Appeared in the early years of the 20th century and being one of the most popular magazines in China at that time, “Liang You” (internationally known as “The young companion”) had too few documents with the exact origin so that the postpartum generation can learn and research. One of the rare useful sites about this magazine is Wikipedia.This website provides relatively complete information about the origin of the newspaper, its history and its journey through 172 issues and its four editors.After the newspaper stopped publishing, there were many attempts to bring the newspaper back to the public and bring it abroad but were unsuccessful and until now there are not many specific sources of information about each article published in each issue. . However, the site has provided impressive cover images that brought to the magazines uniqueness and success. There are also attached links and related documents about the women appreared on the covers which gave an insight their stories and backgrounds.

Reference:

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/The_Young_Companion#cite_note-brill-4

“The young companion” is known to be one of the most sought-after magazines in China in the early years of the 20th century, not only because of its unique content, but also its distinctive feature right from the eye-catching cover. The covers of the magazine are the images of beautiful and active modern girls, which are new objects appearing on the cover of the magazine because before that, feudal ideas suppressed their appearance. In issue 45, published in 1930, the magazine cover features an image of Guan Zilan, she is a real figure in modern Chinese history, a painter who is famous for introducing Fauvism to China. In the green background picture, she is holding a mandolin, a traditional Chinese instrument. She was one of the most impressive female characters chosen to put on the cover of the magazine because Guan Zilan was the first artist to bring “Fauvism style” to China. This portrait is one of her selected published works taken from an exhibition of her after graduating from China Art University. Her beauty represents a Chinese woman who is both traditional, deep and modern, attracting any audience. Originally, the phrase “modern girl” was used for modern Japanese women at that time, but Guan Zilan, with her successful career in Japan, attracted the media in this country and became a beauty model at the time. The picture shows the spirit and goals the magazine wants to aim for: women who enjoy life through daily life activities and exude a feminine, modern beauty. To show her beauty right from the cover, the editor used an effective presentation that we call “kaleidoscopic”. This technique allows the main character to stand out clearly and “create the  impressions of changes without disruption” (Paul, Kuiyi, Yingjin 2013), attracting readers not only by the beauty of the character but also the harmony eye-catching color.

References:

1. Paul G. Pickowicz, Kuiyi Shen, Yingjin Yang – Liangyou, Kaleidoscopic Modernity and the Shanghai Global Metropolis, 1926 – 1945 – Published 2013 – Page 3.
2. Hong Kou Bao – Article”Lan Zhihui’s heart is far away” – Published 2012 April 16.                                                                                                                                      http://hongkouweekly.xinmin.cn/html/2012-04/16/content_4_9.htm