Sai Jinhua's real name is Zhao Caiyun, and some people say that her surname is Zheng or surnamed Cao, born in 1872 in the 11th year of Tongzhi, a native of YiXian County, Anhui. Her mother died at a very young age, and her father was also very poor because of the family road, and then her father took her to Suzhou to join her aunt, and it was not long before her father died of illness. In 1886, her aunt sold the 14-year-old flower boat on the Suzhou Creek as a cleaner. Because it was disgraceful as a Qinglou woman, Zhao Caiyun changed her surname to Fu, hoping to be rich and noble, and Fu Caiyun, who was both color and art, soon became famous in Suzhou.
In 1887, in the 13th year of Guangxu, a person who changed the fate of Xiao Caiyun appeared, Tongzhi Zhuangyuan, cabinet scholar Hong Jun, because of the death of his mother, was in his hometown of Suzhou to keep filial piety, so he met Fu Caiyun, who could speak well, and it was very common for the dignitaries at that time to find a green dragon woman to play music and sing to help entertain, but Hong Jun fell in love with this famous prostitute in Suzhou at first sight, and married her, and took it for the third aunt and changed her name to Hong Menglan, this year Hong Jun was 48 years old, and Hong Menglan was 15 years old.
Hong Jun and Hong Menglan
Soon after, Hong Jun was appointed by the Qing court as the special history of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the Netherlands, and was stationed in Berlin, Germany. In the information-locked Qing Dynasty society, to go abroad to deal with foreigners, has taken a lot of courage, not to mention the usual door does not go out of the two doors of the rich family young grandmother, and heard that the West has a kiss hand ceremony is simply scared to death, Hong Jun's original wife and the second aunt refused to accompany the trip, the third aunt Hong Menglan picked up a bargain, accompanied her husband out of Europe, this Qinglou woman not only jumped to become the lady of the Yuan, but also righteously became the lady of the mansion.
While stationed in Berlin, Hong Jun hired a teacher for her 15-year-old third aunt to teach her English and German. Hong Jun also carefully examined the situation in European countries, the two had been to St. Petersburg, Geneva, The Hague and other places, and there were often contacts with the upper class in Europe, and had seen the German iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck and his wife, and was also received by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. This period of the mission was the most beautiful day of Sai Jinhua's life, and at a young age, she traveled around like studying abroad, increased her knowledge, and gave birth to her only daughter in this life, because she was born in Germany, Hong Jun named her daughter Deku.
After the expiration of her term of office, in November 1892, Hong Jun took Hong Menglan back to the house, and when she returned to Hong Province, she was immediately beaten back from the minister's wife to her original form, and her Birth in qinglou made the whole zhuangyuan mansion look down on her, and drove her and her daughter to live in the side house, and what was worse was that a year after returning to Beijing, the 53-year-old Hong Jun died of illness, and before he died, he left 50,000 taels for Hong Menglan to settle down, but the Hong family did not give her the money. Hong Menglan, who knew that she could not stay in Hongfu, left the Hong family, and she never saw her daughter again in this life.
In her early 20s and penniless, she had to return to her old business. She sold her jewelry, rented a room in Shanghai, bought two girls to list {Shuyu}, Shuyu refers to the highest grade of fun-seeking place, Hong Menglan changed her name to Cao Menglan, and the flower name was used back to Fu Caiyun. Fu Caiyun, who was very business-minded, immediately spread his name in Shanghai under the signs of Madame Zhuangyuan and the lady of the minister, and a high-ranking official and nobleman who could not be crowned wanted to come and see what Madame Zhuangyuan looked like. Fu Caiyun is also known as the Flower List Champion. As the reputation of Huabang Zhuangyuan grew, it also spread to Suzhou Hongfu, Hong Jun's original wife Wang Shi, felt that Fu Caiyun opened a book apartment in the name of Lady Zhuangyuan, which was really damaging to the reputation of the Hong family, so he united with Suzhou Zhuangyuan Lu Runxiang and the Shanghai prefect, and ordered Fu Caiyun to close the shuyu and leave Shanghai within three days, and Fu Caiyun had no choice but to leave.
She came to Tianjin, rented the old site of the Jinhua brothel to operate, in order to show that she was more attractive than the original Jinhua brothel, Fu Caiyun changed the name of the flower to Sai Jinhua, and expanded the business organization of the Jinhua class, listing the Jinhua Shuyu, the following year Guangxu 25 years, Sai Jinhua took the entire Jinhua class to beijing's famous Bada Hutong, Hubu Shangshu Yang Lishan soon fell under the pomegranate skirt of Sai Jinhua, he spent a lot of silver to hold Sai Jinhua, Sai Jinhua's relics soon became the most famous qinglou in the hutong. In a short period of time, two were opened, and the guests who came were all dignitaries, and even the children of the royal palace were also guests. Sai Jinhua also worshiped with the huge rich Lu Yufang, everyone called Sai Jinhua the second master of the race, grandpa, but the Beijing people for the head and face of the people of the honorific, sai er ye often grabbed braids, wearing men's clothing and riding on the street.
In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded the city of Beijing in the name of suppressing the Boxers, and Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled west in a hurry, during which the story of Sai Jinhua was also the most controversial. When the Eight-Power Coalition army burned and plundered and looted everywhere in the city of Beijing, and when it was time to rob the Sai Jinhua Relics Courtyard, Sai Jinhua blocked the door and rebuked the soldiers in fluent German, she told the soldiers that she had been a minister's wife on a mission to Germany, and had seen the German Emperor And empress, and the German soldiers immediately went back to report to the German marshal Waldesi, the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, and did not expect that this Wadsi was Sai Jinhua's old acquaintance in Berlin, Germany. At that time, because of the war, many merchants had fled the city of Beijing, and the coalition army was suffering from a shortage of food, so Vadersi asked Sai Jinhua for help. Sai Jinhua, who was known to all three religions and nine streams, quickly helped Vadesi solve the problem of food, and Sai Jinhua in turn asked Wadesi to show the style of a civilized country, rectify military discipline, and not kill innocents indiscriminately, thus saving the lives of many ordinary people in Beijing.
Wadesi
However, in the process of Li Hongzhang's peace negotiations with the coalition forces, a more difficult problem was encountered, and the reason why the coalition forces made the Germans commander-in-chief was because the Qing Dynasty Janissaries shot and killed the German ambassador to China, Klinder, which violated the principle of the personal inviolability of diplomats. Of course, this was a must,impossible thing to do, so the Qing Dynasty went to find Sai Jinhua, who had a good relationship with Germany, and came forward to persuade Lady Clinder, the Prince of Qing Dynasty, Zaifeng, who was Puyi's biological father, to personally go to Germany to apologize to the German Emperor, and to set up a memorial arch for ambassador Klinder where he was killed.
Sai Jinhua, who has been circling between dignitaries and nobles for many years, relies on his superb communication skills to successfully complete the mission and save Lafayette's life. At that time, the old Beijingers all said that Sai Jinhua was the Nine Heavenly Protectors sent by the Jade Emperor to save the people, but the authenticity of this matter caused controversy. First, German Marshal Wadsey did not arrive until two months after the Eight-Power Alliance attacked the city of Beijing, and it was really unreasonable to come back to the country's peace talks, especially involving the life of Cixi Lafayette, and it was really unreasonable for a Woman from the Qinglou To come forward to negotiate. However, according to the diary of the Wadesi Guards later, Sai Jinhua and Wadsi were indeed old acquaintances, and during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Sai Jinhua may have really raised military food for the coalition forces in order to profit from it. He also took the girls to the barracks at a cost of 100 yuan at a time, so that foreign officers could solve their needs, Sai Jinhua could not only make money, but also reduce the officers' aggression against the women of the good family, and see foreign soldiers seize the people, Sai Jinhua would also explain to the soldiers in foreign languages to prevent them from killing innocents indiscriminately.
Perhaps because these things were passed down by word of mouth in the hutong, they gradually became sai jinhua who saved hundreds of thousands of people and the lives of Cixi Lafayette. However, as a small citizen of the city, or a prostitute in the Qinglou, Sai Jinhua did his part. Liu Bannong, a poet who later wrote for her, wrote: There are two treasures in China, Cixi and Sai Jinhua, one in the dynasty, one in the opposition, one traitor to the country, one to sell himself, one to hate, and one to be pitiful.
In 1903, a girl named Fenglin died of excessive opium consumption in Sai Jinhua's brothel, and the Ministry of Punishment investigated Fenglin for committing suicide because she did not want to be a Woman in the Qinglou Building, Sai Jinhua was imprisoned on the charge of forcing Liang to be a prostitute, and the Jinhua class was also forced to disband, and after being released from prison, Sai Jinhua was escorted back to her native Suzhou and was not allowed to re-enter Beijing for life. Some people also say that Sai Jinhua was too famous, and there were even prostitutes in Beijing at that time to save the car, and Sai Jinhua was forced to leave the capital. Later, Sai Jinhua went to Shanghai and made a living with several Shanghai red cards.
In 1911, Sai Jinhua married the merchant Cao Ruizhong as a concubine, Cao Ruizhong was honest and honest, and he really liked Sai Jinhua, but he just didn't have any money, and there was a strong original wife. However, at this time, Sai Jinhua, who was nearly 40 years old, only wanted to get rid of the wind and dust and find a home for his old age, so he did not count his name, and also spent 2,000 silver dollars to buy Cao Ruizhong an official who was the chief inspector of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, but the two were only one year after marriage, Cao Ruizhong died of illness, and Sai Jinhua had to return to his old business again. In 1913, Sai Jinhua sponsored Wei Siling, the head of the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangxi Province, who was forced to flee because of the defeat of Yuan Shikai, and in 1916 the two lived with Cherry Street outside the front gate of Beijing, and Wei Siling, who had a wife and concubine in his hometown, always said that Sai Jinhua was his wife.
In 1918, Sai Jinhua, who wore a traditional phoenix crown, white veil and embroidered shoes, married Wei Siling in Western style in Shanghai, and the two held a grand wedding, and Sai Jinhua changed her name to Wei Zhao Lifei. However, not long after the happy days, her husband died of acute wind and cold in Beijing in the third year of marriage, and the 49-year-old Sai Jinhua became a widow for the third time, and was also named the word Kefu. After that, Sai Jinhua became mentally weak. She left the Wei family and moved with her nanny, who had been with her since the early years of the Republic of China, to a small alley in Jurenli, Beijing, with a sign hanging outside the door of the house , and no longer received customers for Wei Siling's observance. In his later years, Sai Jinhua lived on savings and the help of others. It is said that Zhang Xueliang, Xu Beihong, and Qi Baishi all received her.
In the winter of 1936, the 64-year-old Sai Jinhua walked his life in the cold wind, and she was already penniless, and she raised money to bury him in Taoran Pavilion in Beijing, with a tombstone inscribed by Qi Baishi and a colorful cloud map painted by Zhang Daqian. Two years before Sai Jinhua's death, a reporter from the Tianjin Ta Kung Pao in 1934 interviewed her, and in the interview, the reporter asked: How do you feel about the fact that the lady's life has been so complicated? Sai Jin HuaDa: Life is a dream, and I am now reciting the Buddha's practice and repenting of everything.