The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Xu Zhimo was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and had pomade on his hair. The comb was so shiny that even flies could not stand up. Lu Xiaoman is wearing a western-style dress, her hair is tied back, and there is a bunch of bangs on her forehead that Zhou Hexuan thinks is silly.

Zhou Hexuan was sitting in the passenger cab, only listening to Xu Zhimo in the back seat say to the driver: "Go to Dahua Hotel."

In the Shanghai dance venue in the 1920s, the Licha Hotel was the first class. It has a large ballroom that can accommodate hundreds of people. Every Sunday and weekend night, social dances are held here, mainly open to foreigners, and there are also a few compradors who are close to foreigners to participate.

The second class is Dahua, Carlton, Yipinxiang, Yuegong and other restaurants, which mainly receive foreigners and Chinese with dignity. At the same time, there are supporting dancers. Most of these dancers are from Belarus and Japan. It will take two years for the number of Chinese dancers to increase.

At the beginning of 1927, if you went to dance in the dance hall of the Dahua Hotel, you could only dance 3 tunes for 1 yuan, and you had to pay 50 cents for tea. After one night, the minimum consumption is one yuan and fifty cents, while the monthly salary of Zhou Hexuan's maid is only two yuan and twenty cents.

Those who can dance these days belong to the upper class.

However, this situation will soon change. From the second half of this year, ballroom dancing has gradually become popular, and a large number of dance halls have emerged in large cities in the north and south. Due to the intense competition in the ballroom industry, fees are also falling. Ordinary civilians can enter the dance hall for entertainment as long as they are well-dressed and can afford the tea money, and there is no time limit.

The rise of civilian dance halls also led to an increase in the number of Chinese dancers, and professional courtesans began to appear. Like the big dance hall in Tianjin, red dancers can earn 300 yuan a month, which is equivalent to the salary of a university professor.

The three of them got out of the car and entered the Dahua Hotel. They first went to the restaurant to eat, and then went to the ballroom to dance.

The lights in the ballroom were dim and ambiguous, and some men and women had already arrived. The presence of Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman immediately attracted attention, and several Chinese youths walked this way.

"Zhimo, Xiaoman, you are finally here!" Everyone enthusiastically said.

Lu Xiaoman was very active in social occasions, and introduced them: "This is Mr. Zhou Hexuan, a famous scholar and president of Peking University, this is Mr. Chen Jingliang, this is Mr. Wang Yachen, this is Mr. Lu Yanqiu, and this is Tang Huai Mr. Qiu Tang... By the way, this is also a new friend, who will introduce me?"

Wang Yachen said with a smile: "His name is Xu Beihong, and he is about to go abroad again, so I forced him here."

Xu Beihong was not particularly famous at this time, so everyone didn't pay much attention to it.

Among these people, except for Wang Yachen, who is a celebrity in the cultural and painting circles, and Tang Huaiqiu, who is a person in the theater circle, the others are all princes. But he belongs to the kind of talented son, otherwise he wouldn't be able to play with Xu Zhimo.

They were quite enthusiastic about Zhou Hexuan, and they shook hands one by one and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Zhou, who has admired his name for a long time!"

Lu Xiaoman said: "The dance hasn't started yet, let's find a place to sit first."

Everyone came to the corner, ordered a few cups of tea and coffee, and started chatting.

Zhou Hexuan looked around and found that there are mostly foreigners here. But they are all second-rate foreigners. Top-notch foreigners only dance in the Licha Hotel, and will not come to the Majestic Hotel. There are also some middle-aged, even elderly Chinese, chatting and laughing with foreigners. Those Chinese belonged to the comprador class, and they came to discuss business with foreigners in the name of dancing.

This ball is not held privately, but initiated by the hotel. The Grand Hotel has such an event every week, called a ballroom dance, the purpose of which is to "enhance friendship."

"Hey, Mr. Zhou doesn't seem to like socializing, so he hasn't said anything." Tang Huaiqiu said suddenly.

Zhou Hexuan withdrew his gaze and said with a smile: "I'm comparing the dance halls in Shanghai and the dance halls in Tianjin."

Tang Huaiqiu asked: "Is there also a special dance hall in Tianjin?"

Zhou Hexuan said: "When I came to Shanghai from Tianjin, a dance hall just opened there. Tianjin celebrities Pan Shoulian, Yan Xiu, Wang Luyuan and others jointly sent a letter to the French Concession and the Board of Directors of the Public Concession to ban it on the grounds of immorality. Right now, the Prohibition and Pro-Dance factions in Tianjin are in a quarrel."

"Those hypocrites think everything they see is obscene." Tang Huaiqiu said disdainfully.

Who is Tang Huaiqiu?

He is a famous dramatist in the Republic of China. Historically, Tang Huaiqiu was the first to stage Cao Yu's "Thunderstorm".

Tang Huaiqiu also made a major contribution to the popularization of ballroom dancing in China. He opened a dance club in Xujiahui last year, specializing in teaching European and American new dances, and vigorously publicized through newspapers that dancing is good for physical and mental health.

"It is indeed a hypocrite." Zhou Hexuan agreed. That's why he came to the south to sell underwear. Building a dance hall in the north would be protested. Selling women's underwear would probably make those old-schoolers jump up.

Wang Yachen said: "Chinese people's ideas are too backward. Brother Haisu encouraged students to use mannequins in their paintings last year, but he was wanted by Sun Chuanfang, which is simply ridiculous."

Wang Yachen is also a painter, he is friends with Liu Haisu, and Liu Haisu is old friends with Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman, the relationship between these people is very good.

On the other hand, Xu Beihong kept silent, he didn't like this kind of occasion, he just sat there quietly drinking tea and listening.

Soon the dance music started, and everyone walked towards the dance floor in unison, even those who did not bring their girlfriends invited the dancers, leaving only Zhou Hexuan and Xu Beihong in place.

"Brother Xu, won't you dance one?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Xu Beihong said: "I'm not very good at dancing, I can just sit down."

Zhou Hexuan said: "I really like the horses drawn by Brother Xu."

"Mr. Zhou has also seen my paintings?" Xu Beihong was a little surprised. He went abroad to study nine years ago, and although he came back a few times, he spent most of his time abroad.

Xu Beihong's real fame will not be until May of this year, when nine of his works were exhibited at the French National Fine Arts Exhibition. After the news came back, the people of the country were very proud.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Don't forget that I am the principal of Peking University, so I am naturally familiar with the teachers of Peking University."

"Haha," Xu Beihong said with a broken smile, "I have only been a teacher at Peking University's Painting Research Association for one year, and I am not a genuine Peking University teacher."

The two were chatting vigorously when suddenly a dancer came over and asked in English, "Sir, do you need a dance partner?"

Listening to the other party's weird pronunciation, Zhou Hexuan asked, "Japanese?"

"Yes, sir, I am Japanese," replied the dancer.

At the beginning of 1927, there were still few specialized dance halls, and Chinese dancers were also very rare, and the most common ones were White Russian and Japanese dancers. The former was caused by the Russian Revolution. Many Belarusian dancers were actually aristocrats who had fled to China. They had no other skills to earn a living and could only be high-end dancers. The latter is because of the ban on dance halls in Japan, so they can only come to China or Nanyang to make money. These women are generally born in a lowly background.

Zhou Hexuan took a look at her appearance, she had a pretty face, but she was too short and her legs were pitifully short, so she suddenly lost interest. He said to Xu Beihong: "Brother Xu, please, don't keep this young lady waiting."

"I'll forget it." Xu Beihong shook his head again and again.

The Japanese dancer left disappointed, but Zhou Hexuan stood up and walked towards a promiscuous White Russian dancer. He has a good figure and face, and he is from aristocratic background. Since he has spent money, he must choose a good one.

During the dance, Zhou Hexuan discovered an interesting phenomenon.

When Chinese men choose a dance partner, most of them choose Japanese dancers, probably because they can hold them in their arms. Belarusian dancers are too tall and are more popular with Westerners. Zhou Hexuan seems to be the only Chinese man in the audience who dances with Belarusian women.