"Shuko Yamaguchi, Li Xianglan, Pan Shuhua, Yamaguchi Nori, Shuko Noguchi, Shuko Otaka ..."
These are the names that singer Li Xianglan, who became famous for his song "Night Fragrance", once had.
The name "Li Xianglan" seems to be the name of the Chinese, so why did she give herself so many Japanese names?
In fact, Li Xianglan is Japanese.
In the eyes of Chinese, she is Chinese, but she is loyal to Japan; In the eyes of the Japanese, she is Japanese, but she wears Chinese clothes and sings Chinese songs.
In 2005, Li Xianglan published a long article exhorting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine because "it would deeply hurt Chinese's heart."
Li Xianglan, as a person who invaded the country, she stood on the side of China, what is the matter?
It starts with her experience.
Li Xianglan, born on February 12, 1920 in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, her real name is Shuko Yamaguchi, and her ancestral home is in the northern village of Kijima County, Saga Prefecture, Japan.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan defeated Tsarist Russia, inherited the privileges of Tsarist Russia in northeast China, and immigrated in large numbers from the country to Lushun and Dalian.
Shuko Yamaguchi's father, Hihiro Yamaguchi, loved sinology and admired Chinese culture, so he took this opportunity to move his family to northeast China.
At that time, the section south of Changchun of the Eastern Railway was also under the management of Japan, and the Japanese renamed it the South Manchuria Railway, and established a management organization, "South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd." (abbreviated as "Manchurian Railway"), and Yamaguchi Hiroshi's son Yamaguchi Fumio worked in the Fushun Coal Mine under the "Manchurian Railway".
When Yamaguchi was 12 years old, the Japanese caused the horrific "Pingdingshan Massacre" in Fushun, and Yamaguchi's father was arrested, and they arrested Yamaguchi Fumio on charges of "having close ties with anti-Japanese elements."
After Shuzi's father was released from prison, the family had to move to Shenyang to make a living.
On the train, she met a young girl of Russian Jewish origin of the same age, Lyuba. It was this girl who changed her destiny.
Li Xianglan once said to the media after she became famous: 'Liu Ba is my most precious friend. The reason why I became the singing Li Xianglan was because of Liuba; The reason why I became a living Li Xianglan is also because of Liuba. Lyuba is like a talisman that God has arranged in my life, sometimes like the sun, sometimes like the moon, and she will always be with me. ’”
After arriving in Shenyang, this Russian girl introduced Shuko Yamaguchi to a big figure, that is, the famous Soviet opera singer Podolesov. Thus, Shuko Yamaguchi became a disciple of Podolisov.
Later, Yamaguchi Fumio took his daughter to visit his friend Li Jichun, who was the general manager of Fengtian Bank at the time, and Li Jichun and his wife liked Yamaguchi Shuko very much, and immediately recognized her as their goddaughter, and also changed her Chinese name Li Xianglan.
After becoming Li Jichun's goddaughter, Li Jichun's second wife taught Li Xianglan to learn Beijing dialect every day, took her to eat shabu mutton and watched movies.
Li Jichun served as the commander of the Ninth Army of the Zhilu Coalition Army, and after the defeat, he lived in the Japanese Concession of Tianjin.
After the "918" incident in 1931, Li Jichun assisted the Japanese special agent Kenji Doihara in plotting to create "autonomy for North China" and helped the Japanese Kwantung Army kidnap the last emperor Puyi to the northeast. Later, Li Jichun was appointed president of the Mukden Bank, and after the surrender of Japan, he was executed on charges of traitor.
Later, after the establishment of the puppet Manchu regime, the Mukden Broadcasting Bureau set up a column called "New Manchurian Songs" to beautify Japan's aggression against China.
They recruited full-time Chinese female singers from the society, and Li Xianglan, who was only 13 years old at the time, was successfully selected.
But to be such a singer, there is a condition for Li Xianglan, that is, she must pretend to be a Chinese and cannot say her Japanese origin. In this way, Li Xianglan became a propaganda tool for Japan's invasion of China and cheered for the Japanese army's performance.
Li Xianglan was naturally beautiful, knew both Chinese and Japanese Chinese, and had a good voice, so she was soon discovered by the pseudo-Manchu Fengtian radio station and recorded as a full-time singer.
In 1934, Yamaguchi Fumio met the famous pro-Japanese figure Pan Yugui in Peiping, and Li Xianglan recognized him as his righteous father and changed his name to Pan Shuhua.
Pan Yugui was a well-known Chinese traitor who graduated from Waseda University in Japan, and in the mid-1930s, when Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Army, was chairman of the Jicha Administrative Committee, Pan was the chief of the administrative office and a senior adviser to the Pingjin Garrison Command.
During the "July Seven Incident", Pan Yugui repeatedly betrayed the battle plan of the 29th Army to the Japanese, and later openly defected to the enemy and served as the pseudo-mayor of Tianjin.
Yamaguchi Fumio wanted his daughter Chengfeng to be heartfelt, and sent 14-year-old Li Xianglan to Beiping to study at Yijiao Girls' Middle School as Pan Yugui's daughter.
During her studies at the girls' high school, Li Xianglan lived in Pan's house and gradually developed Chinese habits.
At school, Li Xianglan never disclosed her background, she spoke standard Beijingese, and her classmates did not know her Japanese identity, and thought she was an authentic Peiping person.
At that time, the relationship between China and Japan was tense, which often put Li Xianglan, who had a special status, in an awkward situation.
In 1937, Li Xianglan went to Zhongnanhai with her classmates to participate in an anti-Japanese rally, and when talking about "what if the Japanese army invades Peiping", the students were enthusiastic and expressed their determination to resist Japan, but Li Xianglan did not know how to answer.
The classmates encouraged her to say, "Tell us what you think, what are you going to do!" ”
Li Xianglan blurted out: "I want to stand on the city wall of Beiping." ”
One is to raise his own country, the other is his own motherland, which is a difficult choice for teenager Li Xianglan.
She later explained it in her memoirs: "That's all I can say. ...... [Standing on the wall, bullets from both sides] can hit me, and I may be the first to die. I instinctively thought that this was my best way out. ”
In 1938, Li Xianglan was recruited by "Man Ying" and immediately starred in the movie "Honeymoon Express", which established Li Xianglan's status as a "Chinese girl movie star who knows Japanese".
Later, she starred in "The Night of China", "The Oath of Hot Sand" and "The Song of Bailan", and soon became the leader of "Full Screening".
At that time, "Man Ying" consciously made some entertainment movies with wind and snow, and vigorously promoted the "happy life" of the ordinary people in the occupied areas to cover up their aggressive behavior.
The purpose of the establishment of "Manei" was nothing more than to beautify Japan's colonial aggression, publicize the so-called "Japan-Manchukuo Concord", and ultimately achieve the purpose of maintaining Japan's colonial rule in the puppet Manchukuo.
In these films, Li Xianglan without exception plays some pure Chinese women, falling in love with Japanese men, expressing the theme of "Sino-Japanese goodwill", and all stories are the same.
In order to confuse the audience, "Man Ying" deliberately downplayed Li Xianglan's nationality, people thought she was a Chinese, and many people, especially some news media, even questioned Li Xianglan in person: "As a Chinese, why did you participate in the filming of films that insult China?" Aren't you Chinese? ”
Li Xianglan wanted to confess her identity to people, but she couldn't say that, so she had to bow and apologize repeatedly.
Regarding this experience, Li Xianglan recalled in her autobiography: "At that time, I was only a teenager, and I just played the role given to me according to the requirements of adults. ”
This girl who was not involved in the world did not and could not have expected that behind the prosperity and glory there would be darkness and intrigue.
When she paralyzes the Chinese people with her singing and movies, she herself is also in a contradiction entanglement.
Li Xianglan once said: "Chinese didn't know that I was Japanese, I deceived Chinese. A sense of guilt haunted my heart, as if I had entered a dead end and fell into a desperate situation. ”
In 1943, she filmed a sensational film "Ten Thousand Worlds and Flowers", in which she played Lin Zexu's daughter.
This film was co-produced by the famous "Zhonglian", "CLP" and "Full Screening" at that time, and the director was Bu Wancang. At that time, the anti-Japanese sentiment was strong throughout the country, and the film industry was also surging with progressive ideas, and such co-production behavior was somewhat bizarre.
Starring Chen Yunchang once told Li Xianglan that she was also written to name and abuse because she participated in the film co-produced by "Full Screening".
During the filming of "Ten Thousand Worlds and Flowers", Li Xianglan came into contact with many anti-Japanese progressives, and it was because of this that she gradually woke up.
One day, a senior Japanese staff officer asked Li Xianglan to accompany him for a drink. He clearly knew that Li Xianglan was Japanese, so he reprimanded her as soon as he came up: "In this extraordinary period, when you go in and out of the dance hall and dance with the Chinese people, do you still look like a Japanese national?" ”
After speaking, he begged Li Xianglan to accompany him to the restaurant to accompany him.
Li Xianglan said angrily: "You can't dance with Chinese in a nightclub, so can you drink with Japanese soldiers in the small room of the restaurant?" ”
The staff officer slammed the table in anger and set fire to the restaurant.
Word spread quickly, and her Chinese friends around her praised her behavior, but the inner struggle was clear only to herself.
At the end of 1944, Li Xianglan finally quit "Man Ying" and went to Shanghai.
Li Xianglan came to Shanghai to develop, and her assessment of the city is: "Shanghai has a dual character of moral corruption and fashion. Li Xianglan's big eyes attracted much attention in the Ten Mile Ocean Field.
Here, she once covered "Golden Voice" Zhou Xuan's "He Rijun Returns", which became her classic song. That song "Night Fragrance" made her famous.
Since then, "night incense" has become a label of Li Xianglan. She also became friends with her idol Zhou Xuan, and began to be on a par with Zhou Xuan, Bai Guang, Zhang Lu, and Wu Yingyin, becoming one of the "Five Great Song Queens" in Shanghai.
In 1945, after Japan's unconditional surrender, the Kuomintang government began to hunt down Chinese traitors in accordance with the Draft Regulations on the Handling of Chinese Traitor Cases.
Li Xianglan was arrested on charges of "cultural traitor" on the grounds that "as a Chinese, he made films that tarnished China in order to aid Japan's mainland policy."
During the military court, she was approached and said that he could exonerate her and give her preferential treatment, but only if she had to go to the northeast to spy and inquire about the Communist Eighth Route Army after she regained her freedom. What they fancy is Li Xianglan's network in the northeast.
However, at this time, Li Xianglan had had enough of those days of being used, and she said solemnly: "I am not a traitor, I am Japanese, my real name is Shuko Yamaguchi, although I have worked for Japanese policy, but this is because I am Japanese." In order to find out about this, I was interrogated and awaited trial. ”
"Kill her! Shoot Li Xianglan! ”
Amid angry denunciations from the Chinese public, prosecutors demanded that Li Xianglan be executed on charges of traitor.
At this time, Li Xianglan told the truth that she was the Japanese "Shuko Yamaguchi". At that time, the Chinese people unanimously believed that Li Xianglan said that she was Japanese in order to escape the punishment of "traitor".
Later, Liu Ba brought Li Xianglan a copy of the Shankou family registration from her home in Beijing.
At that time, the Kuomintang people did not think that a piece of paper could prove her identity, so they found someone who had studied in Japan and asked about Li Xianglan's deeds, and they were willing to believe her identity.
In February 1946, the Chinese military court issued a final verdict: "This concludes the trial, and the traitor is relieved." However, Li Xianglan is not without problems. The purpose of this court's trial is to punish those who are traitors who betrayed China as Chinese. Now that your Japanese nationality has been confirmed, you should be acquitted. However, you are theoretically and morally problematic. Although the films that you acted in under the stage name of Chinese are not legally applicable to the trial of traitors, this court considers them to be a very regrettable act. ”
After the court pronounced the verdict, Li Xianglan said with deep remorse: "Although I cannot be responsible for the planning, production and script of a series of films, it is a fact that I participated in the performance." Even though I was young at the time, I should have admitted that my thinking was stupid, and I felt guilty about it. ”
In 1946, Li Xianglan returned to Japan.
After returning to Japan, Li Xianglan regained her real name Shuko Yamaguchi, and she gave herself the stage name "Pandan Yamaguchi", which she called "Sino-Japanese mixture".
In 1958, Li Xianglan met diplomat Oyinghiro.
At that time, Taiyoshihiro was a diplomat, he was a fan of Li Xianglan, and he once went backstage to present flowers for her.
After watching Li Xianglan's performance, Da Ying Hong invited her to dinner and took her everywhere to relax, and then the two slowly cultivated a relationship, and soon Da Ying Hong proposed to Li Xianglan.
But their marriage was met with resistance because, in the eyes of many, the two were not a good match: one was a young diplomat, and the other was just an actor. (Although Li Xianglan is famous, in Japan, acting is a lowly profession)
Ohtakahiro's boss made a special trip to talk to Li Xianglan for this reason, and tactfully asked her to take the initiative to leave Taiyoshihiro, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also sent Taiyoshihiro to work in Myanmar in an attempt to completely separate the two in this way.
In order to be able to be with Taiyoshihiro, Li Xianglan decided to give up her identity as an actress, and in 1958, she announced her retirement from the film industry for the second time.
In 1969, Li Xianglan, who was almost 50 years old, became a TV host. During her time working at the TV station, Li Xianglan met many people, which allowed her to learn a lot of experience.
In 1972, China and Japan established diplomatic relations, which also made Li Xianglan very excited, and wanted to do something for China and Japan, but at this time she did not know what to do.
In 1974, Li Xianglan ran for the Senate on the advice of people and was elected, and has been a member of the Senate for 18 years.
During her many years in politics, Li Xianglan's greatest energy has been to promote friendly relations between China and Japan. And she has always had a desire to personally explain to the Chinese government authorities that she was not a spy back then.
In order to realize this wish, in 1975, Li Xianglan specially passed through Beijing on her way to North Korea and explained everything that year to Sun Pinghua, secretary general of the China-Japan Friendship Association.
In that late night, the baggage that Li Xianglan had carried in her heart for many years finally dissipated.
Since then, Lee has served as Parliamentary Secretary for Environmental Protection, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Okinawa and Northern Affairs, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Councillors, and Director General of the Women's Bureau of the Liberal Democratic Party.
In the early 1990s, Li Xianglan retired from politics.
It is gratifying to note that Li Xianglan has been serving as the vice chairman of the Asian Women's Fund for a long time after retiring from Japanese politics, and she hopes that she will prompt the Japanese government to publicly apologize and compensate the war victims and comfort women who served in the army.
In 2005, the 85-year-old Li Xianglan published a long article exhorting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where Hideki Tojo and other Class-A war criminals are enshrined, because "that would deeply hurt Chinese's heart."
Regarding the occasional small friction between China and Japan, Li Xianglan believes that it should be faced squarely and should not be allowed to accumulate: "China and Japan are my 'mother's country' and 'father's country', and the last thing I want to see problems in the friendly relations between the two countries is the most important thing I want to see."
"I have two mothers in my life, one is China and the other is Japan."
Li Xianglan's remarks also interpret her life in a sense, the first half of her life was used by the Japanese military as a sugar-coated shell, smashing into Chinese land, and the second half of her life used her influence in Japan to repair the damage caused to the Chinese people.
In 2014, Li Xianglan finally completed this life at the age of 94.
In the first half of her life, she was tired of the times and almost became a "traitor".
In the second half of her life, she seized the times and made herself a business card of "Sino-Japanese friendship".
"A person who is fooled by the times and by a false policy is also happy if he wakes up from a nightmare and has the opportunity to reflect on or explain his behavior at that time."