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Video: What mark did the great Chinese women leave in world history: a martial artist, a brave general, etc
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
When it comes to achievements and historical events, the first thing that pops up in my head is the images of great men who became famous throughout the world for their exploits or atrocities. Yes, few people think about the fact that among the many great and famous people there were women who made a contribution to history. The Chinese women, whose names are firmly entrenched in historical reports, were no exception.
1. Li Xianglan
Sometimes it is better to admit your foreign origin when accused of betraying your own country, considering Li Xianglan's story. Born in 1920 in what was then Manchuria (which later became a Japanese puppet state for a limited period of time), "Chinese" actress Li Xianglan was actually the daughter of Japanese parents living in Manchuria.
She was actually a woman named Yamagachi Yoshiko and worked in China as an actress in various films, some of which were actually Japanese propaganda. In 1945, she was charged with high treason and sentenced to death for her actions, including portraying Chinese women romantically involved with the occupying Japanese forces deemed treacherous against China. But when her family registry was stolen, she was spared and simply returned to Japan, repatriated.
2. Ng Mui
Martial arts may seem like a favorite sport for men to some people. And despite the fact that men make up a large number of martial artists, it should be remembered that they can also be the property of women. China is no exception to this rule. One of the most accomplished martial artists in Chinese history, Ng Mui is the female founder of a martial art form in China.
Ng was a Buddhist nun at the Shaolin Temple in the 1700s, and is said to have added a more intellectual and strategic twist to kung fu, developing what is now a fairly well-known combat form called Wing Chun (Wing Chun, Yun Chun). Ng's fighting style is truly adorable, reflecting great thought, reflection and the ability to observe, contemplate and learn before taking a logical approach to combat. Her observation of the conflict between a mammal and a large bird gave her insight into how to improve fighting with less brute force. From here came the same White Crane Style and Snake Style. Accordingly, concentrated strength combined with agility certainly stands out as the main and main requirement in Wing Chun.
3. Huang Huangxiao
During World War II, an American air force known as the Flying Tigers, a famous volunteer group renowned for its bravery in aerial combat, was based in Yunnan province in southwestern China, led by a female nurse named Huang. A graduate of the High School of Nursing at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, Huang joined the Chinese Union of United Nurses in 1942. After the end of World War II, numerous American veterans returned to China to visit her in Kunming, Yunnan Province, where she settled. When she reached the age of ninety-five, Huang Huangxio gave up her family life in favor of a professional education. After Hong Kong fell under Japanese occupation, she decided to make a perilous escape to Macau. After her successful escape from occupied Hong Kong, the determined Huang Huangxiao traveled six hundred miles to Chongqing to become a nurse in the American Flying Tigers group fighting against Japanese occupation. Later, in recognition of her merits, not only American pilots, but also adult children of historical Chinese aviators came to her.
4. Cixi (Ci Xi)
Known as one of the most powerful women in China, Empress Dowager Cixi became famous for her conspiracies, which included going from concubine to ruler. However, she is also known for her efforts to make China strong and counter the influence of overseas forces during the Second Opium War. Like the famous female emperor Wu Zetian, Empress Dowager Cixi was considered a die-hard leader that no one would want to stand in the way of. Often depicted with a stern gaze, she gained power from her position as a concubine after the birth of her only child (son) by Xiangfeng, shortly before his death. She then ruled through the young emperor Tongzhi to maintain her rule over Qing China.
When Emperor Tongzhi died young, the ambitious dowager Cixi adopted her three-year-old nephew Caitian so that he could take on the title of Emperor of Guangxu. As the struggle progressed, Empress Dowager Cixi became a supporter of the now well-known Boxing Rebellion, a violent conflict in which many foreigners were exterminated during a time of strong nationalist sentiment and fears of colonization by Western powers. Anger over the aftermath of the two Opium Wars on China added fuel to the fire that became the face of the uprising. After Beijing was surrounded by Western forces, the once powerful woman was forced to surrender, accepting less favorable terms. Several years later, Emperor Guangxu died just before the death of Empress Dowager Cixi. Poisoning was suspected as the cause of death, which was confirmed by official reports in 2008.
5. Qin Liangyu
The Ming Dynasty of historical China may be well known, but less well known is the fact that Qin Liangyu, a remarkable military woman who would become a general, began her career as the wife of military commander Ma Qiancheng in Chongqing Municipality. The time close to the end of the Ming dynasty brought many changes and forces in the outbreak of the conflict. When uprisings broke out against the government at the time, Qin Liangyu, born in 1574, was in the midst of the chaos caused by her marriage to a loyal military commander during the uprisings.
After the rebellion of the warlord Zunyi, Qin Liangyu soon led the fighting squads with her husband in the so-called "squad of white sticks", named after their copies made of white wood. While Ma Qiansheng led three thousand fighters into battle, Qin Liangyu herself led a group of three hundred fighters to support her husband's fight. Several victories followed, but later, when her husband was imprisoned on false charges and died there, she became the self-proclaimed general in charge of the military forces defending Sichuan province from rebel groups, and she was soon officially awarded the title. Qin Liangyu was the only female general officially recorded in Chinese dynastic history, recognized for her loyalty and bravery.
Read also about how they managed to leave an indelible mark on history.
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