Xu Lai

Xu Lai (; 1909 – 4 April 1973) was a Chinese film actress, socialite, and World War II secret agent. Known as the "Standard Beauty", she was active in the film industry for only three years, and quit acting after the suicide of the great star Ruan Lingyu in 1935. Her first husband was Li Jinhui, the "Father of Chinese pop music".

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Xu and her second husband, Lieutenant General Tang Shengming, ostensibly served under the Japanese-controlled Nanking puppet regime, but secretly worked as agents for the Republic of China resistance based in Chongqing.

With the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, Xu and Tang defected to the People's Republic of China. They were severely persecuted during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Xu died in prison in 1973; her husband survived and lived until 1987.

Early life

Xu Lai was born in 1909 to a poor family in Shanghai. Her original name was Xu Xiaomei and she was also called Xu Jiefeng . Due to poverty, she began working at a British-owned egg factory in Zhabei at the age of 13, but was later able to attend school after her family fortunes improved.

In 1927, Xu attended the China Song and Dance School run by Li Jinhui, who is now considered the "Father of Chinese pop music". She also joined Li's Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe and toured many cities in China and Southeast Asia. She married Li, who was 18 years her senior, in 1930, and gave birth to a daughter named Xiaofeng.

Film career and other activities

In 1932, Xu Lai was recruited by Zhou Jianyun, a cofounder of the Mingxing Film Company, to join the studio. She became famous after starring in the 1933 silent film Remnants of Spring , in which she appeared in probably the earliest female bath scene in the history of Chinese cinema.

Xu became widely known as the "Standard Beauty", and a ceremony was held to crown her the "Beauty Queen of the Far East". The Shanghai Chinese Women's Association strongly disapproved of her "coronation". Among the objections raised was that she "shocked the public by exhibiting herself in the nude", referring to her bath scene.

The suicide of actress Ruan Lingyu in 1935, which caused three other women to commit suicide during her long funeral procession, had a major impact on Xu Lai. She quit acting after finishing her last film, The Boatman's Daughter , directed by Shen Xiling. It was an acrimonious divorce and Li requested compensation for the investment he had made in training her.

Secret agent In 1936, Xu Lai married Tang Shengming , a Kuomintang Lieutenant General from a prominent Hunanese family. Xu's assistant Zhang Suzhen , a Juntong secret agent, became Tang's concubine, and Shanghai tabloids often reported salacious stories of the three sharing the same bed. On 4 April 1973, Xu died in prison after years of torture and maltreatment, at the age of 64. Tang survived the tumultuous period, and lived until 1987.