Xu Lai (actress)
Xu Lai (; 1909 – 4 April 1973) was a Chinese film actress, socialite, and World War II secret agent. Known as the "Standard Beauty", she was active in the film industry for only three years, and quit acting after the suicide of the great star Ruan Lingyu in 1935. Her first husband was Li Jinhui, the "Father of Chinese pop music". During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Xu and her second husband, Lieutenant General Tang Shengming, ostensibly served under the Japanese-controlled Nanking puppet regime, but secretly worked as agents for the Republic of China resistance based in Chungking. With the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, Xu and Tang defected to the People's Republic of China, but were severely persecuted during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Xu Lai died in prison in 1973; her husband survived and lived until 1987. Early life Xu Lai was born in 1909 to a poor family in Shanghai. Her original name was Xu Xiaomei () and she was also called Xu Jiefeng () ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Li Jinhui
Li Jinhui (; 5 September 1891 – 15 February 1967 although some sources suggest he died 1968) was a Chinese composer and songwriter born in Xiangtan, Hunan, Qing China. He is often dubbed as the "Father of Chinese popular music".Aigomusic.Aigomusic." ''Shanghai introduction.'' Retrieved on 2007-04-30. He created a new musical form with shidaiqu after the fall of the Qing Dynasty—moving away from established musical forms. Although Li's music was extremely popular, the Chinese Nationalist Party attempted to ban his music. Critics branded his music as "Yellow Music", a form of pornography, because of its sexual associations and he was branded a "corruptor" of public morals. This kind of popular music was banned in China after the Communist takeover in 1949, and Li was eventually hounded to his death, a victim of political persecution in 1967 during the height of the Cultural Revolution. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Silent Film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era that existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in large cities, a small orchestra—would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema pri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice in China until the 20th century that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and their experience could vary tremendously according to their masters' whim. During the Mongol conquests, both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol, and in Indian society, where the intermingling of castes and religions was frowned upon and a taboo, and concubinage could be practiced with women with whom marriage was considered undesirable, such as those from a lower caste and Muslim women who wouldn't be accepted in a Hindu household and Hindu women who wouldn't be accepted in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some policing powers (such as surveillance) but not others. The powers and duties of a government organization may be partly secret and partly not. The organization may be said to operate openly at home and secretly abroad, or vice versa. Secret police and intelligence agencies can usually be considered secret services. Various states and regimes, at different times and places, established bodies that could be described as a secret service or secret police – for example, the ''agentes in rebus'' of the late Roman Empire were sometimes defined as such. In modern times, the French police officer Joseph Fouché is sometimes regarded as the primary pioneer within secret intellig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bureau Of Investigation And Statistics
The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Military Commission), (NBIS or BIS) (), commonly known as Juntong (), was the military intelligence agency of the Republic of China before 1946. It was devoted to intelligence gathering and covert spying operation for purposes of national security and defense. It was originally headed by Dai Li, and after 1946 he was succeeded by Mao Renfeng. This bureau was largely superseded by the Military Intelligence Bureau under Ministry of National Defense in Taiwan today. The NBIS had a great influence amongst the Nationalist Government's military, police, administration, and transportation agencies, as well as embassies and consulates abroad during the Political Tutelage period (1928-1946) of Republic of China. It was often criticized by the political dissidents as a "secret police" involved in covert and espionage operation, including surveillance, kidnapping, assassinations, elimination and house-arrest against Chinese communis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dai Li
Lieutenant General Dai Li (Tai Li; ; May 28, 1897 – March 17, 1946) was a Chinese spymaster. His courtesy name was Yunong (雨農). Born Dai Chunfeng (Tai Chun-feng; 戴春風) in Bao'an, Jiangshan, Zhejiang province, he studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, where Chiang Kai-shek served as Chief Commandant, and later became head of Chiang's military intelligence agency: the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics () or ("jūntǒng" (军统) in short) of Republican China (1912-1949). Early life Born Dai Chunfeng, he was just four years old when his father died, leaving his mother to raise him. By age six, Dai was enrolled in a private academy to begin studying Chinese Classics, and later graduated valedictorian from Wenxi County Elementary School. His mother could not afford to send him to university, so at 16 he was forced to leave home and find his own way in the world. With neither secure income nor any guidance, he began living the rough life of the streets of Shangha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou to the west and Chongqing to the northwest. Its capital and largest city is Changsha, which also abuts the Xiang River. Hengyang, Zhuzhou, and Yueyang are among its most populous urban cities. With a population of just over 66 million residing in an area of approximately , it is China's 7th most populous province, the fourth most populous among landlocked provinces, the second most populous in South Central China after Guangdong and the most populous province in Central China. It is the largest province in South-Central China and the fourth largest among landlocked provinces and the 10th most extensive province by area. Hunan's nominal GDP was US$ 724 billion (CNY 4.6 trillion) a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan after 1949. It was the sole party in China during the Republican Era from 1928 to 1949, when most of the Chinese mainland was under its control. The party retreated from the mainland to Taiwan on 7 December 1949, following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law and retained its authoritarian rule over Taiwan under the ''Dang Guo'' system until democratic reforms were enacted in the 1980s and full democratization in the 1990s. In Taiwanese politics, the KMT is the dominant party in the Pan-Blue Coalition and primarily competes with the rival Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It is currently the largest opposition party in the Legislative Yuan. The current chairman is Eric Chu. The party originate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shen Xiling
Shen Xiling (1904 – 17 December 1940) was a Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ... film director. Partial filmography External links Film directors from Zhejiang 1904 births 1940 deaths Artists from Hangzhou Chinese film directors {{China-film-director-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Xu Lai 4
Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu (god), the creator god of the ǃKung * Xu, a minor character in the game ''Final Fantasy VIII'' Places * Xu (state) (), a state of ancient China * Xǔ (state) (), was a vassal state of the Zhou dynasty Universities * X University (Toronto Metropolitan University aka Ryerson Polytechnic Institute), Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Xavier University (other) ** Xavier University in Cincinnati, United States ** Xavier University of Louisiana, United States * Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China * Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China Other uses * African Express Airways (IATA code XU), a Kenyan airline * X unit (symbol xu), a unit of length approximately equal to 0.1 pm (10−13 m), used for X-ray and gamma ray wavelengths ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cinema Of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including its worldwide diaspora). For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world following US cinema and Indian cinema and the second largest exporter. Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong's transfer to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema) has long had a strong cult following, which is now arguably a part of the cultural mainstream, widely ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Li Lili
Li Lili (; 2 June 1915 – 7 August 2005) was a Chinese film actress and singer. Her films '' Playthings'', '' The Great Road'' and ''Storm on the Border'' were blockbusters of the 1930s and 1940s.Elaine DuanTop 10 legendary Chinese women in the 1930s: Li Lili China.org.cn, 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2012-05-06. She was sometimes called "China's Mae West". Her films ''Volcanic Passions'' (1932), ''Playthings'' (''Little Toys'') (1933), ''Daybreak'' (1933), ''Sports Queen'' (1934), and ''The Great Road'' (''The Big Road'') (1934) are available with English subtitles on YouTube. Biography Li was born Qian Zhenzhen () in Beijing, 1915. Her father, Qian Zhuangfei, was a famed secret agent and member of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1927, she moved to Shanghai, where her father encouraged her to join the China Song & Dance Troupe, later renamed Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe. Li Jinhui, later described as "the Father of Chinese popular music", was the conductor of the troupe and a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |