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Actress and singer, 白虹 (Bai Hong) was one of the “七大歌星” (Seven Great Singing Stars) of the 1930s and 1940s, along with Zhou Xuan, Yao Lee, and Bai Quang. She was part of Shanghai’s “Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe,” founded by composer, Li Jinhui.

Image source: Douban

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Zhou Xuan

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[tw: suicide attempts]

Zhou Xuan is a Chinese shidaiqu singer and film actress, the best known out of the 七大歌星. 

She was born Su Pu and was raised by adoptive parents after a relative who was addicted to opium sold her to a family called Wang, and she was later adopted by the Zhou family (the identities of her biological parents was not established until after her death, though she looked for them her whole life).

At fourteen, she started acting with the 明月歌舞团, a well-known performance troupe at the time, and, five years later, achieved fame with her role as one of the leads in Street Angel. In Shanghai, she was known as the “Golden Voice.” Her life was very tragic, riddled with frequent stays at asylums, breakdowns, failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. 

She died in 1957 at the age of 39 after starring in 43 films, including the 1944 version of 红楼梦, and releasing multiple records, which remain a staple of Mandarin music today. She has two sons, Zhou Wen and Zhou Wei. 

Chinese actress Michelle Yip (Ye Xuan/Yip Suen) is named after her, as Zhou Xuan was a favourite actress of her mother.

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“Tonight, the clouds are pale and the stars scarce. There is only you, only me - barely escaping from the darkness. But the darkness closely follows you. Tonight, the streams flow and night winds blow. There is only you, only me. Together in this time of calamity.”

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Bai Guang 白光 (1952)

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Wu Yingyin's "I Have Love"

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Zhou Xuan's "Seeking a Bosom Friend"

知音何處尋 - 周璇 

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I dare say Zhou Xuan (周璇) is the equivalent of Audrey Hepburn during her heyday.  She was a Chinese artist and singer who introduced the song “Shanghai Night” or 夜上海.  Her short tragic life ended at 39.  She remained one of the classic Chinese beauties to this day.

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Chang Loo's "Busy Fishing"

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Popular Chinese singer and film actress Zhou Xuan 周璇 (1918-1957). Image via CCTV-9

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Wu Yingyin's "Nocturne of the Min River"

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Singer 姚莉 Yao Lee (b. 1922), known as “The Silver Voice,” was active from the 1930s to the 1970s. Born in Shanghai, she began performing on the radio in 1935 at the age of 13, and later became one of the 七大歌星 (Seven Great Singing Stars). One of her most popular songs was “玫瑰玫瑰我愛你” (Rose, Rose, I Love You). Following the Communist takeover of China in 1949 and the subsequent denouncement and banning of shidaiqu as pornography, Yao fled to Hong Kong to continue her singing career there.

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Wu Yingyin's "From A Thousand Miles Away, the Bright Moon Sends My Love"

(I promise it sounds more poetic and romantic in the original language!)

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Chinese cinema’s legendary maneater Bai Guang 白光

from her 1949 film Blood-Stained Begonia 血染海棠紅

Courtesy of oldflames

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Wu Yingyin's "I Want to Forget You"

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Pathé Records song book featuring Zhou Xuan 周旋