100 Famous Women in China

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55. Liu Rushi (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Liu Rushi（1618—1664 AD）was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. She was the most beautiful girl among the eight girls. She was versed in painting and calligraphy. In 1628 AD when she was ten years old, she was adopted by a bawd and so became a singsong girl later. Before receiving visitors, every singsong girl got special training in many fields such as writing poems, playing zither or lute, painting and calligraphy, singing or dancing so as to entertain visitors.
As a rule, a famous singsong girl never had any action with male visitors, who were mostly men of letters. They came to see her just to ask a scroll of calligraphy or painting from her own creation, or have a pleasant conversation with the girl to diverse his sad mood or make him happy, or listen to the girl sing or watch her dance. Nothing more. They never thought of having love actions with such famous talented girls. If they needed that, they could go somewhere else. Sometimes, of course, she would fall in love with one of the visitors. So did she, when she met Chen Zilong (1608—1647 AD), who was a petty official in Nanking city, but a learned man. Chen already had wife, who was very jealous. Chen did not dare to take the girl home and they lived together in Songjiang city. Afterwards when the wife came to know it, she went to Songjiang and made a scene. Therefore, Liu went back to where she came from.
In 1638 AD, when she was twenty years old, she met Qian Qianyi (1582—1664 AD), who was a high-rank official. He was twenty-eight that year. In 1640 AD, they met again. Qian took Liu for a tour among mountains and on streams. They had a happy time of the life. They chanted poems to each other. Liu liked the man very much, though he was over fifty then, while she was only twenty-two. They married anyway. She bore a daughter for him. In 1644 AD, the Manchurian army occupied the capital of Ming dynasty and marched to Nanking city. Many scholars opposed the Manchurian because they were another tribe, not Han tribe. The Manchurian arrested anyone who was against them. In 1647 AD, Qian was arrested too. Next year, Liu went round to see all her friends or even just acquaintances to ask for help. At last Qian was released from the jail. He was so grateful to his wife.
In 1664 AD, on the twenty-fourth day of the fifth moon, Qian died of some kind of disease. Liu became a widow. The kinsfolk wanted to divide the legacy of Qian. Liu could not endure it and hanged herself on the twenty-eighth day of the sixth moon, only thirty-four days after the death of her husband.

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56. Ma Xianglan (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Ma Xianglan (1548—1604 AD) was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. Although she was plain, she was especially talented in painting. She could plain orchid and bamboo very well. A painting of orchid in black ink by her is stored in Tokyo museum in Japan and looked upon as a precious curio of the country. She could sing and dance. She could write poems, besides painting. She also knew music. Once she wrote an opera. She herself conducted a group of troupers to perform it.
Because of her talent and pleasant conversation manner, she was well-known and had lots of visitors. Almost all the visitors would bring her some gifts, and so she saved quite much money. She had a small cottage built at the riverside, named Orchid Cottage. Sometimes if some young learned men came to see her, and when she accidentally knew that they wanted to go to the capital for government tests, but did not have so much money for the traveling and food and board expenses in the capital, she would donate enough money to them out of her own pocket.
When she grew old, she was looking for a man who could be her life mate. But none of her visitors became her favorite. At the age of twenty-four, she did meet one, Wang Zhideng (1535—1612 AD), a man of talent and learning. Though they were not married, they were best friends for more than thirty years. Things in the world always go against one's wishes. Once Wang had a chance to go to the capital for an official position. Ma was happy for him. He implied that if he could get promotion, he would come to marry her. When want left, Ma stopped receiving guests. She waited for the man to come back to marry her. But she was disappointed, because Wang was supplanted by his colleagues. When he returned he felt so ashamed of himself that he did not go to see Ma. On the contrary, he moved to live in Suzhou city. Marriage was out of the question.
During these long years, they kept in touch as best friends. Since Wang lived in Suzhou city, and she lived in Hangzhou city, she often went to Suzhou city to visit him. When Wang was seventy years old, she went there to celebrate his birthday. She took tens of singsong girls for the feast and she herself sang for him in spite that she was also growing old. When she returned, she fell sick and died at the age of fifty-seven. Wang wrote a poem in memory of her.

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57. Gu Hengbo (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Gu Hengbo (1619—1664 AD) was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. Among all the eight singsong girls, her life experience was simple, but she got the highest social status among them. She was also talented in writing and painting. She also had a lot of visitors. Once a man called Gong Dingzi (1615—1673 AD) came to visit her. He fell in love with her at the first sight. In 1641 AD, she married him, who was a famous scholar. When the Manchurian came and established their Qing dynasty, he became a high-rank official. So many scholars of Han tribe called him traitor. But she got the title of First-Rank Ladyship because of her husband from Qing dynasty. She died of disease in their residence in Peking. She was the only one of the eight singsong girls that had an official title.

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58. Bian Yujing (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Bian Yujing (1623—1665 AD) was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. She was born in Nanking city and her father was an official, but died early. She had good education, and so she knew music and could play zither. She could also write poems and paint, and could practice calligraphy. After the death of her father, she had to become a singsong girl for a living. Her charm and ability attracted a lot of visitors.
Once at the gathering of literary men, she met a man called Wu Meicun (1609—1671 AD), who was a high-rank official. She was fond of him and hinted that she wanted to marry him. But at the time, a brother-in-law of the emperor wanted to take her as his concubine, and so Wu was afraid of getting into trouble and ran away from her. But Bian remained where she was. No one took her away. Two years afterwards, she would marry a man, but when she learned that the man was a good-for-nothing, and therefore, she married her maid to him instead of herself. She left the place, dressed like a female Taoist.
In 1650 AD, she went to Changshu town, where Liu Rushi lived with her husband Qian. The couple knew Wu Meicun. When Wu came to see Qian, they told Wu that Bian stayed here now. Qian wanted to let Bian and Wu meet again. So he let his wife invited Bian to their house. Bian did come, but she said that she did not feel comfortable right then and asked Liu to lead her to a guest room upstairs. She came, but she did not see Wu. Maybe, she was still irritated with Wu for running away.
Next year, she intentionally went to where Wu lived to see him. She said that she came just to say hello to him. She was dressed in a female Taoist costume. She played zither that night for Wu and some friends. In 1653 AD, an old good-hearted doctor let her stay with him as a friend. She began to believe in Buddhism and refused to see any former friends. She spent three years to copy a Buddhist sutra and gave it to the doctor in return for his good hospitality. She wrote it with her blood, not in ink. She died peacefully at an old age. When Wu learned her death he came to salute her tomb and wrote a poem in memory of her.

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59. Dong Xiaowan (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Dong Xiaowan (1623—1651 AD) was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. She was born in an embroidery family in Suzhou city. Dong family was famous for its embroidery. They had a workshop to make and sell products of embroidery. This trade had lasted for more than two hundred years till her time. Her father was a scholar and so she had good education. When she was thirteen, her father died of diarrhea. She and her mother would not continue to live in this old house, because there were too many things to remind them of the diseased. Therefore, they had another house built at a riverside and moved to live there like a recluse. They entrusted the family business to some old employee to manage.
Then chaos arose with the aggression of the Manchurian. When she and mother went to their workshop with the intention to sell it, they found that it was already bankrupt. They were penniless now. And her mother was seriously sick. She needed money to pay doctors and buy drugs. So she had to become a singsong girl in the famous Qinhuai river area. Owing to her great knowledge and ability, she was soon known to those merry-making young men, who flocked to her like bees to the flower. She could sing for them and accompany them on tours. She liked tours with any visitors that she could appreciate the beautiful scenes.
There was a famous learned man by name of Mao Pijiang, who, having heard of her name, came to seek for her several times in her absence as she went out to accompany visitors on tours. Once he came late in the evening and she was already back from tours. They got acquainted with each other. As she already knew the name of the young scholar, they immediately liked each other. But Mao wanted to go back to his home town to take government tests. But he failed. After half a year, he came to seek Dong again.
After the death of her mother, she wanted to marry Mao. Only Mao must redeem her from the whorehouse first. However, as she was so renowned in the area, the bawd would not let her go, no matter how much money Mao would pay. Just at that time, Liu and her husband Qian came to see Mao. As Qian had been an official, through his mediation, the bawd let her go at last. Then they got married. She began to practice calligraphy and continued to paint. Her painting of “Colorful Butterflies” is now stored in the museum of Wuxi city. This painting was painted when she was only fifteen. Their comfortable life lasted only for more than a year. Then Manchurian army came and their valuables were lost when they escaped south.
After chaos, they went back to their homeland, and found that their house still stood. They lost all the valuables and had to live in hardship. Then Mao was taken ill and she had to wait on him hand and foot, day and night. Several months afterwards, Mao was gradually recovered, but she fell sick, severely. There was no curing for her and she died in peace in the first moon of 1651 AD.

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60. Li Xiangjun (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Li Xiangjun (1624—1653 AD) was also one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. She was born in Suzhou city and her father was an officer. She had two elder brothers. When her father died, her family turned out destitute. Therefore, when she was only eight, she was adopted by a bawd. She was trained to sing, to play lute, to write poems and knew music. She had a good voice, but seldom sang, unless the visitor was the one she liked.
When she reached the age of sixteen, she must have her maidenhood done away. She could find a visitor she liked. But the bawd would charge him highly. Then she met a man called Hou Fangyu (1618—1655 AD), a famous scholar at the time. As he did not have so much money to pay the fee, a friend Yuan Dacheng (1587—1646 AD) loaned him the amount. Yuan was a literary man and a dramatist, but he had a low character. He was always ambitious while Hou was not. Afterwards, they quarreled and were no longer friends. It was because Yuan made friends with anyone in hopes that that friend could help him to step up in his official career. However, Hou could not help him there. After their breach, Yuan wanted Hou to pay back the loan. Hou, with the help of the girl, repaid all his debt, by selling her jewels and his borrowing money from other friends and relatives.
There was a little, but important detail I must mention. On the night when Hou did the girl, he gave her a precious gift, which was a round fan of white gauze with an ivory carved frame, which was his family heirloom.
At that time when Manchurian occupied the capital of Ming dynasty, a Ming emperor fled to the south of the Yangtze river and made Ninking city as his temporary capital. Yuan then became a high official in the court of the emperor. As Yuan hated Hou, he wanted to frame Hou, who learned it and escaped to somewhere. And Li Xiangjun shut herself up and never received any visitors. But Yuan told the emperor about the famous girl. So the emperor ordered the girl to be fetched to his presence. The girl could not reject the order of the emperor directly. So she knocked her head against a pillar and her blood splashed on the fan. Another friend of Hou's, who could paint, got the fan and painted, based on the blood specks, some red peach blossoms. Hence, the fan was called Peach Fan.
Yuan, as a dramatist, wrote a drama named Peach Fan. He urged the emperor to send for the girl by force. She had to enter the palace as a singsong girl. In 1644 AD, the Manchurian army approached Nanking city, the emperor ran away further south. The girl stole out of the palace. She did not know where she could go and sat down on a small bridge. Just then a master, who had taught her to sing, came across her by accident on the bridge. As he knew that the girl had nowhere to go, he took her to Suzhou city, where he lived.
At this moment when the girl was on this bridge, Hou, her man, was not far from her. He came back to look for her. But fate made a joke on them. They missed each other. In 1645 AD, the girl Li went to see Bian Yujing (one of eight singsong girls and they knew each other) in her temple and stayed there for a while. In the autumn this year, Hou found her in the temple and took to his hometown, where his parents and his wife lived. In introduction, he concealed her singsong status, just saying that she was his concubine. As she was nice to everyone in the family, she was welcome and treated well. Therefore, from 1645 to 1652 AD, she led a peaceful and comfortable life.
Then her husband took a trip to somewhere. Somehow, unfortunately, her singsong status was found out by the family. Especially her father-in-law was furious and drove her out of the family to live in a bleak village fifteen li (half a kilometer) away. At the time, Li was pregnant. So the mother-in-law and the wife were sympathetic with her and with the ascent of the father-in-law, sent a maid there to look after her. When the husband returned, he took her back to live in the family house. But she was feeling unhappy for the discrimination. After she gave birth to the baby, she was suffering from TB—Tuberculosis, and died at the age of thirty.

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61. Kou Baimen (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Kou Baimen (1624--? AD) was also one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity. She was born in a strange family, who ran the prostitute business. She was demure and beautiful. In the late spring of 1642 AD, at the age of seventeen, she married the powerful Duke Baoguo of Ming dynasty.
In 1645 AD, the Manchurian army overthrew the Ming dynasty and Duke Baoguo surrendered. Not long after, his family was taken to Peking, which was then the capital of Qing dynasty, founded by the Manchurian (1644—1911 AD). The duke was confined. He wanted to sell all his dancers and maids and singsong girls, including Kou, who was his concubine. But a man could sell his concubine in the feudal China. Kou said to him that if he sold her, he would get at most some hundred taels of silver, but if he could let her go, she would go back to the south and make thousands of taels of silver for him. Therefore, he let her go. She went back to Nanking city. She married a scholar in Yangzhou city, but she felt unhappy with the marriage. So she returned to Nanking city again. Then she liked a scholar Han, who liked her at the first sight and supported her. Then she got sick. One day she still wanted to make love with him, though sick, but he would not allow and leave her room. Later she heard some merry noise next room. When she entered the next room, she found that Han was making love to her maid, who was younger, and beautiful, too, only without fame. She was enraged and her sickness got worse. She died soon.

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62. Chen Yuanyuan (one of eight famous contemporary singsong girls)
Chen Yuanyuan (1624—1681 AD) was one of the eight well-known singsong girls in the Qinhuai river area, i.e., Nanking city and its vicinity, too. It was round the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD—1644 AD). Emperor Chongzhen was on the throne. When he first became the emperor, he had the ambition to make his empire strong, but he was not a man of talent, and the empire remained weak. In the northeastern China, there was the Mandarin who got stronger and stronger, especially when they united the Mongolians in the west. Now they intended to invade and occupied the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The only blockade to them was the Great Wall. They must enter through Shanhai Pass at the eastern end of the Great Wall. The Ming Dynasty stationed great forces to defend it. But the stupid emperor often changed the commander, which was a disadvantage to the defending army. Supposing when a commander just got familiar with the situation and the move of the enemy, on which he would make his strategy, then he was removed and a new commander came. The new commander must get familiar with everything over again.
First the emperor appointed the famous general Yuan Chonghuan (1584 AD—1630 AD) as the commander. He defeated Mandarin army a few times. They had to retreat. Then the mandarin sent some spies to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to spread rumor that Yuan Chonghuan was having a peace talk with the Mandarin. The desire of the emperor was to drive the Mandarin back to where they came. So peace negotiation was against the wish of the emperor. Therefore, the emperor summoned Yuan Chonghuan back and put him to death sentence as betrayal.
Then he appointed Hong Chengchou (1593 AD—1665 AD) as the commander. He was a wise courtier and was the minister of the Military Ministry. When the Mandarin heard the removal of Yuan Chonghuan, they marched their army towards Shanhai Pass again. Hong Chengchou wanted to show that he was an able commander, but in the first battle, he was captured by the Mandarin army. He was brought to the presence of the Mandarin emperor Huangtaiji (1592 AD—1643 AD), who tried to persuade Hong to turn over to the Mandarin. However, at first, Hong Chengchou refused to betray his emperor. According to the history record, one night when Hong Chengchou was sleeping and woke up at midnight, he found a woman lying beside him. He sat up in astonishment and asked who she was. The woman said that she was the empress of Huangtaiji. The empress came to sleep with him. This was a great honor to him. He was moved and surrendered. It was said that he kowtowed only to the empress, not to the emperor, saying that he was the slave to her. The emperor did not care as long as he had surrendered to the Mandarin. Hong Chengchou offered then quite a few ideas how to conquer Ming Dynasty. After Hong Chengchou was captured, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Wu SanGui as the next commander.
Chen Yuanyuan lived in Kunshan town in Jiangsu province to the south of the Yangtze river. She was very beautiful and could sing and dance. She was a famous prostitute in that area. Many patrons came to hear her sing and watch her dance.
There at that time gathered large rebels, all of them were peasants, who were under the oppression of the corrupt officials. Their leader was Li Zicheng (1606 Ad—1645 AD). Li Zicheng led his huge army of rebels marching towards the capital Peking. Facing such situation of both threat from the Mandarin and from the rebels, the emperor felt so heavyhearted and melancholy that one of his imperial concubines Tian wanted to make him happy. She asked her father Tian Hong to find some beautiful girls. People thought at that time that all the beautiful girls were in the southern region to the Yangtze river. Tian Hong thereby traveled to the south. He visited brothel after brothel, and at last found Chen Yuanyuan in Kunshan town. He was struck by her beauty and took her back to the capital. He spent two hundred thousand taels of silver to get her. He presented the girl to the emperor, but the emperor was not in the mood to hear her sing and watch her dance. Tian Hong had to take the girl back to his own residence.
Commander Wu SanGui went with his army to Shanhai Pass to resist the invasion of the Mandarin. He went through the capital and Tian Hong entertained him with the intention that Wu would specially protect his family and his fortune. He let the girl out to dance for Wu SanGui, who, at the first sight, loved the girl very much. He said to Tian Hong that he would try his best to protect him if he gave the girl to him. Of course, Tian Hong complied. Wu SanGui took the girl to his residence in the capital. When he left the capital for the frontier, he had to leave the girl in the capital.
The rebellious army led by Li Zicheng approached the capital. The emperor did not have enough troops to defend the city, and soon the rebels entered it. The emperor had to hang himself. That was the end of the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng occupied the palace and declare himself the emperor of the Dashun empire. One of his generals Liu Zongming killed all the family members of Wu SanGui and took the girl with him.
When Wu SanGui heard the news, he was greatly infuriated and vowed to revenge on the rebels. He knew that the forces he commanded was still no match to the great number of the rebellious army. So he wanted to ally with the Mandarin and used the allied force to fight the rebels. Thus, the Mandarin army entered the Shanhai Pass and then occupied the territory of Ming Dynasty. They founded their Qing Dynasty till overthrown by the Republic of China in 1911 AD.
The rebels escaped from the capital Peking. Wu SanGui chased them till he wiped out all the rebels. In pursuit of the beaten rebels, Wu SanGui came across Chen Yuanyuan. When Wu got back his girl, he marched into Yunnan province, which is in the far southwest corner of China. He made it his own territory. He was given the title of king and Yunan province as his fief by the emperor of Qing Dynasty. He accepted the title.
As time proceeded, Chen Yuanyuan grew old and Wu SanGui got some girls younger. Chen Yuanyuan went to live in a Buddhist nunnery for a quiet life.
Although We SanGui let in the Mandarin army, He did that just for his own purpose. He really did not like the Mandarin. He wished to be independent. So he declared that his fief in Yunnan province was an independent empire and did not obey the Qing Dynasty any more. He set Kunming city as his capital. The Qing government dispatched troops into Yunnan province to attack Wu SanGui and took the Kunming city. Wu SanGui was killed. Chen Yuanyuan was afraid to be captured by the Qing army and insulted. She drowned herself in the lotus pond outside the nunnery. She was buried by the side of the pond. In the nunnery there displayed two pictures of Chen Yuanyuan.
If Chen Yuanyuan never lived, or if Wu SanGui never knew her, Wu SanGui would not let in the Mandarin and Ming Dynasty might continue for longer time. Even if the rebels occupied the capital, the deceased emperor had some sons and one of the sons could gather troops from provinces and drove away the rebels from the capital and restore the Ming Dynasty. That's why people said that a whore changed the history of Ming Dynasty.

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63. Concubine Xiang (a girl who had scent on her body)
Concubine Xiang (09/15/1734—05/24/1788 AD) was a girl belonging to Uighur tribe in the present Xinjiang Autonomous District. In 1757 AD, some minorities in that area rebelled against Qing dynasty (1644—1911 AD.) At the time, Emperor Qianlong (09/25/1711—02/07/1799 AD) was on the throne and he sent army to quench the insurrection. Two brothers of concubine Xiang helped Qing army to subdue all rebels and the Qing emperor conferred duke titles to them. The brothers wanted to please the emperor and sent their sister to the emperor in return. The sister was twenty-seven at the time. Therefore, the sister became the concubine of the emperor. It was said that the body of the girl would radiate scent by birth. That was why she got the title of Concubine Xiang (literally meaning scent).
When she came into the palace, a litchi tree, transplanted in the palace, produced more than two hundred litchi fruit. It was deemed as good fortune that the girl brought. So everyone in the palace liked her, from the empress dowager to the maids in common. Let alone the emperor. Emperor Qianlong liked to travel to the south in the region of the Yangtze River because the scenery there was very beautiful. Every time he traveled, he would bring her with him. She was his favorite concubine. When the empress died, the emperor never had an empress any more. And Concubine Xiang acted as the first concubine in the palace. She was then already forty-eight. She died at the age of fifty-five.
A legend had a different anecdote for her. She was the wife of a muslin chieftain. When the chieftain rebelled and killed by Qing army, she was captured and sent to the emperor. But she refused to obey the emperor, and the empress dowager let her die. Her body was sent back to her homeland and was buried there. There is still her tomb in Xinjiang district, named Tomb of Concubine Xiang.

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64. Empress Dowager Cixi (a powerful woman causing Qing dynasty perish)
Empress Dowager Cixi (11/29/1835—11/15/1908 AD) was the last empress dowager in Qing dynasty, and also the last empress dowager in the Chinese history. After her death, Qing dynasty was soon overthrown by the first republic of China.
Her father was an official. And in 1852, she was selected to be sent to the palace. Young girls, when selected into palace, had two choices. Mostly they would be palace maids to do all kinds of services and a few, if the emperor liked them, would be appointed concubines. She was lucky and got the title of Concubine Lan at the age of eighteen. The emperor of that time was Emperor Xianfeng (1831—1861 AD). The empress did not bear any children for him. But Lan bore him a son, who was duly the crown prince. When the emperor died, the crown prince became Emperor Tongzhi (04/27/1856—01/12/1875 AD). She became empress dowager Cixi, and as a rule, the empress became the empress dowager, too, though the new emperor was not her son. She was empress dowager CiAn. They were more easily distinguished from each other by their living quarters. The former empress dwelt in the east, and was thereby called East Empress dowager. The former concubine dwelt in the west, and was thereby called West empress Dowager. Since the new emperor was still a small boy and could not manage the state affairs, the two empress dowagers decided things for him.
The west empress dowager was ambitious, but she could not make any decisions alone. She was not satisfied. One day she sent some snacks to the east empress dowager, who ate it and died. It was said that the west empress dowager poisoned her. Then the west empress dowager had all the power in her hands. Unfortunately, her son, the new emperor, died young from chicken pox. As a rule, she should choose a close relative's son as her adoptive son and succeeded the throne. She chose the son of one of her brothers-in-law. This son was still a small boy and could administrate the government. So the west empress dowager still made decision for him. That was why she did not choose a grown-up son of the brothers-in-law. This new emperor was called Emperor Guangxu (08/14/1871—11/14/1908 AD).
Compared with sovereign empress Wu, who made the nation strong and prosperous, empress dowager Cixi ruled the nation badly. At the time Japan in the east always wanted to invade China. If she was a good ruler, she would strengthen the navy, but she used the funds for navy to build her summer palace. So in 1894, China's nave was defeated by that of Japan. In 1900 when the army of Eight-nation alliance occupied the capital Peking, she had to escape. Under her reign, Qing dynasty went to destruction.
Seeing this, Emperor Guangxu wanted to have reform like Japan. She and some old courtiers opposed the reform and coup d'etat took place. The emperor was confined and reformers were killed. China's hope was strangled in the cradle. The emperor died one day earlier than the death of empress dowager Cixi. It was said that the emperor was poisoned lest after her death, the emperor would refresh the reform.

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65. Hong Xuanjiao (a female general, later escaped to US)
Hong Xuanjiao (?--?) was a brave female fighter, commanding an army of all female soldiers, and was also the sister of Hong Xiuquan (1814—1864 AD), who was the Heavenly King of the Peace Kingdom (1851—1864 AD). At that time Qing dynasty was suffering a difficult time as Empress Dowager Cixi did not have the ability to administrate the country, but she held the power tightly in her hands.
Hong Xiuquan lived in Guangdong province in the southwestern China, far from the capital, so that Qing dynasty had loose control over that area. In 1843 AD, Hong Xiuquan founded a religion called God-Worshiping Church. The believers developed and in 1851 AD, they held up arms against Qing dynasty. They formed Peace Army and took city after city. They established Peace Kingdom and then they marched to Nanking city and occupied it. They made it their capital. The Heavenly King was the head of the kingdom. There were other kings, such as East King, West King, South King, North King, Wing King, Loyalty King, etc. They were the other leaders of the Peace Army.
The sister later married the West King. After they set Nanking city as their capital, the kings started to fight among themselves for more power and benefits. First the sister made a plot to kill the East King. Then North King killed the family of the Wing King, who escaped to Sichuan province. The Heavenly King killed the North King. Therefore, the Peace Kingdom grew weaker and was finally conquered by Qing Army and Nanking city was taken. The Heavenly King made suicide.
The sister escaped in disguise of an ordinary woman among the refugees. She then went to Shanghai. Finally she followed a priest and went to the United States. She stayed in San Francisco and lived as a herb doctor in Chinatown there.

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66. Fu Caiyun (a whore having been in foreign states and speaking their languages)
Fu Caiyun (1872—1936 AD) was nicknamed Sai Jinhua (literally meaning surpassing golden flower). When a little girl, she was sold to a whorehouse in Suzhou city. In 1887 AD, she was taken by a high official Hong Jun (1839—1893 AD) as his concubine at the age of fifteen while Hong was forty-eight. Next year, Hong Jun was sent to Russia, Austria, Germany and Holland as an envoy of Qing dynasty. She went with him as his Ladyship because his wife did not like to live in foreign countries. She lived in Berlin for a few years. She had been to St. Petersburg and Geneva. So she had known some German officers.
When her husband died, the family did not welcome her as she had been a whore. She had to leave and become a whore again for her living. At first she went to Shanghai, and later she went to live in Tianjin city, close to Peking. When she was a whore, she was known by her nickname, Sai Jinhua.
In 1900 AD, when the allied forces came to Peking, she was living there and had some good relationship with some German officers. It was said that she was familiar with Alfred Graf von Waldersee, the commander of the German troops. She had even tried to dissuade him from burning the Yuanming Garden. In 1903 AD, a young whore was ill-treated to death by her, and so she was arrested. Then she was sent in custody to her hometown, Suzhou city, for the service. When she was released from jail, she went to live in Shanghai. Afterwards, she moved to Peking and led a poor life till she died of severe disease there in 1936 AD.

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67. Qiu Jin (a female martyr against Qing dynasty)
Qiu Jin (1875—1907 AD) was born in Amoy in Fujian province. She learned kungfu when a little girl and admired Hua Mulan and Qin Laingyu (see above). She liked to dress in man's apparel. She called herself “Swords Woman of Mirror Lake,” which lake was in her homeland.
In 1896 AD, she was married to Wang Tingjun (1879—1909 AD), who ran a pawn shop in Xiangtan town. Qiu Jin moved to live with her husband there. In 1900 AD, Wang was assigned an official position in Peking and the couple went to live in Peking. She bore two children for him.
In 1903 AD, she went to Japan to learn Japanese language at first. During her stay in Japan, she took part in the revolutionary activities with Chinese students there. In July of 1905 AD, she joined Sun Yat-sen's alliance, a revolutionary league against Qing dynasty, and was assigned to be in charge of the revolutionary activities in Zhejiang province. When she returned next year, she became a teacher in Shanghai.
She planned to publish a newspaper named “Chinese Women.” She needed financial aid. She went back to her husband's family and got a large sum of money for that purpose. She set her heart to wage the revolution, and so she asked to be divorced to her husband lest her action should affect her husband. Her desire of divorce was to protect her husband. If in the process of revolution, she was arrested, her husband had nothing to do with her action as they were openly divorced.
In autumn of 1905, two members of the League founded a normal school in Shaoxing town, really for military training. Qiu recruited six hundred members for the school. In January of 1907 AD, the first issue of the newspaper was published. She wrote articles for female rights and revolutionary ideas. She toured to towns not far from Shanghai for propaganda of revolution. In February that year, she became the school mistress. They planned to rise to arms on the sixth day of July, but the secret was leaked out. The uprising of her comrades in Anqing town of Anhui province failed. Someone betrayed her to Qing government while other comrades tried to persuade her to flee, but she rejected, saying that the victory of revolution must cost blood. She remained. On the fourteenth day of July, she was arrested in the school. In the prison she was tortured, but she confessed nothing. She only wrote, “Autumn wind and autumn rain saddens people.” It was because the first word in her name Qiu literally meant autumn. She was killed on the fifteenth day.
Her body was at first buried At Xiling Bridge on the West lake in Hangzhou city, but the local Qing government forced it to be moved. Therefore, in 1909 AD, her son moved her body to be buried at Mt. Zhao in Xiangtan town, where her husband's family lived. In 1912 AD, when the first republic was founded, her body was moved back to be interred again in the same place by the West Lake of Hangzhou city. She is admired by all Chinese people for her heroic deeds.

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68. Xiao Fengxian (a whore who saved a general)
Xiao Fengxian (1900—1954 AD) was her nickname. Her real name was Zhu Xiaofeng. Her father was a business man and went bankrupt, and so she was sold to a brothel in Peking. She had an ability to know who was who. No disguise in her eyes.
It was said that she had known Cai E (12/18/1882—11/08/1916 AD), who was a general and the governor of Yunnan province. He came to Peking to see doctors. But he would go to some brothels when he was free. That was why he knew the girl.
At that time, Yuan Shikai (09/16/1895—06/06/1916 AD) wished to be the emperor and he detained Cai E, fearful of his opposition. Cai disagreed to Yuan's idea to restore China into an empire. Therefore, he wanted to be back to his domain so that he could take up arms against Yuan. He succeeded to steal out of Peking with the assistance of the girl. One night, the girl rode in her coach out to somewhere, and hid Cai in her coach in disguise. She sent Cai to Tianjing city, where Cai got on board a ship and escaped to Japan, then went back to his Yunnan province by way of Hong Kong.
As for the girl, she later married a brigade commander and did not bear any children for him. In 1949 AD, she remarried to a factory worker, who had a daughter of fourteen year old by his ex-wife. When he died, Fengxian lived with her step-daughter. In the early 1951 AD, she went to see the famous actor of Beijing opera, Mei Lanfang (10/22/1894—08/08/1961 AD), who admired Fengxian for her help of Cai E to escape. Under his influence, she was arranged to work in a nursery. In 1952, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in 1954.

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69. Pan Yuliang ( a famous paintress and sculptress)
Pan Yuliang (06/14/1895—06/13/1977 AD) was a famous paintress and sculptress. In 1917, she went to Shanghai to learn how to paint. Next year, she was enrolled in Shanghai Fine Arts School. In 1921, she went to France and was enrolled in Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts – ENSBA in Lyon. In 1923, she entered Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. In 1925, she went to Academy of Beaux-Arts of Rome in Italy. She finished an oil painting titled “White Mums,” which was later displayed in the gallery of Education Bureau in Nanking city.
In 1926, she began to learn sculpture. Meantime, she completed two oil paintings. They were “Fruits” and “Ruins of Rome.” Her art works were always chosen to be shown in the international exhibition in Italy. Her oil painting “Nude” had won the gold medal in the above exhibition.
In 1928, she returned to China and at the end of this year, she held her personal art gallery. Next year, she was appointed the director of the Western Painting Department of Shanghai Fine Arts School. In 1930, she became a professor in Central University (the present Nanking University), and at the same time, she founded the graduate arts school in Shanghai. Then she opened an exhibition in Tokyo in Japan. In 1931, she helped to organize the Chinese Arts Society.
In 1934, Shanghai Zhonghua Book Company published the “Collection of Oil Paintings of Pan Yuliang.” In 1937, she went to Paris again for the International Art Exposition. In 1940, when Paris was occupied by Germany, she moved to dwell in the suburb and sold paintings for a living. She resided in France ever since till her death in 1977.