Yoshiko Kawashima

Yoshiko Kawashima
Kawashima in Japanese military uniform
Born	(1907-05-24)24 May 1907 Beijing, Qing Empire
Died	25 March 1948(1948-03-25) (aged 40) Peiping, Republic of China

Aisin Gioro Xianyu
Kawashima in a recording studio, 1933
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	金璧輝
Simplified Chinese	金璧辉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīn Bìhuī Wade–Giles Chin1 Pi4-hui1
Birth name
Traditional Chinese	愛新覺羅·顯玗
Simplified Chinese	爱新觉罗·显玗
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Àixīnjuéluó Xiǎnyú Wade–Giles Ai4-hsin1-chüeh2-lo2 Hsien3-yü2
Courtesy name
Traditional Chinese	東珍
Simplified Chinese	东珍
Literal meaning	Eastern Jewel
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dōngzhēn Wade–Giles Tung1-chen1
Yoshiko Kawashima
Traditional Chinese	川島芳子
Simplified Chinese	川岛芳子
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chuāndǎo Fāngzǐ Wade–Giles Ch'uan1-tao3 Fang1-tzu3
Japanese name
Kanji	川島芳子
Hiragana	かわしま よしこ
Transcriptions Romanization Kawashima Yoshiko

Yoshiko Kawashima (川島芳子, Kawashima Yoshiko^?, 24 May 1907 – 25 March 1948) was a Chinese princess of Manchu descent. She was raised in Japan and served as a spy for the Japanese Kwantung Army and puppet state of Manchukuo during the Second Sino-Japanese War. She is sometimes known in fiction under the pseudonym "Eastern Mata Hari". After the war, she was captured, tried and executed as a traitor by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China.

Kawashima was born in the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. Her birth name was Xianyu and her courtesy name was Dongzhen (literally "eastern jewel"). Her Sinicised name was Jin Bihui. She is best known by her Japanese name, Kawashima Yoshiko (Chuandao Fangzi).

Kawashima was born in Beijing in 1907 as the 14th daughter of Shanqi (善耆; 1866–1922), a Manchu prince of the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of China's Qing dynasty. Her mother was one of Shanqi's concubines. Shanqi was a descendant of Hooge, the eldest son of Huangtaiji (the second ruler of the Qing dynasty). Shanqi was also the tenth heir to the Prince Su peerage, one of the 12 "iron-cap" princely peerages of the Qing dynasty.