In this Book

Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics, 1919–1954

Book
By Andrew David Field
2010
Published by: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
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Drawing upon a unique and untapped reservoir of newspapers, magazines, novels, government documents, photographs and illustrations, this book 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 city in the 1920s and peaked in the 1930s, the book assesses how and why Chinese society incorporated and transformed this westernized world of leisure and entertainment to suit its own tastes and interests. Focusing on the jazz-age nightlife of the city in its "golden age," the book examines issues of colonialism and modernity, urban space, sociability and sexuality, and modern Chinese national identity formation in a tumultuous era of war and revolution.

Table of Contents

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Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

pp. 1-6

Contents

pp. vii-viii

List of Illustrations

pp. ix-x

Preface and Acknowledgements

pp. xi-xvi

Abbreviations

pp. xvii-xviii

Introduction

pp. 1-18

1. From Grand Balls to Jazz Cabarets: Westerners and Jazz-Age Culture in Shanghai, 1919–1926

pp. 19-52

2. Turning Lazy Old Opium Smokers into Spry Jazz Maniacs: The Rise of Chinese Dance Madness and the First Chinese Cabarets, 1927–1931

pp. 53-82

3. Towers and Palaces: Ballroom Architecture and Interior Design, 1929–1936

pp. 83-118

4. Important Attractions: Cabaret Hostesses and the Popularization of Cabaret Culture in Chinese Society, 1932–1937

pp. 119-152

5. Improper Amusement: Chinese Patrons, Chinese Nationalist Politics, and Cabaret Culture, 1932–1937

pp. 153-176

6. Ballrooms and Bombs: Cabarets, Underground Intrigue, and Occupation Politics, 1937–1941

pp. 177-206

7. Regulations and Interventions: Cabarets under Japanese and Nationalist Occupation, 1942–1947

pp. 207-232

8. Resist to the End! The Nationalist Government’s Ban on Cabarets and the Dancers’ Uprising of 1948

pp. 233-262

9. Building a New Society: The Demise of Cabarets under the CCP, 1949–1954

pp. 263-284

Epilogue

pp. 285-292

Appendix 1-4

pp. 293-308

Notes

pp. 309-334

Bibliography

pp. 335-342

Index

pp. 343-364
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