Wang Lianying was a Chinese courtesan who was killed by Yan Ruisheng and his accomplices on 9 June 1920 near Shanghai in the Republic of China. Twenty-year-old Lianying had worked in Shanghai, known as the "Brothel of Asia", since 1916, gaining the title "Prime Minister of Flower Country" in 1917. Yan, meanwhile, was a university-educated youth deeply in debt due to expensive habits and frequent gambling.
Seeking to escape his debt, Yan decided to rob Lianying, who was known to adorn herself with expensive jewellery. After several days gaining her trust, Yan convinced her to join him on a drive through the Shanghai countryside. On the trip, the pair accompanied by Wu Chunfang and Fang Rishan stopped in a wheat field. The three men drugged Lianying with chloroform, strangled her, and dumped her body in an isolated place. Lianying's disappearance was noted later that night, and her body was discovered on 15 June. Investigators issued an arrest warrant for Yan four days later, and after several weeks he was arrested at the Xuzhou railway station; based on the content of Yan's confession, Wu was soon detained as well. Fang had escaped, but Yan and Wu were tried, convicted, and executed.
The killing of a famous courtesan by an educated man captured the imagination of Shanghai society. Newspaper coverage was extensive and lasted for months. By the end of July 1920, multiple books on Lianying and her killer had been published. Five theatre troupes staged performances based on the murder by the end of 1921, with a Pathé Orient pressing of arias from one Peking opera finding great commercial success. The case was adapted to film in 1921, with another retelling made in Hong Kong in 1938.
Background Shanghai, a major port and the gateway to the Yangtze Valley, has long been a commercial hub and a crossroads of Western and Eastern cultures.; In the mid-19th century, as China was experiencing extensive internal conflicts, the city saw an influx of migrants. Meanwhile, with its designation as a treaty port, Shanghai developed a sizeable expatriate community. The city continued to grow rapidly through the 1890s and 1900s, with new factories and storefronts opening regularly. It was divided into three administrations: the Chinese city proper, the French Concession, and the predominantly British Shanghai International Settlement. Among contemporary Chinese, it had a reputation for modernity and cosmopolitanism, being a major centre of literary, filmic, and musical production.; ;
In China, the practice of prostitution has historically been permitted, and at times licensed and taxed. Shanghai in particular became known as a centre of sex work and human trafficking. By the 1900s, it had gained the moniker the "Brothel of Asia"; in 1915 some 9,700 women were active as prostitutes in the International Settlement. These women, known as "flowers" () in Chinese and sing-song girls in English, ranged from well-respected entertainers to street prostitutes. The greatest beauties were lauded in guidebooks and tabloids regularly covered the intricacies of the business. "Elections" of courtesans, wherein patrons assessed courtesans' singing prowess and beauty, were held sporadically from the 1860s through the 1910s.
Biographies Wang Lianying Wang Lianying was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, to a Manchu commander in the Plain White Banner and his wife. Her father died during her childhood, and Lianying's mother married the teahouse owner Wang Changfa. The family was rendered destitute following the 1911 Revolution, and Lianying dropped out of the girls' school in which she was enrolled. She thereafter entered prostitution, gaining a reputation for her singing and her beauty. The tabloid The New World described her in a 1918 profile as highly literate and a scholar among women.
In 1916, Lianying arrived in Shanghai with a woman identified as her mother. She took residence with a popular courtesan, but after irreconcilable differences developed she left to establish her own brothel. She gained recognition following the 1917 courtesan election, winning fourth place and gaining the title "Prime Minister of Flower Country" (). In the following years she worked with several other courtesans, including the prominent madame Xu Di. She gave birth to a daughter in 1919. By her twentieth birthday, Lianying was working at a brothel in Xiao Huayan, one of Shanghai's major courtesan hubs.
Yan Ruisheng
Yan Ruisheng, the perpetrator of the killing, was a twenty-six-year-old man who lived in Qingpu with his widowed mother.; The Yan family traced their roots to the Henan region. Yan was university educated, having enrolled at Aurora University at age sixteen. After completing his studies four years later, Yan spent time in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was reported to speak English and French fluently; he had also learned to drive, a rare skill at the time. During his trial, he identified as a Roman Catholic.
Yan worked variously as a translator for the Franco-Chinese Mining Company and as a clerk for the French Tramway Company, both in Shanghai. He had also been married, though neighbours said that the couple had separated some time before the murder. By January 1920, Yan was unemployed. He was a man of expensive tastes, being known to frequent cinemas, bet on horse racing, and hire prostitutes.; Even while unemployed, he did not stop gambling or frequenting courtesans, and thus fell deep into debt. As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, Yan was under increased pressure: according to industry custom, all debts to courtesans were expected to have been paid in full by the date of the festival.
Murder Planning Seeking to escape his debt, Yan borrowed a diamond ring from Ti Hongguan (), his favourite courtesan. He pawned it for 600 yuan (equivalent to ¥ in 2023), which he subsequently lost betting on horses at the Jiangwan Racecourse. Facing pressure to return the ring, he decided to rob a courtesan. As his target, he chose Lianying. Although Yan had never been a client of hers, she had a reputation for wearing expensive jewellery;; a friend had also described her as wearing a diamond ring and luxurious clothing during one of their encounters.
Using calling cards borrowed from friends, Yan met Lianying on 4 and 7 June 1920; another attempt, on 5 June, received no response. During these interactions, Yan estimated that her diamond ring was worth 2,000 yuan (equivalent to ¥ in 2023). He brought several friends, including Zhu Zhija () the son of the wealthy merchant Zhu Baosan to her house on 8 June for a gambling session, thereby establishing himself as a man with wealthy friends. At the end of their session, Yan invited her to join him for a mahjong game the following day. Having arranged to pick Lianying up at the home of Xiao Lin Daiyu (), another courtesan, Yan subsequently asked to borrow Zhu's car.
On 9 June, Yan began to acquire the implements he needed for the murder. He purchased chloroform from the King Sing Dispensary, then hired his acquaintance Wu Chunfang () as an accomplice.; Promising to pay Wu 100 yuan (equivalent to ¥ in 2023) for his assistance, and to allow him to keep any goods valued at a thousand yuan or greater, Yan sent him to purchase something with which to strangle Lianying. Yan travelled to Zhu's house to retrieve his car. After dismissing Zhu's chauffeur by giving him money for a shave and haircut, Yan met Wu at a teahouse. Wu brought with him a third man, Fang Rishan (), whom he retained to help in the robbery.;
Robbery and murder His accomplices in place, Yan attempted to find Lianying, but as she was not at Xiao Lin Daiyu's home he returned to the teahouse. Lianying arrived at the home of Xiao Lin Daiyu at approximately 6:30 p.m., adorned with numerous pieces of jewellery. Upon meeting her, Yan told Lianying that the mahjong game had been cancelled, and offered instead to take her for a drive through the Shanghai countryside. Initially hesitant, Lianying ultimately agreed to join him. They left Shanghai along Hongqiao Road, with Yan driving, Lianying in the passenger seat, and Wu and Fang in the rear.;
As dusk approached, Yan stopped the car amidst the fields outside Shanghai, ostensibly to light the headlamp. He retrieved the chloroform from the trunk and poured it over a cotton pad, which was used to smother Lianying. When she struggled and begged for her life, they added more until she fell unconscious. At this point, the men separated. Yan, seeing that a peasant was approaching, distracted him by offering a ride in the car. Wu and Fang stole Lianying's jewellery, then strangled her.
After Yan returned, Lianying's body was loaded into the car, with the intent of dumping it in a more isolated area. As Yan drove, Wu and Fang divided the stolen goods, distracting him long enough to hit a tree and damage the vehicle. When they reached a suitably isolated area, Yan stopped. At this point, Lianying was still breathing, and he thus instructed his accomplices to kill her while he returned the car. By the time he returned at midnight, having paid off the chauffeur to conceal the damage, the other men were gone. Lianying's body was left exposed to the elements, and Yan went to sleep at the home of Ti Hongguang.
Discovery and investigation
Later that night, Lianying's parents contacted Zhu to inquire about her; Zhu, assuming that the rendezvous had culminated in a sexual encounter, assured them that she would return soon and promised to look into the matter. After discovering the damage to his car on 10 June, Zhu became suspicious. He found Yan near the Tihong Pawnshop the following day, attempting to redeem Ti Hongguan's ring. When asked about Lianying's whereabouts, Yan left, claiming that he needed to make a telephone call.; Later that evening, Yan asked Wu to bury Lianying's corpse, though this request went unheeded. On 12 June, the supplemental Little Eastern Times and the tabloid The Crystal published notices that Lianying had disappeared, and the following day a 500 yuan (equivalent to ¥ in 2023) reward was posted for her safe return.
Lianying's badly decomposed body was discovered, alongside the murder weapon, by farmers in a wheat field in Hui Township on 15 June.; ; Initial coverage, carried in newspapers such as the Shen Bao and the Min Kuo Jih Pao, incorrectly reported that the body belonged to a forty-year-old woman. These reports described the body as wearing a striped shirt and pants, with bare feet that showed no signs of binding. Further coverage, published the following day, identified the cause of death and suggested that the victim had been a prostitute. Lianying was identified in the press as the likely victim on 17 June, and the news that she had last been seen with Yan was released three days later.
As detectives with the International Settlement investigated the killing, Lianying's body was sent for identification. On 18 June, her corpse was identified based on a hair ornament. Rewards were offered for information leading to the arrest of the murderer. One gold pin was recovered from a local pawn shop. Local authorities, seeking to prevent further murders, ordered that no calls for courtesans be allowed after midnight. By 20 June 1920 investigators had interrogated all of Lianying's clients. Zhu was identified as potentially involved in the murder as early as 18 June, and his father's prominence drew the public's attention.