This book is an investigation into a political event that occurred half a century ago—the Shanghai Dance Tide Case. The event was triggered by the Nationalist government's decree in September 1947, during the 'Suppression of Bandits and Building of the Nation' campaign, which banned all commercial dance halls nationwide, causing unprecedented upheaval in the Shanghai dance industry and eliciting strong societal reactions.

On January 31, 1948, in response to the Social Affairs Bureau's advance lottery and unilateral implementation of the dance ban, the dance industry personnel marched to petition, but Director Wu Kaixian refused to meet with them. In their anger, the dance industry members collectively destroyed the bureau's office building. Following the incident, about 400 dance girls were arrested by the police, and several of them were sentenced by traitors. The government was eventually forced to revoke the ban, and the sensational Dance Tide Case came to an end.

The Dance Tide Case left behind a long-standing puzzle in Shanghai's history. Despite various existing narratives, comprehensive explanations about its origins, development, climax, and conclusion are often lacking. Related stories and anecdotes are scattered in miscellaneous and obscure literary materials, receiving little attention for a long time. However, one thing has always been clear—it was not a premeditated or organized political action, which might be the reason it has been coldly treated in the field of domestic historical research. The Dance Tide Case seems to be a low-key and short melody that does not quite harmonize with the prevailing anti-civil war theme in post-war Shanghai. It was prematurely overshadowed by the scattered memories of the elderly about soaring prices, labor strikes, frequent student movements, and the roaring police cars in post-war Shanghai, gradually fading and becoming obscure with the passage of time, leaving no trace behind.

本书是对发生于半个世纪前的一起政治事件——上海舞潮案的考察。事件的起因是，1947年9月国民政府为“戡乱建国”而“节约消费”颁布了在全国禁止营业性舞厅的法令，由此引发上海舞业空前震荡，社会反应强烈。1948年1月31日下午，鉴于市社会局提前抽签，并单方面完成禁舞部署，舞业从业人员集队前往请愿，局长吴开先拒不接见。愤怒之下，舞业方面群起捣毁了社会局办公大楼，事发后，约400名舞女被警局羁押，半年后数名舞女被叛徒刑，政府也被迫收回成命，轰动一时的舞潮案至此平息。

　　舞潮案在上海历史上留下了长期难解的疑惑，有关它的起因、发展、高潮和结局，在诸多现成的叙述中往往找不到详尽的解释，与之相关的种种旧闻轶事留存于庞杂零散的文献资料里，也长期无人问津。但有一点始终是清楚的，它不是一起有预谋。有组织的政治行动，或许这正是它在国内史学研究领域一直备受冷遇的原因。舞潮案似乎是一支与战后上海反内战主旋律不甚合拍的低调短曲，过早地被覆盖在老上海们对战后物价飞涨、工潮起伏、学运频繁、警车呼啸的散乱记忆深处，任岁月流逝而日渐淡忘、模糊，不再留有任何印痕。