Li Jinhui In The Voluntary Performance

As a kind of social charity activities,charity performance emerged in Shanghai in late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China as the product of traditional charity reform in modern China.After entering the 1920 s,with social transformation and the change in people’s entertainment life,charity performance also constantly evolved,became increasingly rich and diversified,and turned into a normal social welfare activity.Since charity performance is a kind of urban entertainment cultural phenomenon,the study of its participants can offer a glimpse of many aspects in its process of development.As the major means of presentation for charity performance,entertainment performance is closely related to the cultural and entertainment community.Known as the “father of Chinese pop music”,Li Jinhui once organized charity performances for many times in his rugged and legendary life and exerted extensive influence on all walks of life.Li Jinhui devoted himself to charity performances for the following reasons.On the one hand,he was influenced by the social environment.On the other hand,in the spirt of “populism” characterized by mutual assistance and seeking happiness for people,Li Jinhui took advantage of the experience of carrying out music entertainment activities at Zhonghua Book Bureau,and consciously and spontaneously participated in charity performances.When Li Jinhui served as president of Shanghai Chinese Language Special School and head of the Experimental Drama Club(from 1921 to 1926),the charity performances organized by him mostly aimed at achieving universal education.Through the analysis of historical materials,the author has sorted out and clarified the charity performances in this period.He organized not only non-fundraising charity performances mainly aimed at publicizing Chinese,but also fundraising education charity performances aimed at establishing compulsory schools.After leaving Zhonghua Book Bureau,Li Jinhui participated in charity performances in the name of “Singing and Dancing Special School”,“Moon Club”,and “Lianhua Singing and Dancing Class”(from 1926 to 1936).They included not only charity performances in appreciation of officers and soldiers of Northern Expedition and for subsidizing education,but also disaster-relief charity performances at the time of national crisis when the whole nation was in peril as well as patriotic charity performances to raise fund for the Anti-Japanese War.Moreover,the charity performances of this period were all philanthropic fund-raising performances.Based on a vertical analysis of Li Jinhui’s participation in charity performances,the author has found that through participating in charity performances,he not only shaped a good social image,but also promoted the development of his singing and dancing undertakings.Under his influence,the school participated in charity performances with the programs prepared based on Li Jinhui’s singing and dancing music for children.This not only guided students to establish good social ethos,but also boosted the development of school music.At the same time,owing to its characteristics of being popular and easy to sing along,Li-school music was always active on the stage of charity performances,enriching their forms.Under the influence of Li Jinhui,the stars in both the field of singing and dancing,and films actively participated in charity performances with their own advantages,injecting new vitality into philanthropic undertakings in modern China.