Perhaps under the influence of various film and television dramas and novels, many people in modern society have misunderstood the ancient Qinglou and modern brothels, always thinking that the people there are like Du Shiniang and Xiao Fengxian, or like "Jinling Thirteen Chao", and always think that it seems to be just a place of consumption, and there is not too much evil.
In recent years, there has also been an emotion on the Internet, that is, looking forward to the Republic of China era, yearning for the Republic of China era, in the eyes of some people, it seems that the Republic of China is the wenqing era where masters go everywhere.
If you have such emotions and thoughts, you may wish to watch a realistic movie, filmed in 1950, "Sisters and Sisters Stand Up", after watching this movie, you may find the answer, what kind of place is the so-called Eight Hutongs, and what kind of era the Republic of China is.
First, the mystery of the eight hutongs
The eight hutongs in Beijing are very famous, but also bring a lot of misunderstandings to some people, in fact, the eight hutongs are only a general term in most cases, taking the last years of the Republic of China as an example, the scope of the so-called eight hutongs is wider, from the Dashilar to the overpass and even further south is basically the scope of brothel gathering.
According to the statistics of relevant departments, at the end of the Republic of China, there were more than 300 brothels registered in and around the eight hutongs in Beijing, of which there were four grades, the first class was the "Qing Yin Small Class", which was about eighty, the second class was the "tea room", the number was about sixty, the third class "lower place" registered more than two hundred, the lowest class was "kiln", the number of which was about forty. Dark prostitutes and prostitutes do not have fixed numbers.
All registered prostitutes had to "donate" to the police station every month, and in the last year of the Republic of China, the tax was 100,000 French dollars plus the inspection fee of 250,000 French yuan, and most prostitutes at that time earned 100,000 French dollars for each guest, of which the boss, the old bustard and others had to take away 90,000 french dollars, that is to say, the prostitutes had to receive at least 35 people every month to earn the money of "donation". There are also some fourth-class brothels that simply eat and live without giving money.
Unregistered prostitutes are "black donations" and are the main targets of the police.
There are generally two kinds of prostitutes who go to brothels to seek pleasure, one is a tea guest, that is, "playing tea", only chatting and drinking tea. The second type is the shopkeeper, who wants to stay overnight. Therefore, the owner of the brothel will strictly require his prostitutes to stay more shoppers, and if they fail to meet the requirements, they will be severely beaten and starved.
Brothels are divided into four classes, and prostitutes are also divided into four classes, but unlike what most people think, even first-class prostitutes, except for a few lucky ones, will fall into third- or even fourth-class brothels within ten years.
Finally, according to the 1949 statistics of Beijing City, more than 90% of prostitutes have sexually transmitted diseases, and some are extremely serious, and most prostitutes live between 30-40 years due to the cruel oppression of old bustards and leaders.
Second, the plot summary of "Sister Sister Stand Up"
In 1947, Tong Daxiang, a country girl, followed her mother to Beijing to join her relative Sun Dama, and she and Shang Youlin, a neighbor of the courtyard, were in love with each other.
However, Aunt Sun is lustful and colludes with the rogue Ma San to defraud Da Xiang to a brothel run by Cui Huzi and Rouge Hu on the pretext of introducing himself to work.
Cui Beard raped Da Xiang and together with Rouge Tiger beat Da Xiang to force him to obey.
The police came to inspect, or the "black donation" identity of Daxiang ran out to beg the police for help, but the police and Ma San colluded to dismiss the complaint of Daxiang's mother and daughter, and Daxiang was taken back to the brothel and beaten badly.
When Da xiang's mother learned that her daughter had been tricked into selling her to a brothel, she jumped into the river and committed suicide in desperation and pain.
Shang Youlin learned of the brothel where Da Xiang was located, and he took the dowry money his mother left to his sister sixty yuan to redeem Da Xiang, but was deceived by Cui Huzi and Ma San, and Da Xiang returned to the brothel, and Shang Youlin was severely beaten.
At the end of 1949, Beijing completely banned brothels, DaXiang and his sisters were rescued, and through studying and reforming in the correctional home, they accused Cui Beard and Rouge Hu of their crimes, and learned the knowledge to master survival skills and become themselves again.
Iii. The history of the blood and tears of prostitutes
"Sisters And Sisters Stand Up" is about ninety minutes long, and two-thirds of the passages are about the evils in the brothel.
Some prostitutes were forced to pick up customers at the age of 12, and they were still beaten up in more than 20 shops a day, and when they passed out, they woke up with yellow paper and continued to beat.
Some prostitutes became pregnant, were forced to take medicine to abort, and after unsuccessful, they were beaten by the old bustard with a stick to beat the fetus alive, and they continued to receive customers the next day.
The most cruel thing is that some prostitutes are sick, the old bustard still does not let them rest and does not treat the disease, when the disease worsens, the old bustard uses a soldering iron to burn, and continues to receive customers after scabs.
In the film, the top card of the brothel, Yue Xian, was burned unconscious by the old bustard Rouge Tiger with a soldering iron, and seeing that the Moon Immortal was useless, Cui Beard and Rouge Tiger put her into the coffin, and Yue Xian woke up and begged the old bustard in a weak voice that he was not dead, but Cui Beard and Rouge Tiger still nailed the coffin and buried it alive.
In the final indictment of the film, according to the revelations of the prostitutes, cui beard and rouge tiger have at least four or five prostitutes killed.
These plots in the movie are all from the records of the Beijing Women's Correctional Institution that year, in which the soldering iron burns and the patients buried alive all have real prototypes.
These are the real blood and tears history of the prostitutes in the eight hutongs, and the era and place they live in are the real Republic of China.
What the author wants to say is that those who look forward to the Republic of China may only yearn for the lives of the rich people in the Republic of China, rather than the living environment of the majority of the people in the Republic of China.
Fourth, the villain actors
"Sister Sister Stand Up" is a movie that makes it difficult to suppress anger, and the acting skills of several villain actors are indispensable.
Playing Cui Beard is Cui Chaoming, who played the enemy commander in "Crossing the River Reconnaissance".
Playing the policeman is Cheng Zhi, the chief of staff in "Red Sun" and the baby jacket in "Journey to the West".
One of the two most worth mentioning villains, but also the film's hate to the root of the itch is Ma San and Rouge Tiger, the actors who play them both have special beginnings.
Playing the rogue Ma San is the drama emperor Shi Hui, his performance in the film is almost like a realm, whether it is black words, Beijing films, playing Qian'er or sleeves and other details are very real.
The most admirable thing is Shi Hua's expression, he shows Ma San's sinister and vicious to the fullest, Shi Hua said that he thinks that the characteristics of bad people are that they will never think of themselves as bad people, so Ma San in the film is bad as he deserves, bad is justified, and Shi Hua's acting skills are breathtaking.
Playing Rouge Tiger is Li Lingyun, who has a special identity, a student of the correctional institution, and a former prostitute.
Li Lingyun, who has suffered inhuman treatment in brothels for more than a decade, was only 28 years old when filming the film, but her role as Rouge Tiger is not only vivid but also flawless.
Because many of the plots in the film are too realistic, Li Lingyun touched the scene several times when filming, thinking of the scene where he was cruelly treated, and cried loudly on the set several times. Although her role is hated, her performance is admirable.
5. Shooting tidbits
Director Chen Xihe could not hide his anger after seeing the materials of the Beijing Women's Correctional Institution, and then germinated the idea of shooting a movie, and with the support of Shanghai Wenhua Film Company, he built a studio in Shanghai and wrote and directed the film.
When writing the script, Chen Baihe set two principles for himself, the first is to reject yellow, and the second is to reflect the truth.
16-year-old Li Meng was selected to play the female number one Daxiang, she is too young, she was taken care of and protected by everyone on the set, and the director deliberately avoided Li Meng when discussing the script, not letting her touch too much dark and evil material.
Shi Hui, who plays Ma San, has always ignored Li Meng in his daily shooting, deliberately creating a sense of distance between him and Li Meng, but when filming a scene where he stops Daxiang from leaving the brothel, Shi Hui and the director have a conflict.
This scene requires Ma San to beat Daxiang heavily, but Shi Hua really can't do anything to the young Li Meng, so he wants to change it to a vicious scolding, but the director demands that it must be beaten, and it must be beaten hard.
To this end, Shi Hui discussed with the director for an hour or two, and was finally persuaded by the director, but he modified the position of the force, slapped Li Meng behind the cheek, and beat Li Meng away.
After the film was released, some viewers wrote letters to give their opinions, and Chen Xihe wrote an article in the newspaper to reply one by one.
Some people question why the People's Liberation Army in the film has a siege of the city, and Beijing was not peacefully liberated? Chen Xihe said that it was a panoramic shot of the Liberation War, and he apologized for the misunderstanding caused by the audience due to the rapid connection.
Some people questioned why half of the people at the scene of the complaint shouted slogans and the other half did not move, Chen Xihe explained that because the half of the people were the bosses, leaders and bustards who were accused, it was the responsibility that his film shots did not explain thoughtfully.
Sixth, the bright ending
Some people also questioned why the results of the treatment of Cui Beard and Rouge Tiger were not announced in the film.
In this case, the film only makes a hint that the correctional officer announces that the government can accept everyone's request to shoot Choi Beard and Rouge Tiger.
In reality, Cui Beard and Rouge Tiger are based on Huang Shuqing, the "Living Yama King", and Huang Wanshi, the "Tigress", who were sentenced to death for their heinous crimes.
More than 590 of them married and formed their own families, more than 300 returned home, 62 signed up to work as nurses in the Huangpan District Health and Epidemic Prevention Brigade, and some girls with quyi talents were recruited by quyi groups and Peking opera troupes.
In the end, more than 200 people were left homeless, and the government purchased more than eighty spinning machines for them and established a new textile factory.
At the end of the film, Shang Youlin, who entered the factory as a worker, saw Daxiang, who had regained his life, and they agreed to live forever.
Through Shang Youlin's eyes and imagination, we see the great fragrance of three different stages of life.
These three shots perfectly validate that saying: the old society turned people into ghosts, and the new society turned ghosts into people.