Shanghai – First Impressions No.10 – Hendrik De Leeuw Comes Looking for Sin, 1920s

Posted: August 29th, 2013 | No Comments »

City of Sin – Hendrik De Leeuw – 1920s

De Leeuw was a Dutch businessman who travelled extensively in the Near and Far East. His real interest was, quite unashamedly, the sex trade across the region. His investigations appear to have been a mixture of serious enquiry into the nature of the trade, particularly the local bordellos and how their customs differed from Europe or America and also the extent and operation of the trafficking of women from America and Europe to the bordellos of the Far East – white slavery. His thoughts on the business in Shanghai as well as Yokohama, Hong Kong, Port Said, Macao and Singapore where gathered together in his 1933 book Cities of Sin.

De Leeuw travelled to Shanghai aboard the Tij-Manoek liner of the Java-China-Japan Line. Aboard he made the acquaintance of “Gregory”, a man who made his living as a procurer, or pimp, bringing prostitutes (willing and seemingly often less so) to the brothels of Shanghai. When De Leeuw met him aboard the Tij-Manoek he was taking two girls to work at a brothel on Hongkou’s notorious Scott Road. Naturally this fascinated De Leeuw who had to know more.

Fashionable Avenues

Our steamer dropped anchor some twelve miles off the Chinese village of Woosung, where, not long after, the Nineteenth Route Army was to give to the world an example of Chinese bravery. Soon the passengers were transferred to a tug and we passed up the stately river. It was late at night, but the banks swarmed with life. Hundreds of sampans, protected by low-arched bamboo mats, lined the shores. I saw a number of people waiting to greet the passengers. Not far from me, in the press of the debarking, I saw Gregory. On each arm a beauty rested, chatting gaily.

 

My coolie pulled me along the handsome Bund, flanked on one side by banks and clubs and merchants’ buildings and on the other by the Whangpoo River. I rode on through a maze of carriages, motors, dog carts and sedan chairs and, at last, drew up in front of the Astor House at the corner of Broadway.

 

Gregory called for me the next night, he suggesting that we visit a house of prostitution managed and owned by an American woman. She was said to be the one of the most successful brothel owners in the East. The inmates of her establishment had the reputation of being the most beautiful of all the prostitutes in the city – and the cash return they brought her was placed at fabulous figures.

 

I agreed to Gregory’s suggestion. We went for a sedan chair and were borne by strapping coolies towards Soochow Road (1), the fashionable avenue of the native quarter, where we were to dine. We came to stop before a music hall, renowned for its excellent food. On the door that led into the gleaming palace were many posters bearing the names and places of birth of the girl performers within. Their talents were praised and the gay world was urged to come in and look.

 

Gregory and I marched up the stairs to the restaurant on the second floor. Hundreds of others were moving in and out. the air was full of the discords of a Chinese band and the bright lights flashed. There was a constant chatter of shrill voices.

 

He chose a table on the edge of a clear space. I had not settled myself before I saw the first advance of the prostitutes of Shanghai. It was a procession of young girls. They entered the room under the direction of an older woman. There were clad in silks and satins, bedecked with jewelery, and their faces were brightly painted and heavily powdered. That same old Chinese smile played around their pretty lips and they looked this way and that as they came on. It was solicitation.

 

The woman stopped in front of a table where sat four Chinese. They were laughing and, I suppose, a little overcome with wine. The woman talked briskly to the men.

 

“She is telling them,” said Gregory, “how delightful her young charges are as companions for the night.”

 

That’s what she did. She beckoned to four of the twenty girls that waited and they approached, bowing and smiling. The woman gestured and went on talking,in much the same manner as an auctioneer. However, the men were more intent upon the food that was being placed before them. The procession went on.

 

They came to us. The woman said in English: “Good evening, sirs.” She then fell into Chinese and the girls moved up, a little curious concerning the foreigners. Gregory made a sign to one of the girls. She came nearer. He spoke a word in Chinese but the girl made no response. She underwent examination coolly, hopefully. But there was nothing doing at our table. Gregory again made a sign and the troop went on. I looked into their faces as they passed. Such faces! Like dolls on a screen. Their hands moved gracefully in the long sleeves of their jackets. Their little feet made rustling noises as the rich stuff of their trousers moved.

 

A waiter spread before us a white cloth and on this he placed chopsticks, spoons of porcelain, and then tiny dishes of almonds, melon seeds, fruit and eggs. The meal began. Hours later it ended.

 

Hendrik De Leeuw, Cities of Sin, (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, 1933)

 

1) Now Suzhou Road

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