When people talk about Shanghai during the Republican era, do you picture the languid, decadent melodies drifting from a gramophone? The gorgeous qipao gowns among the bustling crowds? Hot roasted chestnuts in the rain-soaked lanes? Or the richly painted faces of the sheng, dan, jing, and chou roles on the opera stage?
A male dan is, simply put, a role in Chinese opera performed by a man dressed as a woman and singing in a woman's voice. It is one of the forms of Chinese opera, and was once a major part of the tradition of classical Chinese theater. By the early 1920s, the emergence of Peking Opera's Four Great Dan had pushed the art of the male dan to its peak.
And he was one of them!
His smooth, fair face was defined by sharp, cool features. His deep, dark eyes flashed with dazzling light. His thin lips, faintly pursed, were a deeply alluring shade. His graceful bearing exuded the air of a refined scholar. His name was Teng Zhen Jian Si: a lowly actor, a male dan who had weathered the world of passion and desire.
At that moment, his eyes were shut tight. His hands were clasped, index fingers crossed, and head bowed as he sincerely prayed to the merciful and compassionate Virgin Mary to save his beloved, Xian Dao Zhang, and clear his name so he could be released in court.
But the merciful and compassionate Virgin Mary did not hear his prayer.
The judge's voice rang out: "The defendant, Xian Dao Zhang, is guilty of murdering his elder brother, Xian Dao Li. He is sentenced to death." With those words, the two-month murder trial finally came to an end.
Teng Zhen watched helplessly as Xian Dao was taken away by the bailiffs, put into a police car, and driven to Shanghai's Tilanqiao Prison. It was the autumn of 1927...
