became the small strong underground, and they could not see the light.
At this time, many of the original brothels changed careers and began to engage in other industries, while those prostitutes, who had no skills, could only return to Japan.
Unfortunately, at this time, the Japanese people from top to bottom began to be arrogant, but they looked down on this group of "Nanyang sisters". Some people can't stand discrimination, or commit suicide, or live in seclusion, and many more choose not to go back, preferring to die elsewhere.
In Singapore, Malacca and other places there are Japanese graves, and there are thousands of Nanyang sisters buried in them.
But one thing is different, their tombstones, the same choice of turning their backs on Japan, their inner sadness, can be understood.
Back to "Toward the Republic", Junko and Asahiko, one selling himself to donate money to buy a warship, the other sacrificing his life to serve the emperor, their fate is good?
No, Asahiko, with his love for Junko and his grief over the loss of her virginity, was shot and killed. And Junko, there is no table in the play, but in that environment, she is likely to be like "Nanyang Sister", with a tragic fate.
Samuel Johnson said:
"Patriotism is the last refuge for scoundrels."
The Japanese emperor kidnapped all the people with patriotism, but Japan was too big, the individual was too small, and a screw seemed to Yoshino to be too small a part, and for Junko, this was the happiness of a lifetime.