Shanghai’s Dancing World

by Field, Andrew David

• ISBN13: 9789629964481
• ISBN10: 9629964481
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: Chinese Univ Pr

Summary

Drawing upon a unique and untapped reservoir of sources, this study traces the origin, pinnacle, and ultimate demise of a commercial dance industry in Shanghai between the end of the First World War and the early years of the People's Republic of China. Delving deep into the world of cabarets, nightclubs, and elite ballrooms that arose in the 1920s, the book assesses how and why Chinese society incorporated and transformed this westernized world of leisure and entertainment. Focusing on the jazz-age nightlife of the city in its "golden age," the work examines issues of colonialism and modernity, jazz and African-American culture, urban space, sociability and sexuality, and latter-day Chinese national identity formation in a tumultuous era of war and revolution.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface and Acknowledgements	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
The Social
From Grand Balls to Jazz Cabarets: Westerners and Jazz-Age Culture in Shanghai, 1919-1926	p. 19
Turning Lazy Old Opium Smokers into Spry Jazz Maniacs The Rise of Chinese Dance Madness and the First Chinese Cabarets, 1927-1931	p. 53
Towers and Palaces Ballroom Architecture and Interior Design, 1929-1936	p. 83
Important Attractions Cabaret Hostesses and the Popularization of Cabaret Culture in Chinese Society, 1932-1937	p. 119
Improper Amusement Chinese Patrons, Chinese Nationalist Politics, and Cabaret Culture, 1932-1937	p. 153
The Political
Ballrooms and Bombs Cabarets, Underground Intrigue, and Occupation Politics, 1937-1941	p. 177
Regulations and Interventions Cabarets under Japanese and Nationalist Occupation, 1942-1947	p. 207
Resist to the End! The Nationalist Government's Ban on Cabarets and the Dancers' Uprising of 1948	p. 233
Building a New Society The Demise of Cabarets under the CCP, 1949-1954	p. 263
Epilogue	p. 285
Appendices 1-4	p. 293
Notes	p. 309
Bibliography	p. 335
Index	p. 343
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