Ninety-eight years ago today, on June 20, 1927 (May 21, 1927), the masses voted for the "Four Famous Dems". There has been a misunderstanding about the origin of the title of "Four Famous Dems" to this day, that is, many people believe that this title comes from an audience voting activity. In other words, the "Four Famous Dems" were elected by vote. In other words, this voting activity is to elect "Mingdan". This statement, for a long time, was very "authoritative" and very common, and it was widely quoted. A biographer wrote: "In 1927, the Beijing Shuntian Times held the first national selection of famous actors. This is completely a spontaneous behavior of the masses, voting to elect the famous actors in their hearts, and the result depends on the number of votes received. After some competition, Mei Lanfang won the top four with "The Legend of Taizhen", Shang Xiaoyun with "Modern Jiayu", Cheng Yanqiu with "The Legend of Red Flower", and Xun Huisheng with "Danqing Introduction", which is called the Four Famous Dans of China (or the Four Famous Dans of Peking Opera). "In fact, the full name of this voting activity is" In order to promote new dramas and reward artists, we are now holding a voting activity to collect the top five famous actors for new dramas " (5th edition of Shuntian Times, June 20, 1927). That is to say, the voting activity is mainly aimed at the new dramas of the "five famous actors", and does not involve a comprehensive evaluation of the personal art of the five of them. The "five famous actors" are Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, Xun Huisheng and Xu Biyun. More accurately, the rules of the event are to ask voters to choose the best play from the five new dramas. A month later, the voting exercise ended. On July 23, "Shuntian Times" announced the voting results. " The best performances of the "Five Famous Stars" were: Mei Lanfang's "The Legend of Taizhen", which received a total of 1,774 votes; Cheng Yanqiu's "The Legend of Hongfu", which received a total of 4,785 votes; Shang Xiaoyun's "Modern Jia Nu", which received a total of 6,628 votes; Xun Huisheng's "Danqing Yin", which received a total of 1,254 votes; and Xu Biyun's "Green Pearl", which received a total of 1,709 votes. This event, from the beginning of the publication of the advertisement, to the voting process, and finally the announcement of the results, only used the name "Five Famous Stars" instead of "Five Famous Stars". This has two consequences: First, some people infer that before this, there was no such thing as "Four Famous Stars" (or "Five Famous Stans"). Otherwise, the organizers should use the "five famous denizens" instead of the "five famous actors"; second, because of this, some people have come to the conclusion that the title of the "four famous denizens" was established after this voting activity, that is, elected. Obviously, such a conclusion is not in line with reality. First of all, this voting activity is only aimed at a new play of five people, not to select which one is stronger or weaker. Secondly, if the "four famous denizens" is generated because of this voting activity, then it should also be "five famous denizens". Why omit Xu Biyun and only say "four famous denizens"? In addition, if ranked by the number of votes, the first place is Shang Xiaoyun's "Modern Jiamu", followed by Cheng Yanqiu's "The Legend of Hongfu", then Mei Lanfang's "The Legend of Taizhen", then Xu Biyun's "Green Pearl", and finally Xun Huisheng's "Danqing Introduction". If the purpose of this event is indeed to elect the "Four Famous Men", then, according to the number of votes, the top four should also be Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, Mei Lanfang, and Xu Biyun. Why is Xun Huisheng finally ranked among the "Four Famous Men", but Xu Biyun is missing? From this perspective alone, the conclusion that the "Four Famous Demonstrators" are elected by fans and readers is wrong. Voting is one of the claims that established the title of the "Four Famous Demonstrators". This claim was eventually overturned by the facts. In addition, there is another claim that is even less convincing and not worth refuting. It is said that between 1924 and 1925, at the hall meeting of the warlord Zhang Zongchang's family, Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu and Xun Huisheng collaborated on the "Four Five Flower Cave". In this performance of "Four Five Flower Cave", Mei and Shang played two real golden lotus; Cheng and Xun played two fake golden lotus. Due to the unique characteristics of the performances of the four people, the artistic level is difficult to distinguish, so there is a saying of "four famous denizens". This statement is very vague, and it is not clear who was the first to call out the name "four famous denizens". As far as the existing materials are concerned, it is basically certain that the title of "four famous denizens" was first proposed by Changsha Dafeng of Tianjin Tianfeng Daily. The basis is: First, it is derived from the memories of three insiders. They are Sha Lanyue, the son of Sha Dafeng, Xue Gengxin, a curator of the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History, and Chen Chonglu of Zhenhai, Ningbo. Xue Gengxin once wrote an article in Shanghai Literature and History, claiming that Mei Lanfang once said such words to him personally. Chen Chonglu said that he had seen a seal of Sha Dafeng with the words "I sealed the Four Famous Demons" on it. According to Sha Linyue's recollection, the "Four Great Diamonds" actually borrowed the name of the "Four Great Vajra" that was widely circulated at the time. The "Four Great Vajra" refers to four people including Cheng Ke, the cabinet minister of the warlord Cao Kun. Some people say that because Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Zhu Qinxin are no less famous than the "Four Great Vajra", some people call them the "Four Great Vajra in the Lingjie". Later, Xun Huisheng replaced Zhu Qinxin. The "Four Great Vajra in the Lingjie" also refers to Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng. Sha Lanyue also said that his father, Sha Dafeng, was quite dismissive of the title "Four Great Vajra in the Lingjie". He felt that the angry eyes of King Kong did not match the beautiful and heroic appearance of the Four Demons, so he changed the pen and changed it to "Four Great Vajra". Second, Zheng Zibao, the head writer of Shanghai's early drama magazine "Half Moon Drama" and the owner of the Plum Blossom Restaurant specializing in drama criticism, wrote an article in the early 1940s entitled "The Origin of the Success of the" Four Great Vajra ". Although he did not say it explicitly, his assertion actually confirmed the claim that" the four famous demons were sealed by Sha Dafeng "from the side. More importantly, he directly explained the origin of the" four famous demons "because of Xun Huisheng. In this article of his, there is such a sentence: "Needless to say, those who advocate the'Four Famous Demonstrators' are the most vigorous, of course, the backbone members who support Liuxiang." "Liuxiang" is Xun Huisheng's name; "The backbone members who support Liuxiang" are the Xun school known as the "White Party". In the old capital, dignitaries, literati and scholars competed to praise their favorite artists, and even formed a special club group for this purpose. For example, Xun Huisheng, who holds the stage name "White Peony", has "Bai Society", and those who hold Shang Xiaoyun have "Yunshe". Correspondingly, members of the "society" are called "party", such as "Mei Party" and "White Party". So, why did the "White Party" promote Xun Huisheng and come up with the title of "Four Famous Demons"? In the article, the owner of the Plum Blossom Museum wrote with certainty: "Because at that time, Xun Huisheng was not far from the'White Peony 'of the Bangzi era. In terms of gadgets and prestige, he could not be compared with Mei, Shang, and Cheng, but the person who held the incense was very prosperous. He insisted on holding the incense to the same status as Mei, Shang, and Cheng, so he tried his best to create this slogan of the'Four Famous Demons'. According to Ding Bing, a famous Taiwanese drama critic, according to the owner of the Plum Blossom Museum, the "Four Famous Dems" first began in the "17th year of the Republic of China", that is, in 1928, the second year after the Shuntian Times held the "Voting Activity for the New Drama of the'Five Famous Actors'". From this perspective, it is not unreasonable to say that the "Four Famous Dems" were produced after this voting activity. It is just that it was not elected by voting, let alone determined by this voting activity.