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In June 1920, a homicide case in Shanghai sent shock waves through society: Yen Ruisheng, the client of a prostitute named Wang Lianying, murdered Wang and absconded with her jewelry. Wang's body was discovered in a nearby field a few days after her death, leading to the exposure of this killing. From the moment Wang's body was found to Yen's capture and subsequent execution (a time period lasting from June to November) the public was engrossed in every step of the investigation, pursuit, trial, and execution. Seizing upon this opportunity, theater owners capitalized on these sensational events by producing a play about them. This drama became an instant hit, attracting large audiences. The use of topical events is one features of Shanghai style Peking Opera. However, topical drama had struggled to find its footing when it first emerged during the late Qing dynasty. With the debut of Executing Yen Ruisheng in 1920, this particular genre of Peking Opera experienced an unprecedented surge in popularity due to its being highly entertaining. Topical drama features two concepts: current time/recent time and actual events. Through watching this type of drama, audiences could not only fulfill their voyeuristic desires to pry into others' privacy but also better empathize with the story since it resembled their daily lives. These resonations could be converted into both profit and public opinion. This article provides an overview of performances of Executing Yen Ruisheng based on the study of news reports, theater advertisements, drama reviews, and recordings. Through analyzing the contents of this work, the author considers how its creators combined true story materials and the imagination, and then went beyond the boundary of real and fiction to create a new reality on stage. Lastly, the article discusses the potential roles that this work played in the public sphere and its unique place in the history of Peking Opera while exploring aspects of topical drama's emotional expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From his arrival in China in 1888 to his departure in 1930, Canadian missionary, Donald MacGillivray (季理斐), was in China for more than 40 years. According to changes in the Chinese missionary situation, the key target of his mission was frequently adjusted. From his initial work in the early days in North Honan, to his work with officials and intellectuals in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty, then to students, women, and children in the Republic of China, Donald MacGillivray continued to preach to both the masses and the elites. His approach was flexible, ranging from oral preaching to academic publications. Relying on his interpersonal network, MacGillivray paid close attention to the social changes occurring in modern China. An evaluation of his activities in China can not only reveal the impact of individual missionaries in the process of Western learning and the transformation of Chinese knowledge in modern times, but also provide insight into the integration of Christianity into the indigenization process of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]