The yang yuelou and Wei Abao cases of the four strange cases of the late Qing Dynasty

During the reign of Cixi of the Qing Dynasty, there were many strange and unjust cases, such as the Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage case, the famous Yang Yuelou unjust case, the Taiyuan Strange Case, and the Zhang Wenxiang Horse Assassination Case, which were the most sensational, collectively known as the four strange cases of the late Qing Dynasty. These four cases, or the complexity of the case, or the twists and turns of the process, so that the ups and downs, unexpected, are still debated by the world today.

Yang Yuelou, born in 1844, died in 1889, named Jiuchang, sent to jiuxian. During the Xianfeng years, he followed his father Yang Erxi to beijing to set up a stall to sell art, during which he was appreciated by the famous Hui opera artist Zhang Erkui, who followed Zhang Erkui to attack the martial arts profession of Peking Opera. When he was in his twenties, he gradually became famous and shouted very loudly in the capital. When I went on a tour of Jinguiyuan in the Shanghai Concession, it was even more crowded. When the "Declaration" that was launched at that time reported on this matter, it also used a bamboo branch to describe the grand performance at that time: "Jin Gui He is like Dan Guiyou, the beautiful people are lazy to stay, and the general Beijing tune is not preferred, only for the sake of coveting Yang Yuelou." "Yang Yuelou's "Fan Wang Palace" toured in JinGuiyuan is a big drama about love, and it is very moving. There is a pair of wives and daughters of rich merchants from Guangdong who like it very much, and Yang Yuelou has been acting for three days in a row, and they have watched it for three days. This daughter is called Wei Abao, 17 years old, who has a crush on Yang Yuelou, and in disregard of traditional etiquette, she wrote a love letter to her grandmother Wang Shi to pass on to Yang Yuelou. Although Yang Yuelou sang opera and became a famous character, but in terms of social identity at that time, he belonged to the untouchables, according to the etiquette law regulations at that time, good and unworthy could not intermarry, so he wrote back and refused. However, after Miss Wei was rejected, she suffered from lovesickness, and Miss Wei's mother was extremely anxious, and after several long talks, she learned the original decision, and quickly sent her family to contact Yang Yuelou to invite him. Yang Yuelou was moved by Miss Wei's infatuation, and finally agreed to this family affair under the personal words and consent of Wei Abao's mother. Yang's mother also rushed from the capital to Shanghai, gave the dowry, and handled the marriage for her son.

However, one of Wei Abao's uncles believed that this was a good and unworthy marriage, which not only insulted the door style, but even affected the face of all Cantonese merchants, so they had to withdraw from marriage. Yang Yuelou believed that in the case that Wei Abao's father was not at home because of his perennial business abroad, this marriage had obtained the consent of the mothers of both parties, issued a dowry, and handed over the marriage certificate, which was in line with the traditional etiquette law, and outsiders had no right to interfere. In order to avoid the interference of Wei Abao's uncle, Wei's mother arranged for Wei Abao's nursing mother Wang Shi to quietly send Wei Abao to Yang Yuelou's residence to secretly complete the marriage.

Lang Cai's female appearance, Ming Media is marrying, watching a good marriage on the beach will be achieved. However, Wei Abao, the uncle, was furious and reported Yang Yuelou to Shanghai County, saying that Yang Yuelou had kidnapped his niece. At that time, The Shanghai County Commander Ye Tingju not only always held prejudice against the opera, believing that these singers were all obscene and despicable people, but also was a fellow villager in Guangdong with the Wei family, and when he heard such a complaint, he immediately sent people to Yang Yuelou's residence to arrest these two so-called violators of etiquette. They quickly found Yang Yuelou and Wei Abao, and without saying a word, they escorted the two to the county court. Poor Wei Abao, the dress of worshiping heaven and earth was too late to change, so he sat on a small palanquin and was escorted all the way back to the county court. One side is the daughter of a rich businessman, and the other side is a famous drama, but because of the opposition of the woman's uncle, she could not get married, which attracted everyone's attention for a time and caused a sensation in the whole Shanghai Beach.

Having always been prejudiced against the drama, believing that these singers were all the most obscene and despicable people, and that they were fellow villagers in Guangdong with the Wei family, when they heard such a complaint, they immediately sent people to Yang Yuelou's residence to arrest these two so-called violators of etiquette. They quickly found Yang Yuelou and Wei Abao, and without saying a word, they escorted the two to the county court. Poor Wei Abao, the dress of worshiping heaven and earth was too late to change, so he sat on a small palanquin and was escorted all the way back to the county court. One side is the daughter of a rich businessman, and the other side is a famous drama, but because of the opposition of the woman's uncle, she could not get married, which attracted everyone's attention for a time and caused a sensation in the whole Shanghai Beach. Ye Xianling was not at all polite to Yang Yuelou, and Yang Yuelou was strangled with two thumbs and hung on the beam of the house to force a confession as soon as he was escorted to the county court. Yang Yuelou is young and vigorous, and he is also the body of a martial artist, of course, he does not recognize the account. When Ye Xianling heard this, he immediately ordered his shin to be punched. According to the judicial customs at that time, this kind of torture could only be used against robbers and criminals, but Ye Xianling did not care about this set at all. Under the heavy punishment, Yang Yuelou finally beat him into confession, admitting that he had an adulterous affair with Wei Abao, and then openly married in violation of the etiquette of good and lowly marriage. After Yang Yuelou was beaten into confession, he was sentenced to a very heavy punishment - exile. As for Wei Abao, when he got to the top of the lobby, Ye Xianling wanted her to recoil, but she refused, and the angry Ye Xianling immediately ordered two hundred slaps.

In society, the parties to the dispute in this case quickly divided into two opposing camps. The people of Jingui Opera Garden and the fans of Yang Yuelou tried to join hands as a guarantee to rescue Yang Yuelou, while those feudal defenders were up and down, so that the government came forward to ban some so-called obscene plays, and issued notices prohibiting women from entering the theater to watch plays, for which all sectors of society were in an uproar. At that time, Shanghai was an open port, and Yang Yuelou's case occurred in the concession, although because both parties were Chinese, the case was tried by the Qing court Shanghai County, but the intensity of the controversy in the case still attracted the attention of foreigners, who could not understand The difference between good and low and the concept of marriage in China, believing that Yang Yuelou and Wei Abao's voluntary marriage was completely a personal matter, beyond reproach, and it was even more inhumane and unreasonable to suffer such a severe punishment. Major newspapers also stepped in and reported on the case one after another, causing strong social repercussions. So much so that it affected foreign newspapers, and even the "Times" in London, England, reported on the case.

Such public opinion pressure made Ye Xianling also helpless, and he could only transfer the case to his superior, the governor of Songjiang Province, in accordance with the litigation procedures. The prefect Wang Shaogu transferred the case to another county order for review, which had a good relationship with Ye County's order, so he unceremoniously and clearly informed Yang Yuelou not to shout unjustly again, and after beating a hundred boards, approved the original Shanghai County judgment, still upholding the crime of "abduction and theft", and sentenced Yang Yuelou to flow four thousand miles to Heilongjiang. A few days later, Yang Yuelou was escorted to Jiangsu Tofu Yamen to settle the case. Sima Baoxiang, the envoy of Jiangsu Province, had also been bought off by the Order of Shanghai Ye County, and Ma Baoxiang also upheld the original judgment, and according to judicial procedures, it was transferred to Ding Richang, the inspector of Jiangsu at the time, and after approval, it was reported to the Ministry of Punishment.

At this time, the time also came to the second year, in April of the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, Wei Abao's father returned. Wei Abao's father's attitude is directly related to the final determination of this case. However, under the pressure of family interests, he finally abandoned his family affection and chose to withdraw and escape. Not only did he approve of the Shanghai County Order's verdict, but he also openly stated that he had severed ties with the daughter of the insulting family. Wei Abao was eventually convicted of misconduct and sent to Puyutang and handed over to the "official media to choose a match". Wang Shi, the nursing mother who assisted Yang Yuelou in consummating her marriage with Wei Abao, was sentenced to 10 days in front of the county court. Affected by the rumors of Yang Yuelou and the Wei family's mother and daughter in the society, Wei Yuelou died of illness in shame and anger. The male protagonist of this case, Yang Yuelou, was sentenced to exile and waited for the approval of the Punishment Department in the prison of Jiangsu Inspector Yamen.

Thirteen years after Tongzhi, on the birthday of the Tongzhi Emperor, the palace sang operas, cixi thought that these dramas were not addictive to watch, these people were not as good as Yang Yuelou, she asked about Li Lianying. Li Lianying naturally heard about the Yang Yuelou case in Shanghai, not to mention that it had already been reported to the Punishment Department at that time, and he told Cixi about the case. After hearing this, Cixi casually said, Isn't it just a violation of the law for marriage, why should it be so serious. Because at the same time as the Yang Yuelou case occurred, this kind of illegal marriage case in Shanghai County occurred frequently, and the judgments made by Shanghai County were all finished with a hundred rods, but only Yang Yuelou's case was full of storms. Cixi then casually said that there was no need to sentence him to such a heavy sentence, and if he sang a play, let him sing a play, don't waste his drama, the officials below will naturally understand it.

It is very coincidental that at the beginning of the following year, the Guangxu Emperor ascended the throne to grant amnesty to the world, and Yang Yuelou happened to be among the pardons, and finally he was lightened, sentenced to eighty scepters, and sent back home. Two years later, Yang Yuelou sang on stage again in order to make a living, and out of anger, changed his stage name yang Yuelou to Yang Monkey, and humiliated himself to be dissatisfied with the darkness of the official field and the low social status of the drama at that time. After that, he married Shen Yuechun, who sang Suzhou Commentary, and gave birth to a son. When he was dying, he entrusted his only son to tan Xinpei, a famous Peking opera master, and this only son was Yang Xiaolou, a generation of Chinese opera masters.

The time that Yang Yuelou's case has gone through from the time of the case to the conclusion of the case is more than a year, but the various social controversies it has caused and the changes in these traditional concepts reflected in it are really far-reaching, and in this regard, it is not inferior to the case of "Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage", which has been repeatedly tried for many years and has a great impact in the end. In fact, this case and the "Yang Bai case" can be called a sister article. Because these two cases occurred in the same year, the protagonists of the cases were surnamed Yang, and the facts of the cases were not complicated, but because of the etiquette system at that time and the abuse of power by local officials, various unjust situations were caused. Moreover, there is a particular similarity between the two cases, both of which have undergone dramatic changes because cixi intervened, so these two cases are often brought up together.