Beauty and Sorrow: A Real Butterfly

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Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Some people regard Butterfly's life as a "myth," and there's some truth to that. But upon closer reflection, one might argue that it's more like a "dream." In the past, Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly, "Don't I know whether it was Zhuangzi who dreamed he was a butterfly, or the butterfly who dreamed he was Zhuangzi?" Butterfly's life was "just an actor," but even she couldn't clarify whether it was "the butterfly who made the actor" or "the actor who made the butterfly." Was it "the play is life," or "life is a play"? It seemed that in her dream, Butterfly had already reached the peak of her life; in her dream, she had achieved a "dream-like legend" in the history of Chinese cinema. Her face was as round as a silver plate, her eyes bright and her teeth white, her skin smooth and her features well-proportioned. She was gentle and kind. Her image met the traditional standards of beauty in Chinese folklore. The dimples on her cheeks were her trademark, as she made women with dimples in that era lucky enough to be called "beautiful." She was sweet in appearance, tall and slender, graceful in demeanor, dignified in temperament, diligent, and clever. Writer Zhang Henshui described her as "unassuming and generous in character, deep and perceptive, quick-witted and decisive." She was seen as half like Baochai, a third like Xiren, and a twelfth like Qingwen. She was the "first 'Empress of Film' in Chinese history," regarded as "one of the best actresses in China in the 1930s and 1940s." "Beauty! Beauty! She could enchant a city and even a nation with her beauty, her natural charm captivating hearts," she was seen as an "unforgettable crowd favorite"—she had an endless amount of beauty.
Her path to success was filled with hardships. She experienced the struggles of her childhood and youth, faced the storm of public opinion over her first love, and even unexpectedly endured the immense social pressure of the "Crime of Beauty and" during the night when Northeast China fell, dancing with Zhang Xueliang. During the War of Resistance, she was held captive by Dai Li for three years, forced to smile through tears in her heart, unwillingly and longing for her husband—this was her "unspoken regret in life." In her later years, living abroad, she often recalled the words she had said to Ruan Lingyu when he took his own life: "Life is but a dream." She suddenly suffered a stroke while reminiscing about her past glory and left in her "final encore" of "the butterfly wants to fly away," "transforming into a butterfly" in her departure—she had an endless amount of sorrow.
This book is titled A Real Butterfly, introducing Butterfly's acting career in a richly illustrated and engaging format.