Kawashima Yoshiko
From Free net encyclopedia
Kawashima Yoshiko (1907 - October 22 1947) (川島芳子) was a Manchu princess brought up as a Japanese and executed as a Japanese spy by the Kuomintang after the Second Sino-Japanese War. Originally named Aisin Gioro Xianyu (愛新覺羅·顯紓)with the courtesy name Dongzhen(東珍, literally meaning East Jewel), Kawashima Yoshiko also had another Chinese name, Jin Bihui (金壁輝). On account of her peerless charm, she is sometimes known as the eastern Mata Hari.
She was born as the 14th child to Shanqi, the 10th of hereditary Prince Su (肅親王) of the Manchu imperial family. Given to a Japanese Ronin Naniwa Kawashima as an adopted daughter after the Xinhai Revolution by Prince Su, she had renamed as Kawashima Yoshiko, receiving education in Japan. She had been raped by her foster father when she was 17. She began wearing menswear after failing an attempt at suicide.
She was part of the puppet Mongolian Royal Family in Mengjiang. She has been targeted for sensational rumors, so it is difficult to clarify the truth.
Most Chinese consider her a betrayer (or Hanjian in words of Chinese at that time), while some Manchurians and Japanese treat her as a heroine.
Portrayal
Her story was featured in the movie The Last Emperor, where she appeared as "Eastern Jewel", played by Maggie Han.
Anita Mui played Kawashima Yoshiko in a 1990 Hong Kong-produced film.
A fictionalized Kawashima Yoshiko is a major character in the PlayStation 2 game Shadow Hearts, and an eight-year-old Kawashima Yoshiko makes a cameo appearance in the PlayStation 2 game Shadow Hearts: Covenant.