Shanghai Nights (夜上海) by Zhou Xuan ( 周璇 ). 1949.
Zhou Xuan (1918-1957), born Su Pu (蘇璞), was a Chinese film and music icon. She became one of China’s Seven Great Singing Stars ( 七大歌星 ) by the 1940s. Nicknamed “Golden Voice,” she was the best known out of the seven. She recorded more than 200 songs and acted in over 40 films in her career. At the age of 13, Zhou took her stage name, Xuan, meaning “beautiful jade” in Chinese. Shanghai Nights is a shidaiqu and the title track of a film with the same name.
Zhou’s career began when she acted for Li Jinhui’s Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe in 1932. She placed second in a Shanghai singing contest and was nicknamed “Golden Voice” (金嗓子) for her elegant high-pitched technique. In 1935, Zhou made her big screen debut in director Yuan Muzhi’s Street Angel (馬路天使). She also recorded its two theme songs, Four Seasons (四季歌 ) and The Wandering Songstress (天涯歌女 ), which remain widely popular today along with her other famous tunes. She quickly rose to fame and became the most popular singer in the gramophone era until her death, acting and singing the themes to her own movies.
Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life due to her illegitimate children, failed marriages and suicide attempts. She often spent her days in mental institutions due to her frequent mental breakdowns. She passed away at the age of 39 in a mental asylum in Shanghai during the Anti-Rightist Movement. It was concluded that she suffered from cerebritis. Encephalitis after a nervous breakdown may have been the cause of her death.
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