As expected, the king was bewitched by her amorous and ravishing beauty. He took an immense liking to her and was soon so bedazzled by Xi Shi that he spent much time with his new concubine. Nothing else really mattered to the royal lover but the sweet present. With the coming of Xi Shi, King Fu Chai was no longer the loving father and strong pillar of his nation but all these was to disintegrate as Xi Shi skillfully weaved the net of fascination that completely enmeshed the infatuated the Monarch. He soon began to lose the firm hold that he had on his government as well as his powers of lucidity and reason.
Xi Shi slowly began to involve herself in the discussion of political problems with the king. Her first move was naturally to praise Bo Pi as being the most loyal servant to the throne, and to sow discord between the king and the Grand Councillor, Wu Zixu (伍子胥), who has always been faithful to the king. The Grand Councillor had warned the king against the possibility of a malign plot to bring him to ruin designed by Yue, and thus Xi Shi realized that his presence would be of threat to her. She also played upon the King’s vanity by continually extolling him as being the wisest, mightiest and most benign ruler on earth. This pleased the Monarch so much that he was only to become more devoted to her. Thus beguiled by a woman’s skilful blandishment, peace no longer dwelt in the realm, for Xi Shi’s power over the King soon made itself felt throughout the whole country and thus statesmen vied with each other in winning the favour of the new consort. The brilliant and gallant court, once the seat of learning, was now full of disloyal and insolent officials besides being the scene of wild orgies and debauchery.
We see a weakening in the power of King Wu gradually when Bo Pi manipulated the affairs of the state so skillfully and autocratically that more power than ever was now conferred upon him. The old Councillor, Wu Zixu, realized that his influence over the king was waning but could only watch the situation deteriorate as it was out of his ability to salvage his country.
As previously explained, Xi Shi’s motive in coming to the State of Wu was to employ her beauty towards the ruin of everything within it, so that her motherland might be freed from alien domination. She most attentively continued to observe the trend of political developments. When dangers were about the threaten the State and to arouse the King’s dormant sense of duty and responsibility, her gentle voice and ready wit were alone sufficient to ease his royal heart and lull his mind to rest. Her word was his law as he sought her counsel in everything and acted accordingly, for she possessed the power to blind her lover’s eyes to anything, and this power she tenaciously held over him. She exercised her influence to the utmost. She got him to put to death the loyal Councillor, Wu Zixu, and successfully got rid of this thorn in her flesh.
A year after the Councillor’s death, the decadence of Wu became more and more marked. The dynasty had no supporters and the talented and virtuous among the officials hesitated to serve the King and gave but little weight to what he said. His position became more desperate than ever. Government revenues were diminishing daily; poverty and the ever increasing distress of the people were aggravated by the tyrannical Bo Pi and his confederates, who violated every principle of justice. The boundless extravagance and licentiousness of the Court sapped the life-blood of the people and threw the nation into the utmost confusion. As a result, serious uprisings threatened all around. But the king did not concern himself – if he ever thought of the matter at all – with the impending doom of his ancestral altars and temples, even though plague, famine, flood and drought followed one another in rapid succession, wrecking immense havoc everywhere. Food was getting scarce, work was unobtainable and the people were in sore straits. Thousands perished under the cruel oppression of the erring King. Merciless retribution was however close at hand.
Of the four ladies, Xishi was most symbolic of beauty. She was also described of having the Chen Yu Zhi Mei (沉鱼之美). To commemorate her, people later built a Xishi Tand Temple (西施庙), and a Xishi Pavilion(西施亭), which was also commonly used as Huansha Pavilion(浣纱亭).
The existence of Xishi, however, is widely debated. Records in the Zuo Zhuan (左转), Guo Yu(国语), never did mention Xishi. While in the Guo Yu.Yue Yu(国语.越语), Records stated that 8 ladies were presented to the Prime Minister of Wu, but the name Xishi did not appear at all. In the book of Zhuang Zi.Qi Wu Lun(庄子.齐物论), there was a person named Xishi, but she belonged to the Xia Dynasty, with no relation with the Spring and Autumn Period. On the other hand, historical books like Meng Zi (孟子), Huai Nan Zi (淮南子),Yue Jue Shu (越绝书), Wu Yue Chun Qiu (吴越春秋), recorded that Xishi was a Silkwasher or Huan Sha Nü, whose beauty was mesmerizing. She was selected into the palace, where she became an imperial dancer. Xishi succeeded in the plot to defeat Wu, when she was presented to its ruler, Fu Chai.
There were also different sayings of the plight of Xishi.
Both Yue Jue Shu and the Shao Shi Shan Fang Bi Cong (少室山房笔丛) mentioned that after the fall of Wu, Xishi and Fan Li became lovers, and they spent the rest of their lives in seclusion. While according to the Mozi.Qinshi (墨子.亲士) and Wu Yue Chun Qiu, the king of Yue ordered Xishi to be drowned after he attained his purpose of defeating Wu.
There is a final saying, though with least supportive evidence, that Xishi fell into the lake accidentally while washing silk. This was actually obtained from the poem Huansha (浣纱), written by Song Zhi Wen (宋之问).
WANG ZHAOJUN (王昭君):
One of the most beautiful ladies in ancient China was Wang Zhaojun during the Han period. She was known as 鈥減political bride鈥? Her beauty was respected by the whole country especially Emperor Yuan Di already had numerous beautiful concubines, he still been attracted by the beauty of WangZhaojun
WangZhaojun, her name was Jiang, her style Zhaojun. But during the Jin Dynasty, she was referred to as Minghou as ordinary folks could not use name zhao since the king had the same surname. Later generations, however, addressed her as Mingfei. WangZhaojun was born in Zigui County, Hubei province. Her father was a scholar鈥攐fficial from persecution. An interesting tale about her says that when she was young, she often washed her face in the stream. Because of her beauty, all the fish sank at the bottom of the stream and all the birds fell. This small stream was called XiangXi.
One day, the Emperor Yuan Di dreamed of a pretty girl named Zhaojun stood in front of him. He was so surprised of her beauty. He never saw such a nice girl before. Emperor Yuan Di could not help following and asking her whether she wanted to be his concubine. In the dream, Zhaojun had accepted his require. At the same time, Zhaojun also dreamed of Yuan Di. Although she was very shy, she accepted his proposal at last, because she satisfied with Yuan Di鈥檚 charm and wisdom. The next day, after divining, Emperor Yuan Di knew Zhaojun lived in NanJun. Immediately, he sent MaoYanshou, one of the court painters to take the portraits of numerous candidates in NanJun. The emperor chose companions from his vast harem of maidens by looking at their portraits. As a result pf this practices, it had become the custom for palace ladies to offer large bribes to court artists to ensure that they painted a flattering likeness. WangZhaojun, however, was confident of her natural beauty and refused to pay the court painter, MaoYanshou, his customary bribe. Since that her finished portrait, she seemed to be the ugliest of all the palace ladies and thus, never received the emperor鈥檚 favor.
As a common maid in an imperial palace, she did not like the though of wasting her life in court, and hoped that some day something would happen that would free her from it.
Xiongnus was a nomadic people to the north of Han Dynasty. At that time, the relationship of Xiongnus and Han was very poor. Wars were happened frequently. People lived in border were suffered from the catastrophe. In the year 33B.C.the Xiongnus , wanted to establish friendly relations with the Han dynasty. The Chanyu came to the Han capital Chang鈥檃n and requested a Han princess as a bride, a way of cementing relations frequently used in those days. Instead, Han Emperor Yuan Di said he would send one of his imperial concubine candidates, and gives her away like his own daughter. He asked for volunteers. The idea of leaving their homeland and comfortable life at the young women. But not to WangZhaojun: she saw it as a chance to leave the empty palace life and possibly play a more important role than she ever would in Chang鈥檃n. She applied. When the lady-in-charge of the harem sent the unflattering portrait of WangZhaojun to the emperor, he merely glanced at it and nodded his approval.
Only when she was on the point of departure did Emperor Yuan set eyes on her. Much to his dismay, he realized that she was in fact the loveliest woman in his harem. He was regretted, but there was too late. He discovered that the blame lay with the fraudulent behavior of the court artist MaoYanshou so Emperor Yuan ordered that he be put to death. This redress, however, came too late for WangZhaojun. Dressed in the regalia of the Han court, clutching her Pipa to her bosom, she traveled beyond the great wall.
During the travel, WangZhaojun sang this song once and once with tears. Sadness and hopelessness filled her heart.
After married with ChanYu, she lived in the happiness. ChanYu gave her good treating, and ZhaoJun gave birth of two sons. Unfortunately, ChanYu died a few years later, Zhaojun missed her family and hoped could go back to her hometown. But this request was not been accepted. According to the special culture of XiongNu, Zhaojun was requested to married with his son鈥攖he new ChanYu. She never returned and died in a distant barbarous land.
After she died, people there had built a Zhaojun tomb in inner Mongolian to memories her. Now the tomb has become a well-known place of interest. Now ZiGui, the birthplace of Zhaojun is popular because of the fame of her. XiangXi is the main place for tourist to visit when they go to ZiGui.
In the popular mind WangZhaojun has always been a tragic figure: a Han Dynasty court lady married off a Chanyu of the Xiongnu who left her home and died in far north. She despite the persistence of the counter legend was the exception: she chose her life.
She left her hometown on herself to free from court life. Her determination and persistence was still been spread until now.
Because of her sacrifice, the peace was bought to the two races. The wars between two races had been settled down. In the other hand, the culture and advanced technology, especially, the agriculture technology was also spread to north through this political marriage.
Zhaojun was known as a political bride, people respected her good-looking, however, the inner beauty of her play the most important role that her contribution to the history and also her outstanding looking let her become one of the four most beautiful ladies indeed.
DIAO CHAN (貂蝉):
Diao Chan’s real name was Ren Hong Chang(任红昌). Legend has said that in the year she was born, none of the peach blossoms in her village bloomed. When she came into the world, beautiful music was heard playing in the air. Her snow-white complexion and pretty face fascinated all around. Only then did the villagers know that the reason why the peach blossoms never bloomed was that they were all too ashamed to show their faces in the presence of such a beauty. It was said that when she was dancing near a bunch of peony, the peony also danced with her. Therefore she was also known as “Goddess of Peony(牡丹花神)”.
Diao Chan is most widely known to be a singing girl from the household of Prime Minister Wang Yun in the Romance of Three Kingdoms《三国演义》. The events of this tale took place during Dong Zhuo(董卓)’s monopolisation of power. One day, during a palace banquet, Dong Zhuo levelled false accusations against Si-Kong(司空) Zhangwen(张温), an official. All the eminent officials who had gathered for the feast watched in horror as Si-Kong Zhangwen was dragged outside to be beheaded. Each man feared that the fate of the Han duke might well be his own.
Diao Chan lived during the later eastern Han Period. She was born in the southern part of China. Her father died when she was young. It was said that her mother took her to Si-tu (司徒) Wang Yun’s (王允) residence after her father passed away. She specialized in the making of “Chan Tou Guan (蝉头冠)”, thus the name “Diao Chan (貂蝉)”.
When Wang Yun returned to his residence, he was so disturbed by what he had seen at the palace that he was unable to sleep. He went for a stroll in the garden. Suddenly, he heard someone praying. The sound seemed to have come from behind a clump of peony trees. Stepping over to investigate, Wang Yun realised that it was Diao Chan, a singing girl from his own household.
Diao Chan had come to the Wang mansion as a young child and Wang Yun had looked upon her almost as if she were his own daughter. He asked her: "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
She answered him: "From early childhood, I have benefited from your kindness and have often wondered how I may one day repay you. Recently you have been so sad and despondent; yet I do not know how to alleviate your suffering. That is why I am sighing. Please tell me how I can help you. I will do whatever I can while I still have the strength!"
Wang Yun led Diao Chan into an inner room and, having dismissed the servants, went down on his knees before her. Shocked and flustered, Diao Chan begged to know what was troubling him. Wang Yun spoke to her earnestly: "Our country is in great peril. I think you may be our only salvation. The despot Dong Zhuo wants to see himself enthroned as the Son of Heaven while the court officials can only look on helplessly. I have a plan to end his scheming. With your wit and charm we may be able to drive a wedge between Dong Zhuo and his adopted son Lü Bu(吕布). If we can end their alliance, and cause them to fight against each other, we may be able to eliminate them both."
Diao Chan agreed at once to do her best. Wang Yun took the earliest opportunity to betroth Diao Chan to Lü Bu; at the same time presenting her to Dong Zhuo as a concubine. Both Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu became fond of her and could not decide how to settle the matter. As the hostilities grew, Diao Chan took every opportunity to add fuel to the fire and the two men became fiercely jealous of each other. Eventually, Wang Yun was able to gain Lü Bu's assistance in assassinating Dong Zhuo.
Unfortunately, soon after, surviving members of Dong Zhuo’s clique put both Wangyun and Diaochan to death.
There were many other sayings regarding who Diao Chan actually was. From《后汉书吕布传》, Diao Chan was Dong Zhuo’s maidservant. Once, Dong Zhuo’s anger was aroused by something Lü Bu did, thus causing Lü Bu’s unhappiness towards him. After that incident, Dong Zhuo assigned Lü Bu to take charge of a place in his palace where he would only place his most trusted men. Lü Bu instead took this chance to get together with Dong Zhuo’s maidservant. Fearing that Dong Zhuo might find out, this caused him much dilemma. This saying have been frequently compared with the record in The Romance of Three Kingdoms where Dong Zhuo found Lü Bu and Diao Chan together in Feng Yi pavilion (凤仪停).
Other sayings of Diao Chan’s end would go like this. Diao Chan and Lü Bu lived happily after they managed to assassinate Dong Zhuo, until the time a few of Lü Bu’s generals killed him after they abandoned him to follow Cao Cao (曹操) instead. Cao Cao then took Diao Chan for himself. But under the request of his officials, he decided to send her away to Liu Bei (刘备) on the pretence of a present, but actually it was to sow discord among the 3 brothers. Guan Yu (关羽), to prevent disputes within themselves, took Diao Chan away to a nunnery, where Diao Chan killed herself using a sword after she had known that Guan Yu did not love her.
Another saying from（三国志·关羽传）states that Diao Chan was actually the wife of one of Lü Bu’s subordinates, 秦宜禄. During the time when Cao Cao and Liu Bei were attacking Lü Bu, Guan Yu constantly requested to take 秦宜禄’s wife as his own once Lü Bu was conquered. Cao Cao became suspicious and thus got his men to take her into his camp. Seeing Guan Yu’s interest in her, he decided to use her to bring Guan Yu to his side. But even under Diao Chan’s seduction, Guan Yu would not be moved. In the end Guan Yu killed her to take her seductions off his mind. This is one of the ways that she was known to have died.
In many opera stories, Diao Chan was known to have been killed under other circumstances. One of which states that after Lü Bu’s death, Zhang Fei (张飞) took Diao Chan away and presented her to his brother Guan Yu. Knowing that many great men have failed under the influence of beauty, he forced Diao Chan to commit suicide.
Generally, the many stories of Diao Chan from textual records and from opera, have made it hard to grasp the actual truth. Actually none of them have references to historical events, thus making the truth harder to define.
YANG GUIFEI (YANG YUHUAN) (杨玉环):
Yang Yuhuan (meaning jade bracelet), an imperial concubine of Tang Xuanzong in the Tang dynasty, was one of the “Four Most Beautiful Women” in ancient China. She was born in Yongle, Puzhou (the present Ynongji, Shanxi Province) and was the daughter of Yang Xuanyan, a census official in Sichuan. Being a child who lost her father at a very tender age, she was brought up in the household of her uncle, Yang Xuangui. In the twenty-second year of the Kaiyuan reign, Yang Yuhuan was chosen to enter the imperial harem. In the twenty-eighth year, the Tang Emperor Xuanzong summoned her to the Huaqing Palace where she first rose to imperial favour. She became Yang Guifei in 713-756 A.D, when the Emperor Xuanzong took a fancy of her and promoted her to the position of "lady". She was one of the few women whose beauty has caused the downfall of monarchs and nations.
Determined, shrewd, and dynamic, Xuanzong, who ruled from 713-756, put the Tang empire at the height of its territorial expansion and cultural brilliance. His rule was described as the “second blossoming of Tang culture”. Unfortunately, his infatuation for Yang Yuhuan and the malignant influence of the Yang family caused him to neglect the rule of the empire and resulted in the An Lu Shan rebellion in 755A.D.
Being playful by nature, Yang Yuhuan often sneaked out to attend royal affairs, each time becoming the focus of attention. She first met the eighteenth Prince Shou, Liqing (later known as Limao) on the princess’s wedding banquet. It was love at first sight for Limao and knowing the feelings her brother had for Yang Yuhuan, Princess Xianyi created opportunities for them to meet subsequently. Yang Yuhuan was first married to Limao in 736A.D, at the age of eighteen. With her royal connection, the status of Yang Yuhuan’s family rose. Yang Yuhuan was given much freedom and liberty in the palace as she had won the favour of the imperial family. Being good at singing and dancing and an expert in music, she attracted the attention of the Emperor Xuanzong with her beauty and talents as well.
Besides Prince Shou, Yang Yuhuan was also greatly adored by Emperor Xuanzong’s favourite imperial concubine then, Wu Huifei. Wu Huifei was an ambitious and scheming woman who wanted her own son, Prince Shou, to be the royal heir. She falsely accused the three princes of attempting revolt and caused their deaths. However, not long after the deaths of the princes did Wu Huifei contracted a strange illness and died a bizarre death. Having lost his favourite concubine, Emperor Xuanzong was shattered and shut himself up besides attending court sessions. In Tang twenty-sixth year, Emperor Xuanzong elected the crown prince, however it was not Limao. Having to endure both the lost of his mother and the royal throne, Limao lost the support of the emperor and officials.
In Tang twenty-seventh year, Emperor Xuanzong met Yang Yuhuan again at the spring banquet. He discovered his liking for Yang Yuhuan and hence he instructed special care to be given to her. Subsequently, Princess Yuzhen arranged for Yang Yuhuan to take on the false identity of a female priest, entitled Taizhen, so that she can meet up secretly with Emperor Xuanzong and to conceal their incestuous alliance. At the age of twenty-seven, Yang Yuhuan repudiated her marriage vows.
Tang Xuanzong loved Yang Yuhuan so much that later in 745 A.D, he made her his most favourite concubine. He forced Limao to divorce Yang Yuhuan and had him marry another woman in compensation. Xuanzong formally gave the title “Yang Guifei” (meaning "Precious Consort") to Yang Yuhuan. Installed as his concubine, she became known as the “Jade Beauty”, for it is said that she slept on a "jade bed," wore only jade ornaments, and surrounded herself only with objects of jade.
Tang Xuanzong loved Yang Guifei so much that he honoured her the highest-ranking concubine who enjoyed the same privileges as the empress. Emperor Xuanzong became infatuated with Yang Guifei and too let her have her way in the palace. But she became engaged in a rivalry with Meifei to vie for the emperor’s favour. However, the gentle and subtle Meifei was no match for the astute Yang Guifei. Yang Guifei became the favourite of Emperor Xuanzong, replacing Wu Huifei. The emperor soon displaced Meifei and made Yang Guifei his favourite. He would do anything to make her happy. Knowing that lychees were her favorite, the emperor arranged to have them brought to his capital Xian from the south by night and day relay riders. To this day, lychees are also known by the name Feizi Xiao (Feizi's Smile).
Yang Guifei was impudent towards the emperor during numerous occasions and even talked back at him when she found out that he spent a night Meifei’s resident. Yang Guifei was stripped off her title on one occasion but the emperor later pardoned her as he could not bear to let her go. Since then, Emperor Xuanzong would succumb to all her wishes.
At this time Xuanzong, who had been a most conscientious ruler, began to neglect
his duties. He was so enamoured by Yang Guifei’s beauty that it distracted him from his daily work. Fortified by the use of aphrodisiacs, he abandoned early audiences and dallied in bed with Yang Guifei. Music, dancing and feasting became the major preoccupations of the court and its ruler.
With Yang Guifei’s growing influence in the palace, her relatives too were given royal titles and wealth. The administration of the Tang government soon fell into decay, which was not made any better by the fact that Yang Guifei took advantage of her power and charm to stuff high administrative positions with her corrupt cronies. Her relatives gained unprecedented influence. Her uncle, Xuangui, was made a senior official in the capital; her cousin Yang Guozhong was appointed prime minister The authority of much of the decision-making was given to Yang Guozhong, who was highly esteemed but in actual fact, rather incompetent. Her elder brother, Yangxian became an official of the second rank while her younger brother, Yangqi was given an imperial consort as his wife. Her sisters were all appointed to nobility. She also took under her wing a general named An Lu Shan, who quickly accumulated power for himself.
On An Lu Shan’s own request, he was adopted as the son of Yang Guifei on his 48th birthday. An Lu Shan attempted to get into the emperor’s good books by addressing Yang Guifei as mother and pleasing them with his psychophantry. It was rumoured that Yang Guifei had became the general's mistress besides being his mother. However, Emperor Xuanzong did not have any evidence to prove their adultery and he did not want to lose the use of an able man.
During 742 and 756A.D, Emperor Xuanzong, wallowing in sensual pleasures, left the entire affairs of state to Li Linpu and Yang Guifei's cousin, Yang Guozhong's discretion, which resulted in the corruption of the imperial court. Eager to please Emperor Xuanzong, Yang Guozhong concealed the fact that the Tang people were suffering in poverty and falsely reported that they were enjoying prosperity in order to gain merit. When Yang Guozhong found out that An Lu Shan was gathering huge numbers of military resources, he warned Emperor Xuanzong that An Lu Shan might have a hidden agenda but the emperor was less than suspicious. To confirm his belief, he sent spies to An Lu Shan’s camp to check for signs of revolt but they were all bought over. In addition to that, Yang Guifei also assured Emperor Xuanzong that An Lu Shan could not have been a rebel due to her affiliation with An Lu Shan.
Having lost touch with handling country’s affairs for such a long time, Xuanzong was totally unable to analyze and manage the invasion. Yang Guifei and Yang Guozhong advised the emperor to flee the capital, Chang-an. When Emperor Xuanzong and his followers reached Maweipo on their way fleeing towards Sichuan, the non-commissioned officers put the blame of political corruption on the Yang family and refused to move forward. They took it in their own hands and executed all of Yang Guifei’s relatives, including Yang Guozhong for committing treason. The empire was being threatened and the courtiers demanded that the emperor kill Yang Guifei, blaming her for the emperor's mismanagement of his nation. Helpless and despaired, Emperor Xuanzong had to order Yang Guifei to be hung, when she was only 38. Desperate and despaired over having lost all her family members, Yang Guifei hung herself to appease the army.
Legend has it that the emperor hanged her maid (who resembled Yang Yuhuan), and smuggled the love of his life on board the Black Ship to Japan, where Yang Guifei lived the rest of her days in luxury.
When Xuanzong returned to the capital, he was seized by remorse and tried using a spiritualist to contact Yang Guifei. According to some sources he did contact her in the furthest end of the universe. According to the end of the poem, “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow”, Yang Guifei gave the spiritualist a half of a shell box and half of a gold hair ornament, which the emperor knew, had belonged to her as a token of her unending love. The tomb of Yang Guifei is situated in Maweipo, twelve kilometres northwest of Xingping City.
To conclude, Yang Yuhuan was one of the "Four Great Beauties" of ancient China. The Tang Emperor was so in love with her that he neglected his affairs of state, and corruption was widespread. As a result, the barbarians were able to invade as far south as the imperial City. With the hordes literally at their doorstep, the imperial court, along with the army and its generals, fled southwards to the city of Loyang. There, the generals gave the emperor their ultimatum: the death of Yang Yuhuan (whom they held responsible for their predicament) or the loss of their support. Reluctantly, Tang Xuanzong watched her beloved concubine died and thrown into a ditch by the palace guards. Yang Guifei and her emperor inspired many stories of Tang times. A famous Tang poet, Bai Juyi, wrote a poem about Yang Guifei’s romance and called it “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow.” Later dynasties produced poems, operas, and plays based on the story of Concubine Yang. She was often portrayed as the “Drunken Concubine”. The tale was even told in Japan.
COMMENTARY:
The downfall of the Tang dynasty during Emperor Xuanzong’s reign was much blamed on Yang Guifei. She seduced the emperor and caused him to neglect the country’s well being and heir role as the ruler of the country. The Yang family was also accused of committing treason and allowed An Lu Shan to have the opportunity to revolt against the emperor. Her behavior was wanton as she had affairs with Emperor Xuanzong even though she had already been wedded to Prince Shou.
It is not surprising that the Tang emperor Xuanzong fell in love with the “precious concubine” Yang Guifei. The main job of a concubine was to look beautiful and bring pleasure to her master. By all accounts Yang Guifei was drop-dead gorgeous by the standards of the times. She was plump that was considered pretty. She piled her hair up in elaborate hairdos decorated with ornaments, pearls, and combs. She knew how to dance and sing to entertain her master. Her skin, the Tang chroniclers tell us, was "as white and smooth as jade," her features "as finely carved as jade," but her heart, to her own undoing, was not as cool as jade.
Yang Guifei was originally a slim and delicate dancing girl, but at the time of her fame she was a "full bosomed voluptuary." She had caused the ideal of beauty to change and full figured women were then the ultimate in perfection. She so captivated the emperor that he gave up his governmental duties, and spent all his time dallying with her. A famous Tang poet, Bai Juyi, said, " If she but turned her head and smiled, then were cast a hundred spells, and the powder and paint of the Six Palaces faded into nothing."
If Yang Guifei had limited her activities to fashion and dancing, no one would have criticized her. But she used her influence over the emperor to have her friends and relatives given important jobs and posts. Her hold over the emperor caused him to give increasing power to her family and to become increasingly involved in the decadence of the court. Due to the suffering of the populace and the growing influence of the Yang clan, a famous general, An Lu Shan, led a revolt. Finally, the rebellion resulted and Yang Guifei was killed. The emperor who adored her gave up his throne. Thus, Yang Guifei was partly blamed by the people at that time for the decline of the Tang dynasty.
Though Yang Guifei was gifted with talents and extraordinary beauty, her moral behaviour was lax and she had been narrow-minded and scheming. However, should Yang Guifei be made to bear the full responsibility for the downfall of the Tang dynasty? If Emperor Xuanzong had the rationality and willpower, Yang Guifei would not be able to influence him so easily. Furthermore, there are many factors that contribute to the fall of a dynasty. Hence, to some extent, Yang Guifei was considered as a victim of cruel ancient wars according to the modern conceptions.
CONCLUSION:
Although it is very easy to find stories of the four beauties in Chinese history, it seems to be extremely difficult to find out where and when the term “Four beauties ” originated in the history.
At first, we though that this term can be found on the Internet. However we failed to obtain any relevant materials. We have also searched the various libraries both within the campus and outside, but it turned out to be that only the stories of these four beauties are different. There is not any book that mentions the origin of the term. Some of the official books or dictionaries that we have searched include Ci Hai <<辞海>>, Ci Yuan <<辞源>>, and Xian Dai Han Yu Da Ci Dian <<现代汉语大词典>>. Among all these dictionaries, only Ci Hai mentions the history or story of the individual beauties but not the origin of the term “Four beauties”.
Although we have not been able to locate the origin, from all the materials we have gathered so far enabled us to make a possible deduction.
We do not think that the term “Four Beauties” is a historical term. This is because Diao Chan (貂蝉) does not appear in any historical record. Xi Shi’s existence is also doubted. The core rule of a historian is to respect historical facts, if there were not such a lady called Diao Chan that existed during the three kingdom’s period (三国时代), there should not be any historical record about her. Therefore the term “Four Beauties” should not appear in any history book.
As mentioned above, Diao Chao is not a historical figure and she was well known only after the publication of The Romance of The Three Kingdoms <<三国演义>>. Therefore the appearance of the term “Four Beauties” should be in Ming (明) Dynasty or even Qing (清) Dynasty. The wide spread of Chinese drama after Yuan (元) Dynasty also strengthens our deduction. The term “Four Beauties” was just a folklore, and in olden times like Ming and Qing dynasty normal people did not have the chance to receive high education. Nevertheless, the stories of the four beauties were very famous and many of them were transformed into Chinese drama at that time. As Chinese drama might be the best entertainment for folks and gradually the stories of these four beauties became well known. Therefore we strongly believe that it was from then on the term “Four Beauties” began to appear.
DEFINE BEAUTY IN CHINESE CONCEPT:
Beauty is a state not a phenomenon; in Chinese sayings, it should comprise innate beauty as well.
Yang Yuhuan does not possess enough qualities to be called as ‘beauty’. As compared to the other three great beauties, she lacked the quality of self-sacrificial spirit. Xishi, Wang Zhaojun, and Diao Chan made contributions to their country when they sacrificed their own interests to leave for another country in the hope of saving and protecting their own.
It is not surprising that the Tang emperor Xuanzong fell in love with the “imperial concubine” Yang Guifei. Beauty was the only asset Yang Yuhuan had.
A famous Tang poet, Bai Juyi, said, " If she but turned her head and smiled, then were cast a hundred spells, and the powder and paint of the Six Palaces faded into nothing."
If Yang Yuhuan had limited her activities to fashion and dancing, no one would have criticized her. But she used her influence over the emperor to have her friends and relatives given important jobs. Her hold over the emperor caused him to give increasing power to her family and to become increasingly involved in the decadence of the court. Due to the suffering of the populace and the growing influence of the Yang clan, a famous general, An Lu Shan, led a revolt. Finally, the rebellion resulted and Yang Guifei was killed.
In comparison, Yang Yuhuan did not possess all aspects of beauty. Although she was not entirely to blame for the downfall of the Tang, she never did make an effort to exert constructive influence for her country.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Heather Millar. China’s Tang Dynasty----Cultures of the Past.
New York: Benchmark Books Marshall Cavendish, 1996, Page 13-14, 15, 71.
The Forbidden City. New York: Newsweek, 1972, Page 16-17.
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/5010/yang.html
http://www.span.com.au/100women/59.html
http://journeyeast.tripod.com/yang_guifei.html
http://www.escoltafinearts.com/emperors_favorite.htm
http://www.chinatour.com/countryinfo/history.htm#tang
