|
George N. Kates
George Norbert Kates (November 27, 1895 – March 23, 1990) was an American exponent of classical Chinese culture and decorative arts. His memoir of life in 1930s Beijing—''The Years That Were Fat, Peking 1933-1940'' is a widely read memoir of pre-revolution China. He also wrote one of the first texts on Chinese classical furniture—''Chinese Household Furniture'' and put together a significant private collection of Ming style hardwood furniture. Kates graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1922 and was awarded a D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1930. An officer in the U.S. Army during World War I, he also served with the State Department in China during World War II. From 1947 to 1949 he was Asian Curator at the Brooklyn Museum. Kates published articles about Chinese history and decorative arts and contributed to two books about author Willa Cather. Several authors associate him with ''Old Beijing'', the first half of the 20th century and the traditional way of life. als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as China's List of cities in China by population, second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is located in North China, Northern China, and is governed as a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality under the direct administration of the Government of the People's Republic of China, State Council with List of administrative divisions of Beijing, 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.Figures based on 2006 statistics published in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook of China and available online at archive. Retrieved 21 April 2009. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province and neighbors Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jing-Jin-Ji, Jing-Jin-Ji cluster. Beijing is a global city and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of America's first Feature film, feature-length films, ''The Prisoner of Zenda (1913 film), The Prisoner of Zenda'', in 1913. Early life Zukor was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Ricse, in the Kingdom of Hungary in January 1873, which was then a part of the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Jacob, who operated a general store, died when he was a toddler, while his mother, Hannah Liebermann, died when he was 7 years old. Adolph and his brother Arthur moved in with Kalman Liebermann, their uncle. Liebermann, a rabbi, expected his nephews to become rabbis, but instead Adolph served a three-year apprenticeship in the dry goods store of family friends. When he was 16, he decided to emigrate to the United States. He sailed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Language
Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39 billion people, or 17% of the global population, speak a variety of Chinese as their first language. Chinese languages form the Sinitic languages, Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The spoken varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be dialects of a single language. However, their lack of mutual intelligibility means they are sometimes considered to be separate languages in a Language family, family. Investigation of the historical relationships among the varieties of Chinese is ongoing. Currently, most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups based on phonetic developments from Middle Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin with 66%, or around 800&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty List of Chinese monarchs, Emperors, and the center of political power in China for over 500 years from 1420 to 1924. The palace is now administered by the Palace Museum. As a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. The Forbidden City is arguably the most famous Chinese palace, palace in all of History of China, Chinese history, and is the largest preserved Palace, royal palace complex still standing in the world. The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siheyuan
A ''siheyuan'' (; ɹ̩̂.xɤ̌.ɥɛ̂n is a traditional Chinese architectural style characterized by a courtyard enclosed by buildings on all four sides. This design was prevalent throughout China, notably in Beijing and rural Shanxi. Historically, siheyuan served as the foundational layout for various structures, including residences, palaces, temples, monasteries, family businesses, and government offices In ancient times, a spacious siheyuan would be occupied by a single, usually large and extended family, signifying wealth and prosperity. Today, remaining siheyuan are often still used as subdivided housing complexes, although many lack modern amenities. Names ''Siheyuan'' is a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all four sides. It also appears in English translation as and, less often, as . History Siheyuan dates back as early as the Western Zhou period, and has a history of over 2,000 years. They exhibit outstanding and fundamental characteristics of Chinese archi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legation Quarter
The Peking Legation Quarter was the area in Beijing (Peking), China where a number of foreign legations were located between 1861 and 1959. In the Chinese language, the area is known as ''Dong Jiaomin Xiang'' (), which is the name of the ''hutong'' (lane or small street) through the area. It is located in the Dongcheng District, immediately to the east of Tiananmen Square. The Legation Quarter was the location of the 55-day siege of the International Legations, which took place during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. After the Boxer Rebellion, the Legation Quarter was under the jurisdiction of foreign countries with diplomatic legations (later most commonly called "embassies") in the quarter. The foreign residents were exempt from Chinese law. The Legation Quarter attracted many diplomats, soldiers, scholars, artists, tourists, and Sinophiles. World War II effectively ended the special status of the Legation Quarter, and with the Great Leap Forward and other events in postwar Chinese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. The population of the city proper is the List of largest cities, second largest in the world after Chongqing, with around 24.87 million inhabitants in 2023, while the urban area is the List of cities in China by population, most populous in China, with 29.87 million residents. As of 2022, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (GDP (nominal), nominal) of nearly 13 trillion Renminbi, RMB ($1.9 trillion). Shanghai is one of the world's major centers for finance, #Economy, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, List of tourist attractions in Shanghai, tourism, and Culture of Shanghai, culture. The Port of Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, and a part of the Chinese literature. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry generally falls into one of two primary types, Classical Chinese poetry and Modern Chinese poetry. Poetry is consistently held in high regard in China, often incorporating expressive folklore, folk influences filtered through the minds of Chinese literati. Poetry provides a format and a forum for both public and private expressions of deep emotion, offering an audience of peers, readers, and scholars insight into the inner life of Chinese writers across more than two millennia. Chinese poetry often reflects the influence of China's various religious traditions. Classical Chinese poetry includes, perhaps first and foremost ''Shi (poetry), shi'' (詩/诗), and also other major types such as ''Cí (poet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Charles Edward "Buddy" Rogers (August 13, 1904 – April 21, 1999) was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was publicized as "America's Boyfriend". Life and career Early years Rogers was born to Maude and Bert Henry Rogers in Olathe, Kansas. He studied at the University of Kansas where he became an active member of Phi Kappa Psi. In the mid-1920s he began acting professionally in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. A talented trombonist skilled on several other musical instruments, Rogers performed with his own Big band, dance band in motion pictures and on radio. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy as a flight training instructor. According to ''American Dance Bands On Record and Film (1915–1942)'', compiled by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley (Rustbooks Publishing, 2010), Rogers was not a bandleader in the usual sense of the term. Instead, he was a film act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olga Baclanova
Olga Vladimirovna Baklanova (; 19 August 1893 – 6 September 1974), known professionally as Olga Baclanova, was a Russian-born actress who found success in Hollywood films, as well as stage roles in the US and the United Kingdom, she was mainly billed as an exotic blonde temptress, who was given the title of the "Russian Tigress". Baclanova spent her early years in her native land appearing in silent films from 1914 until 1918, reducing her age by several years and changing the spelling of her surname Baklanova. She was often billed under her surname only, similar to her fellow countrywoman Nazimova.Mank, Gregory W. (1999). ''Women in horror films, 1930s,'' p. 118. McFarland; Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). ''Silent film necrology,'' p. 25. McFarland; She emigrated to the United States in 1925, and started appearing on stage and subsequently in Hollywood films, where she was celebrated for the Universal Pictures silent ''The Man Who Laughs'' as the evil Duchess Josiana and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film ''It (1927 film), It'' brought her global fame and the nickname "It girl, The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol. Bow appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as ''Mantrap (1926 film), Mantrap'' (1926), ''It'' (1927), and ''Wings (1927 film), Wings'' (1927). She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930. Her presence in a motion picture was said to have ensured investors, by odds of almost two-to-one, a "safe return". At the apex of her stardom, she received more than 45,000 fan mail, fan letters in a single month, in January 1929. Two years after marrying actor Rex Bell in 1931 and having two childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
