''The Young Companion'', known as ''Liángyǒu'' () in Chinese, was a pictorial with captions in both Chinese and English, published in Shanghai beginning February 1926.
Although the direct translation of ''Liangyou'' is "Good Companion", the magazine bore the English name ''The Young Companion'' on the cover.
Called an "iconic magazine" and "a visual shortcut for 'old Shanghai'", the magazine has proven useful in modern times to examine the glamorous side of colonial-era Shanghai.
[ It may have been the most influential large-scale comprehensive pictorial in the 1920s, at least in Asia. It ceased publication in 1945. There were 174 issues in total, which includes the two special issues not given monthly issue numbers, the ''Sun Yat-sen Memorial Special Issue'' and the ''Eighth Anniversary'' issue. Since 1945, it has been repeatedly reestablished, but the impact has not been the same.
The magazine ran a mixture of content, including photography, art, literature and sports.]
History
In 1925 Wu Liande founded the Liangyou Book Company. A year later the ''Liangyou'' pictorial magazine was produced, also known as ''The Young Companion'', which was one among "a variety of pictorials" that the Liangyou Book Company produced. Wu Liande acted as the magazine's first editor-in-chief, but was unable to fully administer the post because of his need to attend to the larger business. After the 4th issue, he entrusted the editing to Zhou Shoujuan
Zhou Shoujuan 周瘦鵑 (30 June 1895 – 11 August 1968), born Zhou Zufu, courtesy name Guoxian, also known by his English name Eric Chow, was a Chinese novelist, screenwriter, literary editor, and English–to-Chinese literary translator.
Car ...
. Zhou did not stay long and left to study at Qilu University
Cheeloo University (, alternatively known as ''Shantung Christian College'') was a university in China, established by Hunter Corbett American Presbyterian, and other English Baptist, Anglican, and Canadian Presbyterian mission agencies in early ...
.
In March 1927 Liang Desuo took over editing of ''The Young Companion'' as its third editor-in-chief. Within two years, the monthly pictorial sales reached more than 30,000 copies, selling globally. Liang Desuo stayed for six years as the chief editor before leaving ''The Young Companion'' in July 1933 being replaced by Ma Guoliang.
In March 1930, it was changed to photogravure printing, and the quality was greatly improved. In August of this year, the 50th edition was increased to 42 pages with 3 pages of multicolored pages.
January to March 1938, he relocated to Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...
and fall of Shang in 1937. The magazine was suspended in Hong Kong during bankruptcy of the parent Liangyou Book Company, after a run of 138 issues. The new company that owned the magazine was the Liangyou Fuxing Book Company, who restarted ''The Young Companion'' in February 1939 in Shanghai under editor-in-chief Zhang Yuanheng (張沅恒). It ran until December 1941, when the 171st issue was published.
The war interfered with further publishing. Even though the Japanese had taken over the parent company Liangyou Fuxing Book Company, and Chinese owners cooperating reopened the company in April 1942, ''The Young Companions editor Zhang Yuanheng would not work with them. After the war in October 1945, he published the next and final (172nd) under the name ''Liangyou Picture Magazine''. The Liangyou Fuxing Book Company was closed after the war "in 1946, due to the guilt of shareholders."
Hong Kong Revival
In 1954 Wu Liande restarted his company in Hong Kong, and "re-released the overseas version of "Liangyou," ceasing publication in 1968. In 1984, Wu Fude, son of Wu Liande restarted the Liangyou Book Company, including the "Liangyou" pictorial. However, the magazine did not become as influential as its previous incarnation in Shanghai.
Gallery
The modern girl's dilemma, being pretty versus being active
The magazine was known for its cover-girls, beautiful women who appeared to be active, "modern girls in motion."[ The motion was really performed by the girls inside the magazine playing sports, while the cover-girls presented modern women, attractive to men in their non-traditional western clothes and implied activities.][
The women were ]modern girl
(also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I.
were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ve ...
s, appearing to not be dressed up looking for men, but living their lives and doing what they enjoyed doing. The modern girls of Shanghai appeared in the city's artwork, including magazines such as The Young Companion and Ling Long, but also in the advertisements of the city and calendars.[ The term modern girl normally applies to Japanese women of the time, but "the image of modern Chinese women became incorporated into that of the 'Modern Girl' in Japan."][
Modern scholar Maura Elizabeth Cunningham points out that in spite of the idea of the independence of the modern girl circulating in the period, the magazine showed women how women's sports could be used to satisfy the male gaze and give examples of a "model of femininity for female viewers to reproduce."][ She also pointed out that the magazine showed progress, with pictures inside the magazine not only showing beauty, but also women actively doing sports, something unimaginable a generation earlier.
File:Liangyou 005 cover Liang Xueqing.png, Painter Liang Xueqing on issue #5, June 1926. She later edited Wen Hwa
File:Liangyou 016 cover - Anna May Wong.png, Actress ]Anna May Wong
Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain intern ...
on issue #16, 1927
File:Liangyou 045 cover - Guan Zilan.jpg, Painter Guan Zilan with mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
on issue #45, 1930
File:Liangyou 051 cover - Chen Bo'er.jpg, Actress Chen Bo'er
Chen Bo'er (; 1907–1951) was a prolific and revolutionary left-wing Chinese actress and filmmaker in the 1930s and 40s before her premature death in 1951. She began her activism work in Shanghai, writing essays for magazines and newspapers, whe ...
on issue #51, 1930
File:Liangyou 057 cover Zhang Liying.jpg, Painter Georgette Chen
Georgette Liying Chendana Chen (; Born Chang Li Ying; 23 October 1906 – 15 March 1993), most commonly known as Georgette Chen, was a Singaporean painter and one of the pioneers of Modernism, modern Visual art of Singapore, Singaporean art as ...
on issue #57, 1931
File:Liangyou 069 cover.jpg, Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player on issue #69, 1932
File:Liangyou 070 cover - Hu Lanqi.jpeg, Writer and military leader, Hu Lanqi
Hu Lanqi (; 1901 – 13 December 1994), also spelled Hu Lanxi, was a Chinese writer and military leader. She joined the National Revolutionary Army in 1927 and the Chinese branch of the Communist Party of Germany in 1930. She was imprisoned b ...
on issue #70, 1932
File:Liangyou 077 cover - Yang Xiuqiong.jpg, Swimmer Yang Xiuqiong
Yeung Sau-king, also Yvonne Tan, Yang Xiuqiong and Yang Hsiu-chiung (; 25 April 1919 – 10 October 1982) was a Hong Kong Chinese swimmer. She was born in Tai Hang, Hong Kong.
Swimming
Yeung's talent in swimming was inspired by her parents, m ...
on issue #77, 1933
File:Liangyou 079 cover.jpg, Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
player on issue #79, c. 1933-34
File:Liangyou 086 cover Hu Die.jpg, Actress Hu Die with polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
gear on issue #86, 1934
File:Liangyou 102 cover.jpg, Actress Hu Ping on issue #102, February 1935
File:Liangyou 113 cover.jpg, Actress Mei Lin on issue #113, 1936
File:Liangyou 130 cover - Zheng Pingru.jpg, Socialite and spy Zheng Pingru on issue #130, 1937
File:Liangyou 131 cover - Chiang Kai-shek.jpg, Example of war years, issue #131, 1937 featuring Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
File:Liangyou 136 cover - Soong May-ling.jpg, First Lady Soong Mei-ling as Deputy Commander of the Republic of China Air Force on issue #136, 1938
File:Liangyou 139 cover.jpg, "New Era Chinese Woman," issue #139, 1939
References
External links
Peter Lau remembers his former mentor, Wu Luen Tak, the founder of The Young Companion pictorial.Page with photos and story about Liangyou's photographers on a China-wide photo expedition.Encyclopedia Baike article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Companion
Chinese-language magazines
Defunct magazines published in China
Magazines established in 1926
Magazines disestablished in 1945
Magazines published in Shanghai
Weekly magazines published in China