1945 was a very special year for China, because in this year, the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japan finally ended, and starting with the "918 Incident" launched by Japan in 1931, we finally won the War of Resistance Against Japan and drove Japan out of China. At that time, after the news of Japan's unconditional surrender, everyone took to the streets to celebrate, and the people of the whole country were immersed in laughter to celebrate the arrival of this victorious moment.
However, in Shanghai at that time, there was a young and beautiful woman, who sat in the room frowning, and did not seem to feel any joy because of the victory in the Anti-Japanese War. So, who is this woman? Why did she react this way? I only listened to the people around this woman say: Miss, now that Japan has announced its surrender, you have done so many things for the Japanese in the past, you better evacuate quickly, otherwise, you will be caught as a traitor.
The woman listened, but did not speak, she pondered for a while, and then looked outside, and finally made up her mind, she said to the assistant: Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, let's stay in Shanghai, let's see the situation first. However, a few days later, the woman was still arrested, and subsequently, all major media in Shanghai began to report on her, because this woman was too famous, she was Li Xianglan, a famous entertainer in Shanghai at that time.
The year Li Xianglan was arrested, she was only 25 years old, so did she really sell the country for glory and become a traitor lackey for the Japanese? Obviously the assistant persuaded her to leave, why didn't she leave? When it comes to the name Li Xianglan, because of the age, I believe that many friends are not very familiar, but if the song she sang is mentioned, then everyone will definitely be familiar with the name Li Xianglan at once.
I believe that many friends have heard the song "Night Fragrance". As soon as the song was released in 1944, it immediately became popular throughout the country. You know, in those days, it was not easy for people to listen to songs. At that time, there were two ways to listen to songs, one was the radio station at that time. The other is through old-fashioned record players. Of course, these two devices are things that ordinary families cannot afford.
Therefore, families with these two devices are either rich or expensive. However, the song "Night Fragrance" is still popular all over the country, not only ordinary people, even wealthy and wealthy, even high-ranking government officials, sometimes hum a few words. From here, we can see how influential the song "Night Fragrance" was at that time. And Li Xianglan, as the singer of the song "Night Fragrance", naturally, she has also become the most famous big singer in the country.
And because Li Xianglan is very beautiful, she also shot a lot of film and television works at that time, which also made her sing, acting like a good star, and became a hot interpretation star at that time. So, Li Xianglan is obviously a person in the entertainment industry, why did she become a traitor who helped the Japanese do things in the War of Resistance Against Japan? Could it be that Li Xianglan is a bad woman in her bones?
Speaking of which, since Li Xianglan became popular through the song "Night Fragrance", there has actually been a lot of controversy. Because in 1944, it was still the stage of China's all-out war of resistance, at that time, we were on the opposite side of hatred with the Japanese, and Shanghai was still occupied by the Japanese at that time, but Li Xianglan sang this song "Night Fragrance" in Shanghai. At that time, in any record store across the country, many customers would come to the door every day to ask if there were any discs of Li Xianglan's "Night Fragrance" for sale, because there were many people who bought them, and there was even scalping at that time.
At that time, posters of Li Xianglan were hung all over the country, and Li Xianglan also had a lot of fans. Many people who like Li Xianglan have also plastered Li Xianglan's photos in their homes. Although Li Xianglan is famous, she is an acting star after all, so she still needs to go to various places to participate in performances. At that time, Li Xianglan once went to Chongqing to participate in a performance. The high-ranking Kuomintang officials present named Li Xianglan to sing a song "Night Fragrance". Speaking of this kind of request, for Li Xianglan, she felt very helpless, because in addition to "Night Fragrance", she also has other works, but everyone ignores them.
Everyone only remembers the song "Night Fragrance" she sang. However, because Li Xianglan had no way to refuse the high-ranking Kuomintang officials present, she still agreed and sang this song "Night Fragrance" for everyone. Speaking of which, at the craziest time at that time, even the door of the apartment where Li Xianglan lived was full of people every day, some of them were reporters who wanted to interview her, and some people were Li Xianglan's fanatical fans.
There are even many male fans who boldly woo Li Xianglan at her door every day, and even some people stop Li Xianglan's car on the street, saying that they want to be with her forever. With the increase of popularity, Li Xianglan has gradually become a person who lives in seclusion. Speaking of which, Li Xianglan at that time was only a girl in her 20s, in fact, she usually liked to go out and play, but because there were too many suitors, this also caused her to be in great anxiety every day.
The overnight popularity made Li Xianglan feel worried, so she refused a lot of interviews, and also asked her assistant to tell fans not to continue to guard her doorstep. However, Shanghai, where Li Xianglan was located, was a Japanese-occupied area after all, and even though she had tried everything to reduce her acting activities, she could not refuse the invitation issued by the Japanese, and the Japanese army stationed in Shanghai at that time often invited Li Xianglan to participate in some performing arts activities, and also asked Li Xianglan to cooperate with the Japanese to conduct some media interviews.
Although Li Xianglan is very famous, the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the people of the whole country cannot accept Li Xianglan to perform for the Japanese and to be interviewed by the Japanese media. Therefore, overnight, everyone's opinion of Li Xianglan changed again, and everyone called her a traitor. Some people also called her a traitor.
Especially some patriotic young people in Shanghai at that time were full of hatred for Li Xianglan. In fact, we can also see from here that everyone thinks that Li Xianglan is a traitor. It is believed that Li Xianglan worked for the Japanese, not because she inquired about the Japanese or because she worked in the Japanese agency at that time, but because she performed for the Japanese. So after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, when everyone outside was celebrating the victory of the war, only Li Xianglan hid in the house alone and frowned, because she was worried. He himself will be treated as a traitor.
So, is Li Xianglan a traitor? After Japan announced its unconditional surrender, it was the Nationalists who took over Shanghai at that time. Soon, the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai, as well as the Japanese diaspora, also left. The Kuomintang re-established the Shanghai government, and immediately after, began to liquidate all the traitors in the Japanese and pseudo-Japanese period. Speaking of which, at that time, there was no detailed standard to measure whether a person was a traitor, but to see whether the person had served the Japanese, of course, if the person was a figure with a head and face in Shanghai and had contact with the Japanese, then he would be defined as a traitor.
Li Xianglan as an acting star, first of all, her popularity is very high, on the other hand, at that time, the Japanese also focused on packaging her after Li Xianglan became famous, and wanted to carry out cultural propaganda through Li Xianglan. Therefore, no matter from any point of view, Li Xianglan is in line with the Kuomintang's identification of traitors. Because judging from Li Xianglan's activities at that time, she has almost become the spokesperson of the Japanese in Shanghai.
For many patriots, Li Xianglan is a big traitor. Although she is an entertainer star and often performs for the Japanese, she is not voluntary, but everyone can't manage so much, thinking that Li Xianglan is unforgivable for doing cultural propaganda for the Japanese. At that time, the Kuomintang's Shanghai government was also hesitating, and they did not think about whether Li Xianglan should be arrested. Because Li Xianglan is so influential in Shanghai, including her in the field of culture and art in the country, she is also a leading figure.
Therefore, if Li Xianglan is defined as a traitor, Shanghai also fears that Li Xianglan's fanatics will start a riot. Therefore, the Shanghai government, which had no way to decide, immediately reported this matter to the Nanjing government, that is, to Chiang Kai-shek. Speaking of which, Chiang Kai-shek has also heard Li Xianglan's "Night Fragrance", so he also knows Li Xianglan. Through Li Xianglan's matter, Chiang Kai-shek also saw it. There is hesitation in various localities in dealing with the issue of traitors. Therefore, he hopes to "kill chickens and warn monkeys" and hopes that Li Xianglan's incident can be used to warn local governments.
Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek directly issued a death order, demanding immediate arrest and execution of Li Xianglan as soon as possible. After learning what Chiang Kai-shek meant, the Shanghai side also made up their minds and immediately launched an arrest of Li Xianglan. At that time, a group of people broke into Li Xianglan's home. Although Li Xianglan was mentally prepared, she was still aware of the seriousness of the problem. Therefore, in order to save her life, Li Xianglan actually said something shocking. Li Xianglan said: I am not a Chinese, I am Japanese, you cannot treat me with the crime of a traitor.
When everyone heard this, everyone was dumbfounded, and no one expected that Li Xianglan would be a Japanese. So, is this true or false? Therefore, the Shanghai government asked Li Xianglan to provide evidence that she was Japanese. Because if Li Xianglan was a Japanese, then the Nationalist government really had no right to dispose of her, but needed to send her back to Japan. Soon, in the investigation of Li Xianglan, the National Government also mastered the basic information of Li Xianglan and found that Li Xianglan's parents were both Japanese nationals, which also showed that Li Xianglan was indeed a Japanese.
The Nationalist government found it strange, so it sent someone to re-interrogate Li Xianglan, wanting to know why, as a Japanese, Li Xianglan did not evacuate with the Japanese diaspora. In response to the questions of the National Government, Li Xianglan also responded. She said that her acting career is in China, and if she leaves China, then she will not be able to continue to engage in acting work. It can be seen from here that Li Xianglan does not want to reveal her identity as a Japanese because she hopes to continue to stay in China and develop. Although she was still young, she knew that postwar Japan was desolate. If she returns to Japan, it will be difficult for her to have such great acting achievements again.
Because Li Xianglan was a Japanese national, the Shanghai National Government acquitted Li Xianglan. However, they also asked Li Xianglan to leave China as soon as possible. After all, although it cannot be proved that Li Xianglan is a traitor, who can guarantee that she is not a Japanese spy who remains in China? So in 1946, Li Xianglan returned to Japan and began her new life in Japan. However, in history, there are many doubts about the true identity of Li Xianglan.
Although Li Xianglan's parents are Japanese, Li Xianglan's hometown is not in Japan, but in Liaoning Lighthouse. When Li Xianglan was born, the Japanese army had not yet occupied the northeast, which also shows that her parents came to China a long time ago. So, what was the purpose of Li Xianglan's parents when they came to China? And in 1933, Li Xianglan's parents suddenly disappeared, and after that, Li Xianglan recognized her classmate's father as her adoptive father, because the classmate's family name was Li, so she also changed her name to Li Xianglan.
In 1945, the Sino-Japanese War had not yet been won, but Li Xianglan seemed to have heard some rumors, and she had begun to deliberately refuse to participate in Japanese performing arts activities, and tried to distance herself from the Japanese. In this way, Li Xianglan seems to want to stay in China after the war. So, what is her purpose? Is it really just to continue her acting career in China, as she said?
After Li Xianglan returned to Japan, she did not continue her acting career, but entered Japanese politics. And became a member of the Diet in Japan. Of course, she no longer continued to use the name Li Xianglan, but changed her Japanese name to Shuko Otaka. In 1975, Li Xianglan set foot on Chinese soil again, this time as a member of the Japanese Diet on a goodwill visit to China.
Later, in 2005, Li Xianglan wrote a special article expressing her longing for the Chinese people and opposing the Japanese prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. In this way, Li Xianglan may not be a spy inserted by the Japanese in China, friends, what do you think?