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SING - SONG GIRLS - MEET THE NAUGHTY ENTERTAINERS OF OLD CHINA

ORIGIN

Picture source:china - underground.com
Before the founding of modern China in 1911, concubinage was legal. In Chinese custom, males carry the family name and the family's heritage after marriage. To ensure male heirs were produced, it was a common practice for an upper-class married male to have one or more concubines, provided he could support them.
The custom could be invoked without the wife's consent: the husband's actions were protected by law. Concubines would co-exist in the family along with wives and children. A man might choose a courtesan to be his concubine. Many of these courtesans would sing songs to attract potential husbands, hoping to become secondary wives.

TERMINOLOGY

Picture source:El Siglo
Western observers in China during the 19th century witnessed these women singing but had no idea what to call them since they were not classified as prostitutes. Thus the term "Sing-Song Girls" came about.
There is another version of the source of the term. According to the 1892 fictional masterpiece by Han Bangqing called 'Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai', also known as 'Flowers of Shanghai', people in Shanghai called the women who performed in sing-song houses "xian sheng" (Chinese: 先生) in Wu language (a group of linguistically similar and historically related varieties of Chinese primarily spoken in the whole city of Shanghai, Zhejiang province and the southern half of Jiangsu province, as well as bordering areas). The term was pronounced like "sing-song" in English and the young women always sang to entertain the customers; thus Westerners called them Sing-Song girls. The word sian sang in this case is a polite term used to refer to an entertainer.

HISTORICAL USE OF THE TERM

Picture source: shanghaisojourns.com; chinese courtesans playing mahjong
The concept has been around for 2,000 years as recorded by emperors of the Han Dynasty who needed to provide female entertainment for troop amusement. In ancient China, many terms were given to these entertainers, such as "gē jì" (Chinese: 歌妓; literally:"singing female entertainer, singing courtesan"), "gē jī" (Chinese: 歌姬; literally: "singing beauty"), "ōu zhě" (Chinese: 謳者; literally: "singing person"), etc.
The English term came from 1911 .
During the 1930s, Li Jinhui started the Chinese popular music industry with a number of musical troupes. The groups were mostly young women performing and singing. The term Sing-Song-Girls stuck, since the Communist Party of China associated pop music as Yellow Music or pornography in the 1940s.

THEIR LIVES

Picture source:hippostcard.com

Sing-song girls were trained from childhood to entertain wealthy male clients through companionship, singing and dancing in special sing-song houses. Not all performed sexual services, but many did. They generally saw themselves as lovers and not prostitutes. Sing-song girls did not have distinctive costumes or make-up. Often they wore Shanghai cheongsam as upper-class Chinese women did. Sing-song girls often performed amateur versions of Chinese opera for clients and often wore the traditional Chinese opera costume for small group performance. The girls had one or several male sponsors who might or might not be married and relied on these sponsors to pay off family or personal debts or to sustain their high standard of living. Many sing-song girls married their sponsors to start a free life.

CLASSES OF SING - SONG GIRLS

Picture source:Pinterest; Sing song girls in training; 1930s; Ellen Thorbecke
Among sing-song girls were actually several subclasses of performers divided by the quality of skill. Over time, these would evolve, beginning with one class, developing into four, and consolidating down to two before becoming obsolete during the Cultural Revolution.

Shuyu - Highest class were the Shuyu (storytellers), who traced their professional roots back to ancient imperial entertainers. These were skilled in cultured entertainments such as singing, playing instruments, writing poetry, and performing opera. Additionally, these were picked for beauty, trained in sophisticated conversation, and known for their extravagant dress. They were not known for their sexual services so much as for their artistry. Given time, the Shuyu class of entertainer would become assimilated into the Changsan class of prostitutes as a result of their reluctance towards offering sexual services.

Picture source:china-underground.com

Changsan - The Changsan ("long three") were the highest class of prostitutes. The term originally came from them charging three yuan for company and three more to spend the night. They maintained the class and artistry akin to the Shuyu, while still being distinctly part of the sex trade. For instance, their intimate company would require an elaborate period of courtship. Still, however, such relations were neither permanent nor monogamous.

Yao'er - The Yao'er ("one two") was the lower tier equivalent of the Changsan. It was named this way because they traditionally charged one yuan for entertainment and two for company. Originally there was an intermediary class called the Ersan ("two three") however, over times these became considered the same class as the Changsan. While Yao'er prostitutes were lower tier than Changsan, they still focused on entertainment as well as sexual services. However, they charged less than the Changsan, and accordingly their beauty, singing, and performances were not as good.

CULTURAL IMPACT

Picture source:Pinterest; 1920s Sing - song girl

In Shanghai, Sing-song girls became a unique part of the city's culture, one which, in turn, affected the culture of other parts of China. As Shanghai was divided into different concessions loosely governed by multiple parties, there was greater freedom there for sing-song girls to come into the public eye without legal repercussions. This opened the door, allowing for the entertainment culture of the sing-song girls to impact the more traditional Chinese culture.

Picture source:Henri-Cartier Bresson; 1949 Shanghai Sing - song girls

While even the highest class Changsan could not escape the ignominy of the sex trade, in some ways, that liberated them to flaunt a provocative culture which conservative Chinese tradition would not allow. Traditional views held that once married, a woman had no need to impress anyone. In conjunction with Confucian ideals of the virtues of modesty, this led to a standard of dress aimed to hide the form of the body within. However, sing-song girls, being unburdened such virtues, unmarried and perpetually courting were free not only to explore high fashion, but also to adapt it to be more. An example of this can be seen in the cheongsam which not only became more form fitting, but also became sleeveless with a long slit running up each side.

Picture source:Radio Days

In general, the fact that sing-song girls were solely focused on entertainment meant that they were able to push the envelope of culture and style. For instance, they often decorated their parlors with expensive decor and modern amenities, making them culturally progressive to the point where there are documented cases of women sneaking into the entertainment houses to catch a glimpse of what the latest decorations and fashions were. Additionally, the fact that the sing-song girls were often courted by prominent individuals in society gave them further attention, even notoriety. For instance, it was not uncommon for famous sing-song girls to be invited to publicly accompany their courters allowing for them to further flaunt their fashion.

Picture source:YouTube
Sing-song girls would also be some of the first individuals in Chinese society to penetrate mass media. For instance, some sing-song girls began to use portraits of themselves as a way to attract business, early business cards. Moreover, the advent of mass advertisement and its use of women to market products resulted in the circulation of images of famous sing-song girls being displayed as the apparent standard of dress and beauty.
In a way, at least in Shanghai, the highest class sing-song girls became the first modern celebrities. Their fame came to them, not because of their virtues and industry, rather because of their association with high culture and the latest fashion. Accordingly, they used that fame to continue stretching the confines placed by conservative culture in ways which popularized modern technology and the expression of feminine sexuality.

ACCOUNT OF AN ENCOUNTER WITH SHANGHAI SING-SONG GIRLS

Picture source:china-underground.com
Found on shanghaisojourns.net, from “Night Sounds in Shanghai”
By James W. Bennett

"In five minutes I learned the reason for that wink, for three girls, dressed in gorgeous silks, appeared at my table. They knelt down on cushions at my feet. Their ages appeared to be about thirteen years, but they were painted and calcimined within an inch of their lives. They were Chinese "Sing-song Girls," the cabaret singers of the Celestial Empire, the geishas of China.

"No wantchee," I said.

In a flash one girl jumped up and frowned at me. "I spiggoty Eeng-leesh veree goodee. You right now tellee Bossman you wantchee me come singee one song. Hell-dam', here I am. I veree goodee singee."

"All right, infant," I capitulated weakly, "trot out your grand opera," and she, sensing my consent, if not understanding my words, motioned to her orchestra.

Now, a Sing-song girl's orchestra consists of one player, and each girl has her own accompanist. The "orchestra" of my linguistic singer was a wrinkled octogenarian with rheumy almost sightless eyes who performed upon the squawkiest Chinese fiddle I had ever heard. He played four notes and then the girl began to sing. Her voice was stupendous in volume; it was shrill as the grating of a hundred files; it was as tuneless as the first notes of a rooster, heard by an insomnia-ridden man. How can I describe that song?  Imagine a man yodeling a cracked falsetto at the top of his voice and religiously attempting to sing two out of every three notes a half beat out of time and two degrees out of harmony, then permit him to be assisted by vicious interruptions from a pocket edition of a horse-fiddle and you have the tout ensemble of a Chinese cabaret song.

The other two children sang their songs with equally enthusiastic furor. I have been many times told that the Sing-song girls are not children. It has been patiently explained to me that they are never younger than fifteen years of age, and more often their ages average from twenty to twenty-five years. But they are all so tiny; their hair dressed with the long bangs that proclaims the unmarried woman, their flowered jackets and absurdly high-water trousers--all makes them seem like little children, costumed and be-painted for some amateur festival.

After they had finished their song they bowed low to me, and the girl who first sang asked if I would do her the honorable favor of presenting her with my pocket handkerchief and three of my calling cards. I did so.

She thanked me very prettily, and then, with all the importance of a conjuror doing a famous trick, she scrutinized my visiting card and said:

"Now, I weel read your mas' honorable dam' name. It ees-'Jambs Ben-eeet'."

Whereupon, with a delightedly triumphant smile, she tucked my pocket-handkerchief in her jacket, apparently as a memento of the occasion. The two other girls crowded about her, and she distributed the two remaining visiting cards. This ceremony completed she led her troupe of co-stars away".

Information sources

Wikipedia

shanghaisojourns.net

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