The story of Zhuge Liang / Kong Ming the famous battle strategist

Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮
(courtesy name Kong Ming)
was considered the most accomplished and feared battle strategist of the Three Kingdoms era. Zhuge Liang went by the nick name of Hidden Dragon 臥龍  (also translated as; Crouching Dragon or Sleeping Dragon) due to the fact that many people underestimated his skills and abilities to achieve great accomplishments.

Early life
Zhuge Liang was born in 181 AD in Yangtu, Shantung province. His parents passed away when he was still at a young age and he was raised by his uncle. His family was forced to flee their home when the powerful Cao Cao of the Wei state invaded their village. He then lived in a cottage in the Longzhong district. Legend states that Liu Bei 劉備 heard of Zhuge Liang's wisdom and went to his cottage three times to request his help. After a long conversation Zhuge Liang agreed to become Liu Bei's military advisor as he was interested in his plan for setting up a new kingdom in the west. The first time Zhuge Liang's skills came to the surface was when he convinced Sun Quan of the Wu East to become allies with Liu Bei and fight Cao Cao together. Zhuge Liang warned Sun Quan that if Cao Cao was not opposed now, it would be impossible to deal with him later.

Battle of the Red Cliffs
The famous battle between the allied forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan against Cao Cao was called the Battle of the Red Cliffs / the Battle of Chibi. Descriptions of the battle differ widely in details. Even the place of the battle is still debated. Most important is that Liu Bei and Sun Quan succesfully defeated Cao Cao, reunited their territory and gained control of the Yangtze.

Aftermath
After their victory Liu Bei took command over several cities in Jing. Another victory followed soon after when Liu Bei's troops invaded the province of Yi and captured general Yan Yan. They fought Liu Zhang and conquered his capital city Chengdu. Cao cao's Hanzhong was also succesfully conquered however, Sun Quan betrayed Liu Bei and took his territories in Jing while they were invading the Yi province. Liu Bei declared war upon Sun Quan but lost at the Battle of Yiling. Liu Bei grew ill and eventually died. Before his death he asked Zhuge Liang to take control of the state and take care of his son. Numerous battles were fought to restore Shu Han and take control of Wei. Zhuge Liang was known for his amazing battle strategies, setting traps and even predicting the weather. Some have said Zhuge Liang's success is based on having supernatural powers.
In AD 234 Zhuge Liang set off on his final campain. The two armies of Shu and Wei faced eachother in another battle but Zhuge Liang became sick and eventually died.

Inventions
During his life it is said that he invented numerous items such as a multi bolt firing crossbow, his own chess game, the hot air balloon / lantern, items to improve transportation and it is even said he invented the steamed bun! How can you ever dislike him now?

More Kong Ming
Zhuge Liang is still a popular topic in modern China.  Many movies, novels, and even video games feature Zhuge Liang as a great hero. See below for some popular examples.
Movies and series;

Red Cliff 2009 - with Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang (see top picture)

The Legendary prime minister 1985


 Three Kingdoms 2010

Games;

Destiny of an Emperor


Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Dynasty Warriors


Kessen II



Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義
And not to forget the story that popularised the excistence of Zhuge Liang is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A historical novel set about the years of the Shu Han dynasty. Zhuge Liang is displayed as one of the main characters and a hero. Whether everything written is true is still a debatable topic since some of the mythical and magical plot twists seem questionable. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature and is one of the most beloved works not only in China but trough out East Asia. With 120 chapters and 800000 words, it's still on the top of my to-read list.

I hope you enjoyed reading!
~ mei mei

Chinese Halloween a.k.a. ''Hungry Ghost Festival'' 鬼节 - No selfies allowed!

Happy Halloween to my dear readers!

Hope your enjoying your day with pumpkin carving, dressing up and watching creepy movies. Ever wondered if they celebrate Halloween in China? Well they do! But of course not in the way you would expect it.

Ghost Festival is written as 鬼节 (guǐ jié) and consists of the character 鬼 meaning 'ghost' and 节 meaning festival. Nowadays it's also called 'Hungry Ghost Festival'.
If you want to 'celebrate' Halloween the Chinese way you are actually too late already. Ghost Festival is held on the 14th or 15th night of the seventh month every year and it's not really a celebration at all. Chinese people cannot wait for it to be over. They believe that during this time of the year the gates of both heaven and hell are open, which allows ghosts and spirits to entertain themselves at earth. These ghosts are said to be old ancestors who didn't get a proper send off or whose family didn't gave any offerings after they died. Families provide different offerings for these ghosts such as food, wine, incense and paper money which is said to have value in the afterlife. They are hoping that these offerings will keep the ghosts from intruding their homes and bringing misfortune. In some cities performances are held where the front rows are reserved for the ghosts. Fourteen days after the festival, people set up floating lanterns in the water to make sure all the fed ghosts find their way back to the underworld.

How to survive 'Ghost Festival'

If you want to prepare for next year already..
The whole 7th month is considered as 'Ghost Month' where the ghosts will be lurking around every corner. Here are some tips on how you can survive 'Ghost Month'.

- It is inauspicious to get married or sign important contracts.

- Wearing black will invite ghosts to come near you.

- Beware of the 水鬼 ( shuǐ guǐ ) a.k.a water ghost when you go swimming. They lurk in the water waiting to drown their victims so they can possess their bodies.

- Don't go out during the evenings.

- And last but not least.. for the modern kids; NO SELFIES allowed! You might capture a ghost instead of capturing that crush of yours with your beautiful selfie.



Thank you for reading & enjoy your Halloween!

~ mei mei

The history of tofu - Mapo Tofu recipe 麻婆豆腐

In 1986 USA Today reported that tofu was America's most hated food. Years later tofu is gradually making it's comeback. And it should be! I love tofu, and if you grew up in an Asian family you grew up with tofu. My boyfriend born and raised in Vietnam cannot look any more happy than when I serve tofu on the dinner table. He very well remembers the times where he was younger and they had to share a block of tofu with the whole family. Eating a whole tofu dish now equals wealth for him.

In western countries tofu is getting more popular because it's natural, inexpensive and nourishing. In those countries people manly use tofu in stir-fry dishes or as a substitute for meat, but there is so much more you can do with it! In this post I will explain you where tofu originated from, how tofu is made, the health benefits of soy products and a delicious typical Chinese tofu dish.

How tofu is made

First let me explain how tofu is made. The process begins with soaking and then mashing soy beans. They will separate the mashed soy beans into two containers. One container for the milk and one for the pulp. The factories sell the pulp and keep the milk for making tofu. Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing it into those familiar blocks you see in your local supermarket.
Tofu originated from China. Legend says it was discovered in the Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago when a Chinese cook accidentally curdled soy milk when he added seaweed. Some people also state that Lord Liu An discovered the technique for making tofu, but there is not much effort supporting that statement. Back in that day inventions were mostly attributed to important leaders.

Health benefits

Tofu contains more than double the protein in meat or fish, contains all eight essential amino acids, has high value of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1! Also daily intake of soy foods are associated with reducing risk of at least one cancer type. Quite amazing for such a simple looking product right?

Mapo tofu 
One of the most famous and my all time favourite tofu dish; mapo tofu. Mapo tofu is a spicy tofu dish that originated from the Szechuan province. It has that numbing spiciness which I adore and is flavoured with Szechuan pepper and fermented black beans. Most of the time the tofu is combined with pork or minced meat but if you are a vegetarian you can just leave the meat out and it will still taste amazing.
I will share the recipe with you today and I hope you have a chance to try it out. If you are not used to spicy food, remember if you are the cook the spiciness is all up to you. This is such an easy and nutritional recipe for those days where you don't have much time to prepare dinner.

Ingredients;

- one block of soft tofu cut into cubes
- 250 gram of minced pork or beef (optional)
- one cup of chicken stock
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- one cup of chopped spring onions
- cornstarch
- one tbsp fermented black beans
- chili bean paste (to taste)
- 2 tbsps soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of Chinese rice wine
- sesame oil
- ground Szechuan pepper (to taste)

Instructions;

1. Heat up a skillet or a wok and add the sesame oil. Add the fermented black beans and break them a little with the back of a spoon. Add the garlic, chili bean paste and toss until fragrant.

2. Add the meat and cook for another minute.

3. Pour in the chicken stock, rice wine and soy sauce. Carefully add the tofu blocks to the mixture and stir gently until all the blocks are coated with the sauce. Be careful not to break the blocks. Add half of the spring onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add a tsp of cornstarch in the middle of the pan and allow the sauce to thicken for another minute or two. The sauce is thick enough if it sticks a little to the spoon.

5. Pour everything in a bowl or serve on a bed of rice. Put the other half of the green onions on top and finish with some ground Szechuan pepper to taste.


I hope you enjoyed reading my post and try out my recipe.

~Mei mei

Japan, Nihon or Nippon 日本, ?

Japan;

Linguists believe the name Japan derives from the attempts of Marco Polo pronouncing the early Mandarin Chinese word for Japan which is 日本国 pronounced in pinyin as 'Rìběnguó', and literally means 'Country of the Sun origin'. Marco Polo's attempts resulted in 'Jipangu'.  Also many people believe that the word originated from Malaysia. The Malay word for Japan, 'Jepang' also came from the Chinese language. This word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca and it is believed that the traders were the first to bring the word to Europe. 

にほん or にっぽん ?

The Japanese name for Japan can be read as 'nihon' or 'nippon' (onyomi) and are both written with the same kanji;日本 ,日 ‘nichi’ means sun or day and本 ‘hon’ means base or origin. Put them together and you get ‘ base of the sun’ . You might also have read ‘base of the sunrise’  somewhere which comes from the Chinese point of view. From China, the sun rises from the side of Japan. This is also the source of the popular Western term ‘ land of the rising sun’.

When combined, ‘nichi’ often loses the final -chi sound and creates a small pause between the first and second syllable of the compound. When we want to romanize this, the pause is often represented by doubling the first consonant of the second syllable. Compounds with ‘hon’ often change into -bon or -pon. Therefore there are two possible ways to pronounce 日本.  While both are correct (and also frequently used) ‘nippon’ is often preferred for official purposes like money, stamps and international matters. 'nippon' is also used for a longer period of time then 'nihon' which is said to have derived from the Kanto accent.

Although 'nippon' is the more obvious way name to pronounce 日本, a recent survey showed that 61 percent of Japanese people read it as 'nihon', also it is a lot more popular with the younger generation.

 In Japan there is no official document defining the pronunciation of 日本 . An attempt was made by the Ministry of Education in 1934, when they started a major investigation in the national language including their recommendation of  naming the country 'nippon' for once and all. However the government simply ignored their request.

Another move was made more recently in 2009, when a member of the Lower house made a more liberal move and submitted a request asking the government to decide on an unified pronunciation, whether it be 'nippon' or 'nihon'. The government replied that they saw no reason to take official steps, since both terms are in wide usage nowadays. You can either applaud their indecision as a way of saying they had some bigger issues to deal with, or you criticize them for their laid back attitude.

What do you think of the governments decision? Do you use 'nihon' or 'nippon'?

 ~Mei mei

Black Day, Asian day for singles? 블랙데이 - Jjajangmyun 자장면 Recipe

In case you don't have that  special person to celebrate Valentine's Day or White Day with, don't worry, the Asians have a special day for you too. It is called 'Black Day' 블랙데이. Black Day is celebrated on April 14th and is mostly celebrated in South Korea. At this day the Koreans mourn a little over the fact they didn't get any gifts earlier (on Valentine's or White day) and then celebrate their singleness by getting together with other single friends. If you want to follow their tradition you just have to wear something black and eat some dark coloured food like the famous jjajangmyun 자장면. 

Jjajangmyun is Black Day's signature dish and consists of white noodles covered in black bean sauce. Although jjajangmyung is written like 자장면 , it is pronounced as 짜장면, with a 'J' as in 'jam'. Jajang (자장) means 'fried sauce' and myeon (면)means 'noodle'.

It is actually a Chinese-Korean dish which some Chinese immigrants brought to Incheon. Unlike other Korean noodles, jjajangmyun is made of white flour instead of potato starch. The noodles are made by hand, and after that shortly boiled. When the noodles are cooked,  pork,vegetables and sea cucumber are added which make the base for the sauce. Last but not least they add black bean paste and a good stock. Some corn starch can be added also if the sauce isn't thick enough. jjajangmyun is considered as a national dish of Korea and the perfect comfort food for Black Day.

If you want to take it to a whole other level there are even many jjajangmyun eating contests this day!

Although jjajanmyun may sound like a dish for the loners which can make your teeth stain, it is really delicious. I highly recommend you to try it so I have the recipe for you below!

  

Recipe;

 This recipe makes four servings;

- Pork belly, diced in easy to eat cubes or strips

- 1 cup diced carrots

- 1 cup diced potatoes

- 1 cup diced onions

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- +/-  3 large table spoons black bean paste

- corn starch

- Water

- Sesame oil

- Your favorite vegetable julienned ( I recommend cucumber or Korean radish)

- Korean noodles of your choice 

1.        Heat a wok or a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and cook until the edges are slightly browned.

2.      Add the carrots and potatoes and sauté for 1/2 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions turn translucent.

3.      Add the black bean paste to the pan and combine. Make sure everything gets  evenly coated. Gradually add some water and bring to a high simmer. ( be careful not to add to much).

4.      Let the sauce simmer until it thickens, this will take about 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce has to stick to the noodles, but not too much either. If your sauce is not thick enough, you can add some cornstarch.

5.      Turn off the heat and add some sesame oil, stir until combined. Pour the sauce on top of the noodles. Garnish with your fresh vegetables.

I hope you enjoyed reading my post!

~ Mei mei

Geisha; the artists of Japan

Geisha 芸者 or Geiko 芸子(in Kyoto dialect) are professional female artist aiming to entertain their guests during dinners, banquets and other occasions. They are extremely well trained in a variety of Japanese arts like traditional dancing, preforming music, games  and other skills.

The word Geisha consists of two Kanji; Gei and Sha, Gei  芸 means ‘art’ and Sha  者 means ‘doer’. Like all Japanese nouns there is no plural version. Apprentice Geisha are called Maiko which literally means dancing child.  The word consists of two characters also. ‘Dancing’ 舞 and ‘child’子.

Origin

The Geisha originated from serving girls called ‘saburuko’. These girls where most of the time without a family.  Some of them offered sexual services while the other girls which had better education, preformed at social gatherings to entertain guests. In the traditional Japan, sexual delights where not a taboo and it was very common for Japanese men to search a courtesan for some pleasure. They even build the so called pleasure quarters in the 16th century. Outside the pleasure quarters prostitution was illegal. Inside the quarters they had yuujo 遊女 ‘play women’ which were legal. The highest rank of yuujo preformed erotic dances and skits. This art was called kabuku which means ‘to be wild and outrageous’. This was the beginning of Kabuki theater.

As these quarters quickly began to grow to large entertainment centers, the yuujo offered a lot more than sexual services. Each of them began to develop a special skill and some of them were even renowned artists, poets or calligraphers. Before Geisha the odoriko (dancing children) appeared. When they grew out of their teenage years they adopted different names which depended on their skill. The first woman who ever called herself a Geisha was a Fukagawa prostitute. She was a skilled singer and samisen-player and a huge success making female Geisha extremely popular in Fukagawa. After that the Geisha became more spread over the country and often worked solely as entertainers and no more as prostitutes.

Still many Geisha worked as prostitutes imprisoned in the pleasure quarters, in order to protect the business of the Oiran 花魁. 

Eventually the Geisha evolved and many of them became professional entertainers, while others still offered sexual services which was still legal up until the 1900s.  

Influence of the second world war

In the period of the WWII many Geisha were forced to stop because they had to work in factories or had to move. With the Americans coming to Japan, prostitutes started to call themselves ‘Geisha girls’ to attract the attention of the American soldiers and the original Geisha lost their status. In 1940 all the teahouses ‘ ochaya’ and bars were forced to close, so that all employees could work in factories. A year later, they were allowed to reopen. The few Geisha that continued rejected all western influences and hoped to rebuild the Geisha image with the traditional ways of Japan. It was up to these few Geisha to bring back the traditional standards and keep their image clean.

Becoming a Geisha

The training of the Geisha starts around the early age of 9. Some of them were raised in an ‘Okiya’ 置屋which is a Geisha house. They were given food, kimono’s, very expensive training and board. These debts must be repaid to the Okiya with the earning she makes. The repayment continues until she has paid for all her debts. After that she is permitted to move out and work independently. In the 1950s the Okiyas disappeared with the outlawing of child labor.

The apprentice Geisha, so called Maiko will start their training by observing a full-fledged Geisha at work. She must find  an older Geisha which will act as her mentor. They call their mentor ‘onee-san’お姉さん which means older sister. They have to follow their onee-san everywhere and they must obey her as well. The mentor trains her Maiko in all the required skills such as conversing,  playing shamisen, dancing and other requirements. The onee-san will even help her pick a name to use in her career.

Maiko’s are very beautiful to look at, they were colorful kimonos with a very low, loose hanging collar in the back which accentuates the back of the neck. Also there are 5 different hairstyles a Maiko can wear which show the different stages of her apprenticeship. The hairstyles are decorated with ‘Kanzashi’簪 traditional Japanese hair ornaments.

Geisha today

Although there are not many Geisha left today, you will have the highest possibility to see one in Kyoto. Kyoto's most famous district is Gion 祇園 which is known as one of the 5 Geisha districts (hanamachi). Nowadays it's not impossible for tourists and outsiders to see Geisha and Maiko. They are still very exclusive and expensive and often require an introduction from someone who is already a customer. However with the tourism growing in Kyoto there are some hotels and travel agencies which offer lunch or dinner with the entertainment of Geisha and Maiko for any tourist with a sufficient budget.

Every day at Gion Corner at the end of Hanami-Koji, the Geisha and Maiko give a show which is aimed at tourists. The show gives an introduction to several Japanese arts. In April you can watch the Miyako Odori which are daily dance performances by Maiko. There are four one-hour performances every day which costs around 2000 – 4000 yen per person.

Shijio Avenue also located in Gion district, is a popular shopping are with many stores selling local products like sweets and crafts.

There are also several Maiko studios in Kyoto where you can dress up as a Maiko or Geisha, some of them are especially aimed at tourists.

Outside Kyoto in the Higashi Chaya district in Kanazawa you can find a former ochaya which is open to the public as a museum. You can see a traditional tatami room here and exhibits of various items such as utensils, accessories and instruments.

Whenever you see a Geisha or Maiko don’t start making pictures out of the blue. Act respectfully.

I hope you enjoyed a little history again~

~ Mei mei

The Chinese should change their writing system! - Happy year of the Horse!

The biggest struggle of people who learn Chinese is of course their writing system. Not only students who study Chinese on a daily basis struggle with this, but it is also a huge issue for people who want to start learning Chinese. They want to try studying Chinese as a second language, but are held back by all the difficult characters and never actually start because they fear they will fail mastering the characters. Have you ever had the same thoughts? I know I did, and even the Japanese Kanji seemed like a lot of characters to me.
I got inspired to write this post when I read an online discussion. The original article gave an introduction to the concept of Chineasy. A huge discussion was going on in the comment section with quite interesting thougts and opinions. The comment which started the discussion was; ''The Chinese should change their writing system!''

Chineasy
Chineasy is an award-winning concept which makes it easier to remember all the Chinese characters. I will give an introduction and a full explanation about Chineasy after I have purchased the book.

Discussion
A man posted a comment below the article stating the Chinese should change their writing system to a phonetic system like our Latin system. He said this because he also felt it is too hard to learn all the complicated characters as a foreigner. Although it might sound drastic changing the whole alphabet, this actually happened in 1926 in Turkey. In the early years Turkish was written using a form of the Arabic script. However, the Arabic script is rich in consonants but poor in vowels while Turkish is the complete opposite. After years of public debating, people opposing from the idea and people supporting the idea, the Turkic republics of the Soviet Union adopted the Latin script. Which boosted major changes in Turkey.

Reform of the alphabet
Why can't we do this with Chinese? I read this question a thousand times in the comments. People call the alphabet 'unpractical' and 'complex' but is it really that unpractical? The Chinese can easily read ancient books and writing because the characters have stayed the same. Phonetic scripts are based on pronunciation which constantly change. Also although there are many dialects in Chinese, everyone can understand each other by the written form.
But there are actually many answers to the question at the top. For example; there are way too many homophones in Chinese like 'shi'. When they are written in Pinyin it becomes shi1, shi2, shi3 but even then there are too many forms of only shi3. Changing the script sounds a little crazy now right? If you are really persistent writing Chinese in a Romanized alphabet take a look at pinyin.info . On this website they even have an article about the attempts of the Chinese adopting the Latin alphabet. So you can't say they didn't gave it any thought at all.

I also wanted to say; Happy year of the Horse! I wish you all a lot of wisdom and prosperity in the new year. And I hope all of you lucky Horses have a good year!

Thank you for reading.

~Mei mei

Valentine's Day and White Day in Japan and other East Asian countries

The international day where we celebrate love is coming close! But how do they celebrate Valentine's Day in Japan and in Korea? What is so different about it? How will you show your feelings to a Japanese man or woman? I'm going to cover some of these traditions in my post today.

On the 14th of February it is Valentine's Day of course. In Japan  they have the tradition that on this special day women give presents to men. Most often they give chocolate. In common opinion it is the best if you give homemade chocolate to that special person in your life which the Japanese call 本命チョコhonmei-choco (chocolate of love). You can also use this if you would like to confess to someone. For your male friends and colleagues you can give store bought chocolate 義理チョコ giri choco (courtesy chocolate).  

In return men who understood the value of your precious chocolate can give something back on the 14th of March. This day is called White Dayホワイトデー.

White Day, Marshmallow Day?

White Day was celebrated in 1978 in Japan for the first time. It was started by the National Confectionery Industry Association with the thought in  mind there should be a ‘return day’ for Valentine’s day. In 1977 a confectionery company called Ishimuramanseido from Fukuoka marketed marshmallows on March 14, calling it ‘Marshmallow Day’ with the hope the men buy the marshmallows to give in return for their Valentine’s gifts. Soon after that other confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate.

Returning the favor

 According to a survey by Ageil Media Network in 2010, 66% of the women questioned answered that they would prefer to receive handmade sweets in return for their efforts on Valentine's Day. They said it shows men's diligence and that they understand women's feelings. Also 63% of the questioned men said they would try to make sweets by themselves for White Day. For the men who are proud of their sweets making skills, nowadays they even have a competition for it in Japan which is called; 'White Day Daisakusen; ike otoko eno michi'  (White Day Strategy; the way of cool men.) Other popular gifts are chocolate, sweets, cookies, white lingerie and marshmallows. There even is a unwritten rule which is called 三倍返 (sanbai gaeshi) and means ‘triple the return’. I think you can guess it means you can’t satisfy your special person with just a simple gift!

Other countries

Valentine’s Day and White Day is also celebrated this way in Korea, China and Taiwan! 

In Korea these kind of anniversaries are very important for couples. In Korea it's very likely to really show you are a couple. Many couples were matching outfits and have couple rings. They also have many special days which they need to remember. Ever celebrated  100-days dating day? Rose Day on May 14th or Kiss Day on June 14th? No? Me neither, but if you get a Korean girl or boyfriend you might will!

本命チョコをあげたことがある？

~ Mei mei

Kawashima Yoshiko 川島 芳子 - The story of a Manchurian princess

After reading 'The private papers of Eastern Jewel' which is a novel based on the diary of Kawashima Yoshiko (川島 芳子 ) I got really interested in finding out some more information about this intriguing woman . I found so much interesting information that I decided to share it with you.

She was born in Beijing in 1907 and originally named Aisin Gioro Xianyu, with the courtesy name Dongzhen 'Eastern Jewel' (東珍). She also had a other Chinese name Jīn Bìhuī 金璧輝.
She was the 14th daughter to Shanqi, the 10th son of Prince Su 肅親王of the Manchu imperial family and one of his concubines. The prince gave Eastern Jewel away to Kawashima Naniwa, a Japanese military officer at the age of eight. He raised her as his own daughter and send her to school in Tokyo for an education that included Judo and fencing. He was also the one who changed her name to Kawashima Yoshiko (川島 芳子) .Shanqi Su died in 1921. His concubine then comitted the traditonal suicide.

In her teenage years she was raped by Kawashima's father and started an affair with Kawashima himself. When she was 20 she honoured her father's arrangement and married the Mongolian prince and leader of the Mongolian-Manchurian Independence Movement named Ghanzu'er Zhabu (Ganjurjab). It only lasted for four months until she fled to Shanghai. After and inbetween many lovers she met Tanaka Ryukichi (田中 隆吉) a general of the imperial army, from which she gained her contact with Major-General Doihara Kenji.  She then started to serve Doihara as a spy. Collecting information for the Japanese and using her Royal blood in her position, she was intstrumental in engineering a series of incidents which created oppurtunities for the Japanese army to attack China and to set up a series of puppet states. One of these incidents she played the major role in persuading the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi to become the ruler of Manchukuo (Manchuria) one of the Japanese puppet states.
Trough this all she continued her habit of having many lovers which were foreign, Asian, male or female. She even had an affair with Doihara.

In 1945 at the end of WWII. She gained much weight and was diagnosed with syphilis. She was betrayed, by one of her lovers and was arrested by the Chinese counter-intelligence officers.  Kawashima appeared in court as Jīn Bìhuī charged with treason and was handed out the death sentence in 1947. Her execution was carried out in the morning of the 25th of March 1948. She died as an executed war criminal of a shot in the back of her head.

Even though the offical execution photos were released, there were persistent rumors that she escaped her execution and the one who was punished on that morning was a different person.

Could Eastern Jewel, the eternal beauty escape and find happiness? Until know nobody knows the truth.

I hope you enjoyed a little history this time!
~ Mei mei