Throughout history, many have said that Zhou Fohai was the most lecherous among the three notorious traitors (Wang Jingwei, Chen Gongbo, and Zhou Fohai). Let us take a closer look at just how scandalous his private life really was. **Elopement Incident** In 1921, Zhou Fohai became enamored with the young and beautiful Yang Shuhui, a pairing that seemed made in heaven. The problem was, at sixteen, his mother had arranged a marriage for him with a local girl, Zheng Mei, who was three years his senior. According to local custom, a woman three years older is like holding a golden brick. Although Zheng Mei had never attended school, she was attractive, well-mannered, and slightly literate. Both families were long-time acquaintances, and a year after their marriage, Zheng Mei gave birth to a pair of children for Zhou Fohai. Yang Shuhui, however, was no ordinary girl. Her father served as the chief secretary of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and was a well-known figure in the city. Yang Shuhui herself was a wealthy young lady, raised with excellent education. After reading Zhou Fohai’s articles published in progressive journals, she was captivated by his talent and ideas, convinced that this young man had a boundless future ahead of him.
They met at Li Da’s house, and love blossomed immediately. Li Da’s wife, a classmate of Yang Shuhui, noticed their mutual attraction and acted as a matchmaker. She told Zhou Fohai, Yang Shuhui can support your future career, whereas Zheng Mei is an illiterate woman. Why not write her a divorce letter and be done with it? Encouraged by Wang Hui, Zhou Fohai readily agreed and soon fell deeply in love with Yang Shuhui. After participating in the First Congress, Zhou Fohai’s fame grew, and he proposed to Yang Shuhui. Just days before their engagement, a journalist from the Shanghai Times anonymously published a news item: a young Hunan man, self-proclaimed as the most progressive socialist, had already married in his hometown and had children, yet was now courting the daughter of a prominent Shanghai merchant. Yang Shuhui’s parents were stunned upon reading this; her father, Yang Zhuomao, felt his family’s honor was tarnished and confronted Zhou Fohai in his absence, publicly accusing him of deceiving an innocent woman and threatening legal action. To prevent their daughter from seeing Zhou Fohai, Yang Zhuomao and his wife locked Yang Shuhui in their attic. On the third day, she jumped out of the window, reunited with Zhou Fohai, and they secretly fled Shanghai for Kagoshima, Japan. She severed contact with her parents until their first child was born abroad, at which point her father resumed correspondence.
**The Feces Incident** In April or May 1941, Wu Sibao of the Wang puppet government’s secret service hosted a home theater performance to curry favor with Zhou Fohai, the third-ranking figure in the Wang clique. He invited the Peking opera star Xiao Linghong to perform for Zhou Fohai. Zhou Fohai instantly became infatuated with her. At just seventeen or eighteen, she was easily manipulated. Fearing his wife Yang Shuhui’s temper, he hid her in the home of his confidant Sun Yaodong and met her in secret. However, the affair could not remain hidden forever. Once Yang Shuhui discovered it, she flew into a rage, summoning a group of people to carry buckets of feces to Sun Yaodong’s house, leaving him covered in filth. Xiao Linghong, terrified, turned pale and knelt, begging for mercy. Zhou Fohai had no choice but to agree to a breakup. Tragically, he secretly hid Xiao Linghong in the French Concession at the home of Wang puppet economic advisor Okada Yuji, continuing the affair discreetly until the end of the war. **Japanese Concubine** During a secret trip to Japan in October 1939, Zhou Fohai met Kaneda Sachiko, a nineteen-year-old nurse at the Tokyo Imperial Hospital, skilled in singing and dancing. In 1944, Zhou Fohai traveled alone to Tokyo for heart treatment and took Kaneda as his concubine, fathering a daughter named Shiraishi Kazuko. Yang Shuhui had to tolerate this, as Kaneda was Japanese and beyond her power to challenge, unlike Xiao Linghong. Moreover, it was Okada Yuji who facilitated this liaison.
Beyond extramarital relationships, Zhou Fohai was a frequent visitor to brothels. The Shanghailai Club’s Long San Hall, an upscale establishment, counted him among its regulars. One tabloid once recounted an episode in which a courtesan named Zhen Suxin demanded Zhou Fohai write her a couplet. Despite his poor calligraphy, Zhou wrote: Sister, you are as pure as flavor; brother is indeed your heart. The story became a popular anecdote. Yang Shuhui, Zhou Fohai’s wife, was both gentle and intelligent outwardly, yet strong-willed, fiery, and sharp-tongued. She would not yield when provoked, making Zhou Fohai fear her. Yet even his fear could not resist the temptations outside, and his womanizing continued unabated. **Criticism from Chiang Kai-shek** While serving as the Director of Jiangsu’s Education Department, Zhou Fohai often fraternized with a woman named Chen Manqiu in Nanjing. On the afternoon of August 4, 1937, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Zhou spent three hours at Chen Manqiu’s home, tears streaming as if facing a life-and-death farewell. He did not return home until after nine, deciding to first send his wife to hide in Changsha.
Zhou Fohai’s moral indiscretions eventually drew the ire of Chiang Kai-shek, who repeatedly criticized and reprimanded him. Zhou harbored great resentment toward Chiang for this, which later became one of the reasons he defected to Wang Jingwei’s regime.
