Map of the Huai River

The border between the Song Dynasty and Jin Dynasty is shown in this map as being stabilized along the Huai River, after the Jurchens conquered northern China in 1127.

The Huai River (Chinese: 淮河; pinyin: Huái Hé) is a major river in China. The Huai River is located about mid-way between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two largest rivers in China, and like them runs from west to east. However, the Huai River does not flow all the way to the sea, making it notoriously vulnerable to flooding.

The Huai River-Qin Mountains line is generally regarded as the geographical dividing line between North China and South China. This line approximates the 0 degree January isotherm and the 800 mm isohyet in China.

The Huai river has a length of 1,078 kilometers and a drainage area of 174,000 square kilometers.

Course[link]

The Huai River originates in Tongbai Mountain in Henan province. It flows through southern Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, entering the Yangtze River at Jiangdu, Yangzhou.

Historically, the Huai River entered the Yellow Sea at Yuntiguan ("Escalade Pass") through a broad and level lower course. It was long used to irrigate the surrounding farmlands, and was the centre of an extensive network of canals and tributaries. Beginning in 1194, however, the Yellow River to the north repeatedly changed its course southwards to run into the Huai River. The resulting silting was so heavy that after the Yellow River changed back to its northerly course for the most recent time in 1897, the geography of the Huai River basin was changed significantly by the creation of new high lands, lakes, and the built-up silt of the Yellow River's historical southern course. As a result, water from the mid-section of the river could not easily flow into the lower section, while water in the lower section could not find an outlet to the sea. The problem worsened in the Second World War, when the Chiang Kai-shek government, in an attempt to check the pace of the Japanese invasion, flooded the lower Huai basin by opening the Yellow River's southern levee. The main stem of the Yellow River flowed through the levee breach for the next nine years, further disrupting the Huai river system.

The result of these changes was that water from the Huai River pooled up into Lake Hongze, and then ran southwards towards the Yangtze River. Major and minor floods occurred frequently, with the area suffering droughts in between floods. In the 450 years to 1950, the Huai River saw, on average, 94 major floods per century.

Attempts to solve the Huai River's problems have focussed on building outlets for the Huai River into the Yangtze River and the sea. Currently, the major part of the river's flow enters the Yangtze River via Lake Hongze. The North Jiangsu Irrigation Main Channel also diverts some of its water along its old historical course to the sea, and is planned to be upgraded with a new parallel channel. Several former tributaries also carry some water to the sea.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Huai River (Huai He)

External links[link]

• www.chinapage: Huai River

Coordinates: 32°24′37″N 115°24′14″E / 32.4103°N 115.404°E / 32.4103; 115.404

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Ella Chen
Ella Chen on Kangxi Lai Le for movie “Perfect Two" in 2011
Chinese name	陳嘉樺 (Traditional)
Chinese name	陈嘉桦 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Chén Jiāhuà (Mandarin)
Birth name	Chen Chia-Hwa
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	(1981-06-18) 18 June 1981 (age 31) Pingtung, Taiwan
Other name(s)	Chen Ai La (陳艾拉)
Occupation	Singer, actress, host
Genre(s)	Mandopop
Voice type(s)	Alto
Label(s)	HIM International Music
Years active	2001-present
Associated acts	S.H.E

Chen Chia-Hwa (Chinese: 陳嘉樺), mononymouly credited as Ella, is the oldest member of Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Her name 'Ella', which means courage, was given after the personality test given by HIM Management Co.

Biography[link]

See also: S.H.E's musical career, S.H.E's television and film career

On 8 August 2000, HIM International Music held a 'Universal 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Contest' in search of new artists to sign under their label. When she travelled with her sister to Taipei for a holiday, Ella discovered that her older sister had registered her for a singing competition. Intimidated by the long line of contestants and worried of facing ridicule for her tomboy personality, Ella almost gave up before the first round. Her older sister, however convinced her to stay. Ella's deep voice caught the label's attention, and she reached the final round. Her alto voice is noted for its strong and beautiful nature.^[1]

Following the conclusion of the contest, Ella returned to her duties at a local hospital, but received a call from HIM International requesting an additional audition. After test recordings were done, Ella signed on as part of HIM's newest girl group, S.H.E. When Ella first tested out her signature, HIM employees were concerned that the signature would be easily forged due to its simplicity; thus, during S.H.E's early days, Ella signed autographs using the last character of her name, (pinyin: huà). However, as S.H.E's autograph sessions drew larger audiences, Ella reverted to her simpler, English signature.^[2]

During her career with S.H.E, Ella has been the most accident-prone member. On July 29, 2003 she was sent to the hospital after jumping from the third story of a building and shattering her hip. She returned three weeks later to promote Super Star. In 2005, during the filming of Reaching for the Stars, Ella burned her ears and hair on a candle, prompting crew members to send her to the National Taiwan University Hospital.^[3] In order to recover, Ella stayed away from filming for two days, during which she cut off approximately two centimetres of burnt hair on both sides of her head.^[3]

In 2007, Chen was voted by online fans as Taiwan's most down-to-earth (unpretentious) artist.^[4] Out of the three members of S.H.E, Ella is the most outspoken. Since the release of S.H.E's first album in 2001, Ella has usually been the one to answer reporter's questions.^[5] As the tomboy of S.H.E, Ella is frequently the subject of jokes targeting her gender and sexual orientation, but she usually takes the jabs in stride.^[6] Netizens even labelled her one of China's Four Main Tomboys of the past century.^[7] Her unusually deep voice earned her a starring role as the voice of Arthur in the Mandarin version of Arthur and the Minimoys.

As a singer and an actress, Ella has also appeared in various music videos such as 愛的重唱曲-覆水難收篇 (2004-04-05), 再一次拥有 (2005) by Kaira Gong and 愛到瘋癲 (2009) by Power Station.

In 2009, along with her band-mate Hebe Tien, Ella composed a song for her seniors Power Station, entitled "Love Crazy/愛到瘋癲". Ella was the composer while Hebe wrote the lyrics. The song was given to them as repayment for Power Station have given S.H.E the song "Freezer". Ella had also composed a station song entitled "Pop Radio 91.7 jingle" for Taiwan Pop Radio station "Pop Radio 91.7" . In 2010 she was also featured in the drama Down with Love.

On 5 May 2012, Chen married Alvin Lai, a Chinese Malaysian. The Western-style wedding held in Taipei with S.H.E member Hebe serving as the bridesmaid.^[8]

Discography[link]

EP[link]

• 蔷蔷 (Qiáng Qiáng) - released August 27, 2007.
• I Am... Ella Chen Jia Hua - released March 30, 2012.

Solo / Duet[link]

• 单手超人 (Dān Shǒu Chāorén / Single-handed Superman) - A Solo in The 3 Spas of Love
• 我就是我 (Wǒ Jiù Shì Wǒ / I Am Just Me) - A self-penned and self-composed song she made for her Solo Performance in the S.H.E Is The One Concert Tour.^[9]
• 跟月亮Say Goodbye (Gēn Yuèliàng Say Goodbye / Say Goodbye With The Moon) - Solo - unreleased but leaked around April 2010.^[10]
• 你被寫在我的歌裡 (Nǐ Bèi Xiě Zài Wǒ De Gē Li / You're To Write In My Songs) - Duet with Qing Feng - was the featured artist in What Is Troubling You (你在煩惱什麼) Album by Sodagreen, released November 11, 2011.

Filmography[link]

Dramas Series[link]

Movies Series[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Chinese) Official Profile @ HIM International
• (Chinese) 嘉桦Ella的新浪微博

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (March 2012)

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2012)

Otto Braun in 1954 (in the middle)

Otto Braun (28 September 1900, Ismaning, Upper Bavaria – 15 August 1974, Varna) was a German Communist with a long and varied career.

His most significant role was as a Comintern agent sent to China in 1934, to advise the Communist Party of China (CPC) on military strategy during the Chinese Civil War. At the time Braun adopted a Chinese name, Li De (Chinese: 李德; pinyin: Lǐ Dé, Li the German); it was only many years later that Otto Braun and "Li De" came to be known as the one and the same person.

Early life[link]

Otto Braun was born in Ismaning (near to Munich). Even though his mother was not dead, he grew up in an orphanage.

He enrolled at a teachers' training college in Pasing in the Munich area. At June 1918 Braun was drafted into the ranks of the Bavarian army, part of the Imperial German Army - but the First World War ended before he could face combat duty.

After the armistice he went back to complete his studies at the teachers' training college. However, he did not take a job as a primary school teacher. Rather, he joined the newly-founded Communist Party of Germany (KPD), embarking on what would be a lifelong vocation and career, and traveled widely, mainly in North Germany.

Communist activity in the 1920s and early 1930s[link]

It seems that it was in 1921 that Braun became a full-time paid KPD party worker.

He was involved in an affair concerning the theft of some sensitive documents from Colonel Freyberg, a White Russian emigre based in Berlin. For his part in this he was detained by the police in July 1921. He was put on trial but managed to hide his Communist connections and convince the court that he was a "right-winger." Due to the bias often exhibited by the judicial system of the Weimar Republic, this masquerade helped him get off with a light sentence. In fact, he did not go to jail, but went into hiding.

By that time, he was already a central member of the KPD apparatus, not only regularly writing articles for the party papers but, after 1924, heading the party's "counter-espionage" efforts. He was also deeply involved in its militia and para-military activities.

The police caught up with him again in September 1926. He first served his "Freyberg sentence" of 1922, then kept in detention at the Moabit Prison. However, on April 11, 1928, a band of Communists including his then lover Olga Benario succeeded in staging his jail break.

Though the daring escape got worldwide publicity, the Braun and Benario made their way to Moscow, where they became involved in the International Communist movement. Both of them were at Lenin School operated by the Comintern. Braun went to the Frunze Military Academy while Benário worked as an instructor of the Communist Youth International, first in the Soviet Union, then in France and Great Britain, where she participated in coordinating anti-fascist activities.

Braun and Benário parted ways in 1931. She went on to marry the famous Brazilian revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes and go to live in his country - finally to be arrested by the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship, extradited to Germany and suffer death at the hands of the Gestapo. She is remembered as a martyr by the Brazilian and German Left. For his part, Otto Braun embarked on the most significant - and in some ways, the most controversial - part of his revolutionary career, as the Comintern representative in China.

In China[link]

In 1932, following his graduation at the Frunze Academy, Soviet Military Intelligence's Fourth Directorate dispatched Braun to Harbin in Manchuria, China. From there he traveled to Shanghai.

In that city, Otto Braun joined the local Comintern bureau. There he was in military affairs under the orders of "General Kleber" (nom de guerre of Manfred Stern), who maintained a "military section" in the city, and in political issues under Arthur Ewert, a fellow German Communist.

However, Shanghai was at that time a backwater in Chinese revolutionary affairs - the local Communist movement having been effectively crushed by the Kuomintang (KMT) in a terrible bloodbath a few years earlier. In the later part of 1933 Braun managed to arrive in Ruijin, at that time capital of the "Chinese Soviet Republic" set up by the surviving Chinese Communists, where he became a military adviser.

The precise circumstances of his getting this appointment and his activities in the following years are still debated with some aspects remaining unclear. As noted by Freddy Litten, who thoroughly researched this part of Otto Braun's career, "[Braun]'s memoirs are an important, though dubious, source for the events of these years".^[1]

At that time the Kuomintang - perceiving the Communists as a dangerous threat to its rule - launched a series of vigorous attacks on the CPC in urban areas. Its forces came near to Ruijin, which was in danger of being surrounded and became untenable. The CPC initiated the Long March to escape this danger. Braun, under his assumed Chinese name "Li De" was nearly the only foreigner to participate in the Long March, and might have even been the original proposer of the idea of embarking on such a march in an effort to reach the safer interior of China.

In the later part of 1934 Braun/Li De assumed a position of command in the early First Front Army, together with Zhou Enlai and Bo Gu - with authority to make all military decisions. Braun advocated that the First Front Army directly attack the far larger and better equipped KMT Army. The First Front Army's suffered great casualties, so that CPC forces fell drastically, from 86,000 to about 25,000, within a year.

In 1935, the CPC met at the Zunyi Conference where Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai expressed their opposition to Braun, Bo Gu, and their tactics. Mao argued that the direct attacks were costing lives, and suggested that their smaller, poorer equipped forces should run and surround the KMT, using the guerrilla tactics for which Mao was to become famed. (Mao was already distrusting towards European advisors from the Comintern, especially considering that in the 1920s earlier such advisers like the Dutch Henk Sneevliet had given Chinese Communists disastrous advice.)

Other military wing leaders agreed with Mao, so Braun and Bo Gu were removed as the military commanders, with Mao taking Braun's position. After this conference, the Comintern was pushed aside, and "Native Communists" took control of the CPC.

Still, Braun stayed in China until 1939 and participated in the Long March along with the CPC. No longer holding a military command, he was mainly involved in advisory work and some teaching of tactics.

Though never returning to China after leaving in 1939, for the rest of his life he continued to show interest in Chinese affairs.

Soviet period in the 1940s[link]

In 1939 Braun arrived in the Soviet Union. At the time, that was a very dangerous place for foreign Communists, many of whom - including German Communists - were imprisoned, tortured or killed by Joseph Stalin's secret police (NKVD), despite being completely loyal to the revolutionary cause and having often undergone persecution for its sake in their own countries. Braun managed to avoid such a fate, though he did face some political difficulties immediately upon his arrival.

The Moscow Foreign Languages Press gave him employment as an editor and translator. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, use was made of his German antecedents by making him a "polit-instrukteur" striving to turn the loyalty of German officer captured by the Soviets. In that role he used an old alias from the 1920s, "Kommissar Wagner". He later performed a similar tactic towards captive Japanese officers as well.

Between 1946 and 1948 he was based at Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast where he lectured in the Antifascist Central School. Afterwards he had another period of working in the Moscow Foreign Languages Press.

Return to Germany and later years[link]

Only after the death of Stalin was Otto Braun allowed to return to his homeland after nearly three decades of exile.

Following his arrival at the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) Braun became a fellow at the Institute for Marxism-Leninism maintained by the Central Committee of ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), as the Communist Party was officially called. His main responsibility was the publication in German of the writings of Vladimir Lenin.

He was First Secretary German Writers' Association between 1961 and 1963, when he fell from grace. Already in his middle sixties, he was for some time a pensioner doing some freelance translation from Russian.

His return to the authorities' good books was evident when in 1964 the ruling party's organ Neues Deutschland carried the revelation that the otherwise unknown Li De, involved in the Chinese Long March of the 1930s, had been in fact none other than the German Otto Braun.

This gave Braun the possibility and the impetus to write his "Chinese Notes". As mentioned, researchers consider these as full of interesting information, particularly useful as offering a different angle to that of official Chinese Communist historiography - but in themselves far from objective or impartial. They were written in the late 1960s, when Braun was also a fellow of Institute for Social Sciences. The memoirs were published in book form at 1973 and translated to Chinese, English ^[2] and other tongues.

Braun died at age 74, while on vacation in Varna, Bulgaria. He was buried in East Berlin, and his obituaries appeared in Pravda and in The New York Times.

References[link]

• "Li De yu Zhongguo geming (youguan ziliao)" ("Li De and the Chinese Revolution [Relevant Materials]") by Shi Zhifu; Zhou Wenqi; review in The China Quarterly, No. 118 (Jun., 1989), pp. 373–374, Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the School of Oriental and African Studies [1].
• "Otto Brauns frühes Wirken in China (1932-1935)" ("Otto Braun's Early Activity in China (1932-1935") by Freddy Litten [2].
• Freddy Litten (Frederick S. Litten), abstracts from "China and intelligence history" (on the Long March)
• Litten, who made a through research on Braun, gave the following note on his sources:
  • The article on "Braun in Germany" is based on documents in archives in Berlin, Potsdam and Munich, contemporary newspaper reports and publications.
  • "Braun in China" is based on Litten's own paper "Otto Brauns frühes Wirken in China (1932-1935)" [3].
  • "Braun's Curriculum Vitae" is based on some further unpublished documents (especially his privately-held cv), but mostly on a wide array of publications in German, English, Russian and Chinese.

Vivian Hsu
Chinese name	徐若瑄
Pinyin	Xú Ruòxuān (Mandarin)
Birth name	徐淑娟 (pinyin: Xú Shújuān)
Origin	Taiwan
Born	(1975-03-19) March 19, 1975 (age 37) Taichung, Taiwan
Occupation	Singer, actress, model
Genre(s)	Pop
Label(s)	Toshiba EMI (1995–1996) BMG (1999–2001) Avex Trax (2003–2007) Warner Music (2007–2010) Universal Music (2010-present)
Years active	1990–present
Associated acts	Shao Nü Dui (1990–1992) Black Biscuits (1997–1999) The d.e.p. (2001) Vivian or Kazuma (2003)
Official Website	www.avex.com.tw/vivian

Vivian Hsu (Chinese: 徐若瑄; pinyin: Xú Ruòxuān; Wade–Giles: Hsu Jo-hsüan; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhî Jio̍k-soan; Japanese: ビビアン・スー Bibian Sū; born March 19, 1975 in Taichung, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese singer, actress, and model who has gained remarkable popularity in East Asia, mainly in Taiwan and Japan.

Hsu rose to prominence in Japan, where she made her first appearance in 1995 and has become a highly-recognized celebrity with her countless appearances in media during the late 1990s.^[1]

She was also the main vocalist for Black Biscuits, a Japanese dance band which released four singles, Stamina, Timing, Relax, Bye-Bye, and one album Life. All of these four singles reached the top 5 spots of the Oricon singles chart, and Life reached #6 in the album chart.

Early career[link]

The second of three children, Hsu was born to a Taiwanese father and Tayal-Taiwanese mother^[2] as Hsu Su-chuan (Chinese: 徐淑娟; pinyin: Xú Shújuān), and used this name until she began her modeling career. Her parents divorced when she was a young child. She attended Taipei Jianxing Elementary School and Taipei Shulinguo Junior High School.

Hsu's career in entertainment industry started after winning first place in a "Talented Beautiful Girl" contest held by Taiwan's CTS in 1990. At that point, she was working by delivering food on her bicycle, and her customers began to recognise her from her television appearances. The same year she joined a musical trio named "Girls' Team" (少女隊). They released two albums, in 1991 and 1992, then broke up. Following this, Hsu started modeling.

Modelling[link]

As a model, she posed in two photobooks titled Angel (天使心) and Venus.

Angel, published in 1995, was shot in Capri and Sicily.

Venus, published on July 7, 1996, was shot in Mexico and had separate runs in Taiwan and Japan.

Hsu's success in modeling achieved its zenith in July 1996 when she was featured on the cover of two Asian-edition Penthouse magazines (the Japanese edition, and the comparatively low-distribution Hong Kong edition). Like the photobooks, both these items have become very sought after by collectors and fans.

Hsu has continued to model for designers such as Hang Ten, Gucci and Mode Marie, and has modelled in all three of her brief, autobiographical books: Earth Onigiri (2001), Privacy (2001, ISBN 4-88745-060-5), and Wo Ai Taiwan (2002). In addition, most of her musical albums contain substantial inserts featuring new modelling work.

Acting[link]

Hsu has appeared in a number of films and television programs both in Taiwan and Japan. She appeared in the ambitious 2006 mainland China-Taiwan-Hong Kong collaboration The Knot, a romance film that takes place between the CCP's takeover of mainland China and the present. Her debut film was Shaolin Popey (1994), a comedy film which became a box office hit in Taiwan and Hong Kong. She also has some experience as a seiyu (voice actress), having voiced Aisha in Gundam SEED for three episodes.

Hsu also starred in three Hong Kong Category III films, "Hunting List", Devil Angel and Angel Heart. She played the role of Chao Jiale in Love Storm (2003), alongside Vic Chou and Ken Chu. She also composed and sang the opening theme for this series, Decide to Love You (決定愛你), which was released as a single in 2003. As with many actors and actresses, she appears from time to time in commercials and as spokesperson for various causes. In 2006, Hsu played a role in the film The Shoe Fairy of Do Do, a modern fairy tale.

Also appeared in the 2001 film 'The Accidental Spy', with Jackie Chan.

Music[link]

Hsu released her first solo single in 1995. She released her first full-length album, Tianshi Xiang (天使想) in 1996. Shortly thereafter, she took a speed course in Korean, and released a Korean version of the album titled Cheonsa Misonyeo (天使美少女). Unusually, neither of Hsu's first two albums was sung in her native language.

In 1997, with two Japanese comedians—Kyoya Nanami and Amazan—and later with a second female vocalist known as 'Keddy', she was included in a musical act known as the Black Biscuits. The group was formed primarily as a "rival band" for the Japanese music group Pocket Biscuits, which was the creation of the Japanese variety show Utchan Nanchan no UriNari. Between 1997 and 1999, they released four hit singles and a full-length album, Life. Their single CD "Timing" recorded 1.5 million sales in 1998. And, they participated in Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1998.

Towards the end of the group's run, they failed to accomplish one of the challenges set forth by the variety show and the resulting punishment was the disbanding of Black Biscuits.

During this period, Hsu also released two more solo albums: Da Mafan (大麻煩) in 1998, and Bubai de Lianren (不敗の戀人) in 1999. She followed Bubai de Lianren with a Japanese translation, Fuhai no Koibito, in 2000.

Later that same year she released another new album, Jiaban de Tianshi (假扮的天使).

In 2001, she formed The d.e.p with Masahide Sakuma, Gota Yashiki, Masami Tsuchiya and Mick Karn. The band was short-lived: by the end of the year they had released all the music they ever would. This amounted to two singles and a full-length album, 地球的病気 -We Are the d.e.p-.

Over the next two years, she released a few more singles, including, alongside Kazuma Endo of Siam Shade, Moment, the second opening theme to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, followed in 2003 by her next solo album, The Secret to Happiness Is Love. Her last album is Hen Hen Ai (狠狠愛), released in April 2005. Her most recent album is Vivi and..., released in September 2006. For this album, Hsu collaborated with many artists and people including Jay Chou, Wang Leehom, Gary Cao, Nicky Lee and even her little brother and uncle.

Hsu's music, especially in her later work, covers a great range of genres. Included are slow love songs, R&B, hard rock, and of course J-pop. She has even dabbled in rap. This, combined with the fact that she is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese makes her a very versatile artist.

Hsu is also an accomplished lyricist. Her lyric-writing talent first gained serious notice when she completed several songs for Taiwan's R&B singer/songwriter Jay Chou. By proving that she is not just another pretty idol, but a very capable artist, Hsu surprised both her critics and adorned fans. She continued to collaborate with Jay on his second and third albums after his triumphant self-titled debut, and co-wrote songs for other pop performers, such as Leehom Wang, Vanness Wu, Show Luo and Gigi Leung. Her lyric work is much praised for its clever and straightforward simplicity.

Some Jay Chou songs that she wrote lyrics for are as follows:

• Adorable Woman (可愛女人)
• Can't Say (開不了口)
• Istanbul (伊斯坦堡)
• Love's Cliff (愛情懸崖)
• Simple Love (簡單愛)
• Tornado (龍捲風)

Return to Japan[link]

Hsu returned to Japan after a seven-year absence to release her new single Beautiful Day on March 3, 2010.^[3] Since 2010 she has appeared in two NTV television shows, and two television commercials for the aesthetic salon Slim Beauty House, and Kao's Essential hair care brand line as one of its three newfaces along with Yuriko Yoshitaka and Nozomi Sasaki.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vivian Hsu

• Vivian Hsu at Universal Music Japan (Japanese)
• Vivian Hsu at Ameba (Japanese)
• Vivian Hsu at Avex Taiwan (Chinese)
• Vivian Hsu at the Internet Movie Database