On this day, 79 years ago, August 20, 1946 (July 24, 1946, the "Miss Shanghai" beauty pageant finals. Nowadays, talent shows are one of the highlights of major TV stations competing for ratings. More than two weeks ago, the 2009 Happy Girls had just come to an end, and programs such as Yue Women Competition, Oriental Angel, and My Show were still in full swing, and talent shows were attracting increasing attention. In fact, as early as August 1946, Shanghai held an unprecedented national draft event. This was also the first time in China that all sectors of society participated in it. Although some entertainment newspapers in Shanghai had previously held several beauty pageants, the objects were all limited to prostitutes. The successful candidates were called "No. 1 in the flower world","Tanhua" and "No. 2 in the late Qing Dynasty, and were called" President of the Flower Country "," Vice President "and" Prime Minister "in the early Republic of China. After 1927, due to the turbulent political situation, similar activities were suspended for a time. It was not until 1946 that this "Miss Shanghai" disaster relief beauty contest, which was different from the previous "Queen of the Flower Country", was launched, opening the eyes of the Shanghai People's Congress and shaking the country. At the end of spring 1946, the Huaihe River flooded, the Jianghuai Plain suffered severe floods, smallpox, malaria, and cholera were prevalent, and 3 million refugees were displaced. Among them, hundreds of thousands of refugees from northern Jiangsu poured into Shanghai. On June 24, 1946, the "Shanghai City Fundraising Committee of the Northern Jiangsu Refugee Relief Association" was established under the banner of alleviating the victims of northern Jiangsu. As the amount of donations raised was far from the relief demand of 2 billion yuan in French currency, the fundraising meeting decided to launch a beauty pageant with the nature of a garden party. All the proceeds from the event would be used to relieve and resettle homeless refugees in Shanghai. The "Miss Shanghai" campaign came into being. This gave Shanghai people after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War an excellent stage to connect entertainment and politics. On July 26, 1946, a year after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, major newspapers in Shanghai published an eye-catching notice: Celebrities and beautiful women from Shanghai City were welcome to sign up for the election of "Miss Shanghai"! Shanghai in the 1930s and 1930s has become the fashion capital of China for the sake of showing the beauty pageant. However, people still hold the impression of the past and believe that it is not a decent activity that good women can participate in, so "Miss Shanghai" In the first few days of the beauty pageant advertisements, few registrations were registered. After a bad start, the organizers begged the "Subei Refugee Relief Association" to hire the behind-the-scenes boss. Du Yuesheng, a tycoon in Shanghai Beach at that time, personally stepped forward to lobby. He invited reporters from major newspapers in Shanghai to explain that this beauty pageant was different from the past and was of a social disaster relief nature. In fact, Du Yuesheng had his own ideas for hosting this beauty pageant. A year ago, Du Yuesheng had just returned to Shanghai from Hong Kong. At that time, Japan had announced its unconditional surrender and the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was won. Du Yuesheng thought that he had supported Chiang Kai-shek throughout the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War. Now that Japan had surrendered, the position of mayor of Shanghai City was his own. But Chiang Kai-shek had other plans. On August 13, 1945, the Kuomintang government announced Qian Dajun as mayor of Shanghai City and Wu Shaoshu as deputy mayor in Chongqing. Wu Shaoshu was once Du Yuesheng's subordinate, but now he has become a receiving official in Shanghai City, making Du Yuesheng feel like a thorn in his throat. Although Du Yuesheng did not become the mayor of Shanghai City as he wished, he was not willing and kept secretly waiting for the opportunity. And this opportunity is to hold a "Miss Shanghai" beauty pageant. 1946 was an extremely turbulent year for China people. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the peaceful years that China had expected did not come. Chiang Kai-shek launched a civil war with the support of the United States. The common people were very disgusted with the civil war, and many patriotic democrats gathered together to petition the Nanjing government. On June 23, 1946, more than 50,000 people from all walks of life in Shanghai gathered at the North Railway Station to bid farewell to Ma Xulun, Lei Jieqiong and other peace petitioners to Nanjing. At 7 p.m. that day, the Shanghai Peace Petition Group arrived at Xiaguan Station in Nanjing. As soon as they arrived at Xiaguan, they were beaten by Kuomintang spies. Many people were injured and hospitalized. The Xiaguan massacre shocked all those who hoped for peace. After the bloody incident occurred, Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu and others from the Communist Party of China delegation in Nanjing rushed to the hospital to visit the injured representatives and protested to the Kuomintang authorities, demanding that the culprit be punished. However, as soon as the people of Shanghai saw hope, they fell into a deeper disaster. In the late spring of 1946, the northern Jiangsu Plain was hit by continuous heavy rains and floods, displacing 3 million refugees. The people of northern Jiangsu, who had just suffered from floods, encountered another drought. The harvest of farmland and crops was exhausted. Malaria, cholera and other diseases were prevalent. Large numbers of refugees flocked to various cities along the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou route. At that time, the Kuomintang government was busy fighting civil war and had no time to worry about the famine. In order to appease the victims and stabilize the Kuomintang's rule, the Kuomintang decided to provide relief to the refugees. However, the national government's treasury was empty and could not provide money. At this time, someone mentioned Du Yuesheng to Chiang Kai-shek. At that time, there was a need to donate 2 billion yuan in disaster relief funds, but Du Yuesheng agreed immediately. This matter can be said to be exactly what Du Yuesheng wanted, and he hoped to take this opportunity to regain his important position in Chiang Kai-shek's heart. In this way, Du Yuesheng personally presided over the establishment of the "Shanghai Fundraising Committee of the Northern Jiangsu Refugee Relief Association". Afterwards, Du Yuesheng made a decision to raise disaster relief funds by holding an event to select "Miss Shanghai". The beauty pageant controversy has aroused people's hearts. Du Yuesheng is a major shareholder of Shenbao and understands the importance of public opinion. Under his influence,"Shenbao" and "News" did a lot of reports. On August 2, a girl named Gao Qingyi from the Shanghai Minli Women's High School was the first to sign up. After Du Yuesheng found out about this matter, he immediately seized on the matter and promoted that Gao Qingyi was a very pure girl. Her participation proved that this "Miss Shanghai" election was different from previous female candidates and was not a mess. The effect of this publicity was immediate, and in a short time, the number of applicants exceeded 3000. Under the banner of disaster relief, celebrities in the entertainment industry such as Yan Huizhu and Tong Zhiling from Shanghai Beach, and film stars Bai Yang and Zhou Xuan also signed up for the election. For a time, in the streets and alleys of Shanghai Beach, the Miss Shanghai beauty pageant became a topic that countless citizens talked about every day. At that time, the procedures and standards for beauty pageants had certain requirements for the height and appearance of the applicants, and each person had to submit a 4-inch photo. Unlike previous beauty pageants, the talent show added swimming events, which required candidates to wear swimsuits to appear, which was a shocking move at the time. The "Queen of Singers" Han Jingqing Beauty Ball was expensive and was held in the Xinxianlin Ballroom. It was held in the form of an open-air ball. Each ticket was 20,000 yuan, which was equivalent to about 8,000 yuan in US dollars at the time. In addition to the income from tickets, each contestant also uses valuable ballots. To participate in this beauty pageant, the first thing to buy is to participate in this beauty pageant. Ballot of various colors represents different currency values. No matter who you are optimistic about, you have to pay for it as long as you participate. This Miss Shanghai campaign can be said to be unprecedented in scale. The American MGM Pictures Company also sent people to Shanghai to shoot a news documentary of the event. On the eve of the finals, major newspapers made predictions on who would be the winner of Miss Shanghai. Among the people, a girl named Xie Jiahua cries loudly because this girl is not only beautiful, but also graduated from Fudan University in business. Her father is a chemical materials tycoon in Shanghai, has a good family and strong social skills. At 7 p.m. on August 20, 1946, at the entrance of the Xinxianlin Ballroom, there was a gathering of canopies and a surge of people. The Miss Shanghai Finals are about to kick off here, with as many as 3000 spectators attending that day. Those sitting on the rostrum included the Director of the Social Affairs Bureau and the Chairman of Zhejiang Industrial Bank. The awarding guest at that time was Mei Lanfang. At 11 o'clock in the evening, the Miss Shanghai election campaign was held on site, and Du Yuesheng, the chief supervisor, announced the selection results in turn. Wang Yunmei was elected "Miss Shanghai" with more than 60,000 votes. However, no one had heard of the winner Wang Yunmei before, and even her address, phone number, or photo were not on the registration materials. Regarding Wang Yunmei, the mysterious "Miss Shanghai","Shenbao" reported this way at the time: "She was not seen at every meeting during the election period, but her ability to sell bonds and raise funds was better than all candidates. Soon, the powerful tabloid reporters dug out the inside story. Wang Yunmei's original name was Wang Guohua. She had once been a dancer at Shanghai Xianle Dance Palace. She was a well-known social butterfly and was Fan Shaozeng's mistress at that time. Fan Shao was once a famous warlord in Sichuan. In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, he was ordered to lead a Sichuan army on an expedition and served as a commander. The reason for this result is that Fan Shaozeng and Du Yuesheng had a long friendship as early as the 1920s and 1930s. In his early years, Du Yuesheng started his business by selling tobacco soil, and Fan Shao was his partner at the time. In addition, Fan Shaozeng was originally a bully in Sichuan. Du Yuesheng often traveled between Shanghai and Chongqing. He was always unable to defeat the local snake. Du Yuesheng carefully safeguarded his relationship with Fan Shaozeng. After Du Yuesheng's early history of making a fortune by selling opium was dug up by tabloids, the newspaper disclosed that Du Yuesheng, the chief scrutineer, had spent huge sums of money to support Wang Yunmei's election campaign. Whether it was shady or manipulated, the "Miss Shanghai" finally "surfaced" under more than 3000 pairs of eyes at the scene. Xie Jiahua, who was originally favored by the public, was runner-up in "Miss Shanghai"; Liu Deming was awarded the title of "Miss Shanghai"; Yan Huizhu was awarded the title of Peking Opera Queen; Han Jingqing was awarded the title of Singer Queen; and Guan Minli was awarded the title of Queen of Dance Country. On the face of it, the election campaign seems to have made a lot of money. The more than 3000 tickets alone is not a small number, not to mention the huge number of votes. However, the award-winning "queen" who participated in the competition did not receive any benefits, because all the funds raised were disaster relief funds, ostensibly saying that all of them would be donated to the country. However, in fact, this huge amount of disaster relief money was not distributed to refugees, but was divided up by financial oligarchs and reactionary politicians. Group photo of "Miss Shanghai"(from left: Wang Yunmei, Xie Jiahua, Liu Deming) However, even if they became "Miss Shanghai", many people did not get ahead because of it. On the contrary, some people became victims and victims of the old era and the old system. Xie Jiahua, runner-up of "Miss Shanghai", later entered the film industry, but the films he made were all mediocre works and had no big response. Later, Xie Jiahua married wealthy businessman Rong Meixin. In the eyes of outsiders, they were a match, but in fact their lives were not happy, especially for Xie Jiahua. After getting married, Rong Meixin did not allow Xie Jiahua to make movies again, but stayed at home to raise her ex-wife's eight children. This was certainly unacceptable to Xie Jiahua, a knowledgeable woman. To make matters worse, after marrying Xie Jiahua, Rong Meixin often went out to seek flowers. Xie Jiahua repeatedly asked for a divorce but failed. Finally, in July 1948, she swallowed a large amount of sleeping pills and committed suicide. Champion Wang Yunmei also gradually disappeared from the public eye and disappeared from sight. Yan Huizhu, the "Queen of Peking Opera", has been active on the Shanghai Peking Opera stage. She was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and committed suicide. "Singing Queen" Han Jingqing went to Taiwan to develop, became a well-known singer in Taiwan, and starred in many films. Later, she fell in love and married a famous scholar Liang Shiqiu, who was nearly 30 years older than her, and wrote a touching love story.