"Listen to the drama to listen to Mei Lanfang, watch the ball to see Li Huitang, swim to see the mermaid."
This is a sentence circulating among the scholars of the Republic of China in 1934. The "mermaid" in it refers to Yang Xiuqiong, a character who can be compared with the world's favorite Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang and the "Asian ball king" Li Huitang, presumably not simple.
In 1933, at the age of 15, Yang Xiuqiong made her debut in Nanjing and participated in the Fifth National Games, accompanied by her sister Yang Xiuzhen. In this competition, Yang Xiuqiong participated in the 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 200m relay race, swept the pool to win 5 gold medals, breaking 5 national records.
The crowd of onlookers shouted straight out, the applause was thunderous, and the audience applauded and applauded, as well as Old Jiang and Song Meiling.
When Yang Xiuqiong walked off the podium, Song Meiling walked forward with a motherly smile, lovingly took her hand and said: "You are very good, is it good to be my dry daughter?" ”
Yang Xiuqiong stared at the "big man" in front of her with wide eyes in disbelief, and before she could think about it, she nodded shyly under the attention of everyone.
After recognizing this dry daughter, in order to reward her outstanding performance, Jiang Song and his wife immediately sent an American "Zizhu brand" car to Yang Xiuqiong.
In 1934, she represented the Chinese team in the 10th Far East Games held in Manila, philippines, participated in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter relay with Liu Xiuzhen, Chen Huanqiong, Liang Yongxian, four competitions broke the national record, she personally won 4 consecutive gold medals, the reputation of the Far East swimming community.
In just two years, Yang Xiuqiong has not only gained fame with her sports aura, but also become a fashion darling in the mouth of the media. It is a pity that from the peak of glory to the criticism of "dogs falling into the water", it only took one year.
Yang Xiuqiong was born in 1918 in Yangwu Village, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and there is a pond in front of their house, and in the summer, boys love to swim in the pond. Yang Xiuqiong's father is Yang Nanzhu has been working in the sports department, the sports field should not be divided between men and women, in the era of secular prejudice against women, Yang Nanzhu enlightenedly brought his daughter who had just learned to walk into the pool.
At first, he just taught his daughter the idea of letting her learn to swim, but he didn't think that the young Yang Xiuqiong was extremely talented. Seeing her fluttering into the water, she was very interested in playing with the splash, under the guidance of her father, she seemed to understand those swimming skills, and within a few days, with her super understanding, she could swim freely in the pond.
Looking at such a talented daughter, Yang Nanzhu couldn't help but sigh: "Such a good seedling, if there are conditions, it must be cultivated well, and he will be able to become a swimmer one day." ”
Three-year-old female dolls can swim, which was really rare at the time.
Small thoughts, big wishes!
Yang Nanzhu intended to cultivate his daughter in his heart, but he did not find a suitable opportunity to systematically train her for a while, but this little idea had become his wish since it arose in his heart. When Yang Xiuqiong was 10 years old, the family moved to Hong Kong, and Yang Nanzhu entered the South China Sports Swimming Department, and the conditions were relatively mature. Yang Nanzhu seized the opportunity to conduct systematic training in swimming for his daughter, and Yang Xiuqiong insisted on undergoing strict swimming training while studying at The Zunde Girls' School in Hong Kong.
She is very talented, and her sister is also a swimmer, but Yang Xiuqiong's qualities in all aspects are above her sister. Her endurance, tenacity, and explosiveness are all too rare, and after training, Yang Xiuqiong quickly became the most top-notch one in the professional swimming team.
Two years later, a swimming competition was held in Hong Kong. 12-year-old Yang Xiuqiong jumped to try to participate in the registration, and for the sake of prudence, she only signed up for the 50 meters and 100 meters of freestyle competitions, and as a result, she won the first double championship in her life.
Subsequently, she participated in many competitions in a very short period of time and won multiple championships. A series of good results have made Yang Xiuqiong's fame spread in the sports circle. When Australia held a sports conference, she specifically contacted Yang Xiuqiong and invited her to perform in Victoria.
Zhang Ailing once said: "To become famous, you must be early."
Yang Xiuqiong became famous, and she wore countless halos on her head. In particular, after participating in the National Games in Shanghai and Nanjing at the age of 15, he created 7 national records in a row and won the championships in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.
In Yang Xiuqiong's highlight moment, whenever she participated in the competition, the reporters of major media newspapers gathered by the pool early and competed to report. In June 1933, Yang Xiuqiong, who was only 15 years old, took the lead in breaking through the confinement of women in that era of conservative dressing, and appeared on the cover of the popular pictorial "Good Friend" of the Republic of China with a swimsuit, her good face, calm and calm look, and youthful and beautiful image sensationalized the country. Her mermaid's nickname did not shy away.
Originally, the fashion of women's swimming has gradually risen, but there are not many women who are really willing to try, and most of them hold a wait-and-see attitude. After Yang Xiuqiong broke the stereotype and appeared in the public pictorial, the swimming fashion was impacted by new ideas, and many celebrities bought swimwear and walked into the pool.
At the same time, some Qing Dynasty widows pointed to newspapers and magazines and scolded: "Sin! The woman took a bath and invited people to see it, and she really didn't know the shame. There are also some stubborn and conservative factions, seeing a woman appear in the pool, hurriedly getting up, and chanting in their mouths: "Shame people too!" ”
For these voices, Yang Xiuqiong did not pay attention to her, and the people around her not only supported her, but also regarded her as a female idol in the new era. Yang Xiuqiong, who became famous at a young age, also enjoys the honor she earned, and at the age of 16, she has never thought that she may one day fade, her aura fades, and how to return to a plain life.
What's more, she is still in an old society that has not been baptized by new ideas.
On the one hand, Yang Xiuqiong was praised as a celebrity like Mei Lanfang; on the other hand, there were different voices, and Linglong magazine once commented ironically in a report: "Poor Yang Xiuqiong, in this erotic society, under the consciousness of the group of 'watching the big girl take a bath', every performance on the pool is almost magical in the whole city." ”
When Yang Xiuqiong participated in the competition in Shanghai, many Gongzi brothers heard about it and signed up, this group of Gongzi brothers are indeed not going to swim, after they got the number cloth, just by the pool to see Yang Xiuqiong, 141 people who registered, there are more than 70 people who have not been launched.
Yang Xiuqiong in this period is still very stable. Despite wearing countless halos on her head, she still worked hard to get better results.
In May 1934, the 10th Far Eastern Games was held in Manila, Philippines, and China, one of the initiators of the world's first intercontinental international competition, also sent athletes to participate. At that time, swimming had always been a weakness of the Chinese team, and except for Li Robb who won the men's swimming championship nineteen years ago, no one else had won the swimming competition.
Yang Xiuqiong was sent to participate as a strong player.
Seeing such handsome athletes, the Philippine media mocked chinese female athletes with colored glasses: "They are here for beauty, not for the event." ”
As a result, Yang Xiuqiong won the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter backstroke in the individual competition with super strength. In the last 200-meter rally, when the first three players were far behind the Japanese team, Yang Xiuqiong took the last baton as the finale, jumped off the pool, and chased after the Japanese players, in the fierce chase, Yang Xiuqiong bravely surpassed the other side and won the championship for the Chinese team again.
When the news reached China, the Chinese people were excited, and the media reported it wildly:
"Yang Xiuqiong, the mermaid of our country, shined in the Far East Games this time, won various swimming championships, and in the swimming pool, China's national flag was repeatedly raised, the national anthem was repeatedly played, and the applause on the audience was continuous, counting the past, which can be described as unprecedented, and it is really the pride of our country."
It is worth mentioning that at this Games, many countries participated, and the Chinese team won the championship except for the football team, and the rest of the gold medals were won by Yang Xiuqiong.
Suddenly, Yang Xiuqiong's fame in China became more famous. At the end of the same year, 16-year-old Yang Xiuqiong was once again featured in the "Good Friend" pictorial and published on the cover with well-known heavyweight women such as Song Meiling, Hu Die, Ding Ling, etc., and was called "The Top Ten Standard Women of The Contemporary Era", and among the ten people, Yang Xiuqiong's photo was placed in the middle.
It can be imagined how famous Yang Xiuqiong was in China at that time.
Today, athletes set their next track at the Olympics.
Yang Xiuqiong could have continued to shine on this road. But for her at that time, there was another road ahead of her life that looked more "dazzling"...
After participating in the 10th Far East Games, Yang Xiuqiong gave more interviews in China, various celebrations continued, and celebrities from various political and business circles threw olive branches to her. Chu Minyi, secretary general of the Executive Yuan, even hyped Yang Xiuqiong, renting a luxury car to take her to visit Wuzhou Park.
After returning to Shanghai, Yang Xiuqiong's family prepared to go to the beach bathing beach to swim, but they were met with the pomp and circumstance of "10,000 spectator mermaids". This time, not only the Shanghai police personally came to open the way for her, but more than 100 swimmers gave her a escort...
Yang Xiuqiong's socializing is also more and more, so much so that she is tired and sick. She herself said with emotion: "This is really tiring, busier than the high-intensity training before I participated in the competition, and many times harder." “
However, the media and people from all walks of life have not stopped praising Yang Xiuqiong.
In 1935, Lu Xun had hinted at Yang Xiuqiong in an article in the "Miscellaneous Collection":
"It's just to be smashed." The mermaid must have known that it was so numb that it made the viewer's scalp tingle, and even the sight of the name was very funny. ”
As a writer known for his insight, Lu Xun's reminder is not unreasonable.
Behind the hype in the political and business circles, it is not all related to their respective interests. Poor Yang Xiuqiong is only 16 years old, and it is inevitable to experience this kind of Vanity Fair at an age when she is not deeply involved in the world, and it is inevitable to panic.
Panic will make mistakes, but it will also affect judgment and confusion in the direction of life.
Because there are too many social activities to participate in, Yang Xiuqiong's training is unconsciously affected. In 1935, when she went to Shanghai again to participate in the "Sixth National Games", her results fell all the way, and she even passed by many championships. At the time, her bib number was "964," and after the game, the audience in the audience called her "dog falling into the water." Such a contrast made Yang Xiuqiong feel a little uncomfortable after listening to it.
Although the results of this competition are backward, Yang Xiuqiong's strength is still recognized by the national team. In 1936, she was selected for the national team and competed in swimming at the Berlin Olympics.
Yang Xiuqiong has to participate in competition training while also participating in social activities. Once, when Xiamen was flooded, the Standing Office initiated a donation to persuade her to donate with her photo, and it was also specially stated that those who donated two to five yuan would be signed and rewarded by Yang Xiuqiong on the spot.
On another occasion, Yang Xiuqiong was arranged to participate in the Shanghai Swimming Pool to raise funds for the airline swimming show, and the ticket price was higher than that of the stars at the time, but despite this, people still squeezed their heads to buy tickets.
In this state, it is difficult for Yang Xiuqiong to go all out for training.
As a result, Yang Xiuqiong and all the Chinese players went to Berlin to participate in the competition, and they were swept down in the preliminary round.
However, there are several notable points for participating in the Berlin Olympics this time. First, Yang Xiuqiong, as the first batch of women in history to participate in the Olympic Games, the road from 0 to 1 was the most difficult to walk; second, the Republic of China at that time did not attach importance to the Olympic games, and the participants not only had to raise their own travel expenses, but also, in the whole pre-race preparation, from beginning to end, there was no experienced team leader, even the participants were in a hurry to take a simple ship, bumpy for more than a month before the game, a few days before the game to reach Berlin, familiar with the time of the competition venue; third, do not understand the strength of foreign players, There is a lack of more systematic training.
It can be said that the factors that led to Yang Xiuqiong's "fiasco" ending this competition are multifaceted.
Looking back, Yang Xiuqiong, as a public figure active in social activities, does a lot of things related to public welfare. However, when she returned home from defeat, she was still reprimanded by the media: "Such an achievement is really not the essence of a sportsman." ”
There is also a comic of the times, which directly draws Yang Xiuqiong sitting by the pool in heavy makeup, and on the side, he also draws a big duck egg.
Yang Xiuqiong, who experienced "praise" to "killing", was very lonely in her heart. She did not understand, but also felt very aggrieved, after the game, she had a proposal: to gather the national players, ask foreign coaches for guidance. However, no one paid attention to it.
All the media added fuel to her failure, and wrote countless pieces of lace news for her, and the gossip boyfriend was even more innumerable.
In the face of the public's one-sided voice, Yang Xiuqiong continued to train under pressure, at this time, her weight rose to 104 kilograms, compared with the original weight of more than ten pounds, she knew that her strength was not as good as before. However, Yang Xiuqiong, who did not accept defeat, was not willing to end her sports career in this way.
In 1938, in the national swimming competition held in Chongqing, Yang Xiuqiong finally ushered in a chance to shame the snow, while winning 8 swimming championships. The female general who swept the pool returned again, however, there was no audience in the audience, coupled with the outbreak of the Japanese invasion of China, the domestic war was frequent, and Yang Xiuqiong gradually faded out of the public's vision after this competition.
In 1939, Yang Xiuqiong and Tao Boling, who had the "first jockey of the Northern Kingdom", entered the palace of marriage. Since then, she has also insisted on devoting herself to sports, but instead of competing on her own, she has worked as a coach to cultivate new swimming talents.
During this time, the gossip media did not pay attention to her swimming-related matters anymore, but instead fabricated a "new marriage" for her. According to the report, because Yang Xiuqiong was favored by Wang Fanxi of Sichuan in the swimming competition in Chongqing, the other party forcibly forced her to divorce her husband and marry her as his 18th aunt, and from then on, she completely bid farewell to the sports career.
From many sources, this is basically nonsense. Fan Xizeng's children also said that the two of them did meet, but it was only a nod of friendship, and the relationship between the two was innocent, not that they had married Yang Xiuqiong as a concubine as rumored.
In fact, Yang Xiuqiong has always wanted to contribute to the cause of sports, but in such a turbulent era, there are too many objective reasons for wanting to do something. After marriage, Yang Xiuqiong gave birth to two lovely children, but her feelings with her husband were not harmonious, during the marriage, Tao Boling cheated and domestic violence, and the relationship between husband and wife was once very stiff, and finally, it ended in divorce.
In 1947, Yang Xiuqiong went to Hong Kong after her divorce and turned to poverty alleviation projects. In order to be able to stand on her own, she also worked as a field sports reporter, and her salary was quite good, but it did not last long. Later, she became acquainted with Chen Zhenguang, an overseas Chinese businessman, and the two fell in love, and after marriage, Yang Xiuqiong moved to Canada with her husband.
From fame and fortune to quietly retreat, Yang Xiuqiong experienced a huge gap. It is not surprising that the feudal atmosphere at that time clashed with the change of new ideas, the old feudal did not respect women, and the new ideas had to be represented. How can the young Yang Xiuqiong soberly judge as rationally as a bystander. Her pool life is definitely not something she can fight against personally, in that big environment, in the prejudice of the world, her growth has an aura, and there will be a life after losing her aura.
As Zhang Ailing said: "Fame should be early", but she did not talk about how to deal with the next life more rationally after becoming famous. While embracing the aura, we should establish a positive attitude, always know what we want, and live our lives according to our own wishes, so that we can not be easily blinded by other people and things.
Yang Xiuqiong tried her best.
She died of illness in Canada in 1982 at the age of 64.
A female swimmer who swept the pool left without a trace.