[The following is a translation, for which bibliographic information is given at the end of article. Any further use of this article for research should cite the original as well as The Chinese Mirror as the source of the translation.]
Tang Jie
Really Living His Movie Character
The Offscreen Mr. Wang
After Tang Jie began playing the film version of Ye Qianyu's comic character Mr. Wang, that not only became his nickname, he seemed to have so totally absorbed the character that his real name and personality were buried, to the point that everyone referred to him as "Mr. Wang," not as Tang Jie. He sacrificed a lot to prepare for his role as "Mr. Wang": like his character he shaved his head bare like a monk's, had his two front teeth pulled out, and offscreen adopted his onscreen character's dress: a pair of dilapidated well-worn shoes, shabby clothing, and glued on Mr. Wang's trademark wispy moustache every day. Of the lack of front teeth he said, "Maybe no woman will ever love me, but all that matters is that I look ugly. The only real inconvenience is that sometimes when I'm eating, I'll swallow without really tasting the food."
During his many years in the film industry Tang Jie starred in several "Mr. Wang" movies, and while they earned him a good living, critical acclaim was hard to come by. This was because these were comedies, and although they caused audiences to fall apart with laughter, critics regarded such films as nonsensical trivialities. But no one looking at Tang's acting technique could consider him a failure. In recent public appearances in character, it has been obvious how the public thoroughly accepts him as really being Mr. Wang, and that is a mark of an artist.
Tang Diwan First Enters the Film Industry
Fooling the Family, Slipping into Shanghai
Tang Jie was born Tang Diwan (汤迪万) in Nanjing, the grandson of Tang Xiaoqiu (汤小秋), the Chief Administrative Secretary for Anhui province. So it could be said that Tang Jie came from an official family. He grew up in Nanjing, and after graduating from high school entered the business community. In keeping with the traditional extended family system practiced by the Tang clan, the young man continued to live at home and turned his salary over to his parents who gave him an allowance. But by the year he turned 25 Tang had little accomplishment and little enthusiasm for his work, so when he saw an advertisement that the Da Zhonghua [Greater China] film company in Shanghai was recruiting aspiring actors, his heart leaped. On one hand this opportunity was in prosperous Shanghai, and on the other it provided entrée to a newer industry he believed would flourish in China. So he boldly went to his parents and sought their permission to allow this career change. At that time, film actors were viewed by the public as being no different than stage actors, and not yet the public idols they would soon become. For a descendant of local administrative officials to become an actor, stage or screen, would be a violation of Tang family tradition and diminish its standing in society. So Tang Jie's parents not only cursed him, they cut off his allowance and warned all their friends and relatives not to lend him anything.
Tang Jie's allowance had provided him with very little discretionary income, so he had no savings to draw on, and this new family financial policy appeared to leave him no way out. As he sat in his room turning things over in his mind, he found himself twisting the gold ring on his finger, and that gave him an idea. He took the ring off, slipped out of the house and like a thief in the night found a shop that would buy the ring. After the sale, in order to avoid arousing his family's suspicions he made his way alone directly to the railway station and boarded the next train to Shanghai.
Gold was cheap at the time, so the ring sale hadn't brought him much money, just enough for a ticket and a snack, with a little over a dollar to spare. But he wasn't worried, he was headed for the Da Zhonghua Film Company, and his hopes were high.
At the Shanghai train station he hired a rickshaw to take him to the address listed in the newspaper ad, on Burke Road in Shanghai's Yongnian district. But he gasped in surprise upon arriving at his destination: he had envisioned this major film studio as being in a tall building, but now he was looking at a narrow house in an old, nondescript alley. Tang at first thought there was some mistake, but the signs in front made it clear this was the right place. He felt a bit regretful he had been so hasty in heading to Shanghai, but this was the way things were, so he went in.
The company was housed in a single building, with three large rooms now partitioned into a reception room, meeting room, dormitories and a dining hall. How could he not be pessimistic? But Mr. Bu Wancang (卜万苍) came out to greet him, and [the director's] sincerity and words were a considerable comfort to Tang Jie, so the aspiring young actor resolved to remain in Shanghai, become a part of China's new film industry, and once again had great hopes for the future.
But there were immediate and important problems confronting him: housing, and clothing, as he had with him just the few items he had worn from Nanjing. Studios did not pay filmmakers a monthly salary; rather, they had to wait until a movie was completed before they were paid. Although he would be fed in the company dining hall, he was on his own for his other expenses. Tang Jie had no friends in Shanghai, but as he anxiously walked the streets wondering what to do, by chance he ran into someone he knew, a man named Liu, at one time a servant in the Tang home in Nanjing. As it turned out Liu was now working in the mansion of a wealthy family named Sheng.
[Translator's note] The article ends here rather abruptly, but its wording implies it would be continued in a future issue. Either the publication was discontinued before that happened, or the Shanghai Municipal Library (from which it was retrieved) lacks that subsequent issue. The source of the original:
Fang, Shuo 方朔. "Tang Jie" Yingmi Huabao 《影迷画报》(Movie Fan Pictorial), no.16, August 10, 1940.
