| Four Great Beauties | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 四大美女 | ||||||||||||||
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The Four Beauties or Four Great Beauties are four Chinese women who were renowned for their beauty. The four are usually identified as Xi Shi,Wang Zhaojun,Diaochan,and Yang Yuhuan. [1] Among them,Diaochan is a fictional character while the rest have been greatly embellished by legend. They gained their reputation from the influence they exercised over powerful men and,consequently,their impact on Chinese history. [1]
One of the earliest references to qualities later associated with the canonical Four Great Beauties appears in the Zhuangzi . In one chapter,the women Mao Qiang and Lady Li are described as "great beauties" who "when fish see them they dart into the depths,when birds see them they soar into the skies,when deer see them they bolt away without looking back". [2] : 19 This passage is the source of the well-known Chinese idiom "to make fish sink and birds fall",which refers to feminine beauty (see 沉魚落雁).
Xi Shi lived around the 7th to the 6th centuries BCE,during the Spring and Autumn period. Similar to the story in the Zhuangzi,she was said to be so entrancingly beautiful that fishes would forget how to swim and sink below the surface upon seeing her reflection in the water. [3]
Xi Shi was from Zhuji,the capital of the Ancient Yue Kingdom. Goujian,the King of Yue,had surrendered to the rival state of Wu,with the aim of biding his time before enacting his revenge. Part of his plan was to dispatch Xi Shi as a gift to Fuchai,the King of Wu,in the hope that Fuchai would become infatuated with her and become distracted from his official duties. The plan was successful,with Fuchai spending all his time entertaining Xi Shi and not attending to military matters. In part due to his distraction,Goujian was able to defeat an unprepared Fuchai in battle. Fuchai,full of regret,committed suicide.
There are two accounts of what then happened to Xi Shi. The first is that Goujian killed her by drowning her because he was afraid that he too would be mesmerized by her beauty. The second was that she eventually came together with her lover Fan Li and they lived in seclusion together.
Wang Zhaojun was born around 50 BCE,during the Western Han dynasty. Again reflecting the Zhuangzi,she was said to be so beautiful that her appearance would entice birds in flight to fall from the sky. [4] Locally renowned for her beauty and skill at playing the pipa ,she was chosen to be admitted into the harem of Emperor Yun,despite her young age. Despite her beauty,the emperor never visited her,as she had refused to bribe the official portraitists,who had then painted an unflattering portrait of her.
In 33 BCE,the Xiongnu Chanyu Huhanye came to the Han capital Chang'an on an official visit,and asked for a Han beauty as his wife as part of the marriage alliance system between the Han dynasty and the Xiongnu. The new emperor,Emperor Huan,ordered that the plainest woman from the harem be given to Huhanye,and so Wang Zhaojun was chosen,based on her unflattering portrait. The artist Mao Yanshou was subsequently executed for deceiving the Emperor.
Diaochan is a fictional character in the Ming novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Set in the waning years of the Eastern Han and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period,she was said to be so luminously lovely that the moon itself would shy away in embarrassment when compared to her face. [5]
Chinese historical records indicate that the warrior LüBu had a secret affair with one of the warlord Dong Zhuo's maids and he constantly feared that Dong Zhuo would find out. This was one of the reasons why he betrayed and assassinated Dong Zhuo in 192. The maid's name was not recorded in history,but it is believed the story partly inspired the character of Diaochan. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms ,Diaochan,a geji of Wang Yun,assists her master in his plot to bring down Dong Zhuo. She seduces both LüBu and Dong Zhuo and thus drives a wedge between the two,eventually having Lükilled his foster father Dong Zhuo. She then becomes a concubine of Lü. The fictional details about her life were added over the centuries.
Yang Guifei lived in the 8th century and was the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. She was said to have had a face that put all flowers to shame. Emperor Xuanzong doted on her so much that she was able to persuade him to make her cousin,Yang Guozhong,leading chancellor.
During the An Lushan Rebellion,as Emperor Xuanzong and his cortege were fleeing from the capital Chang'an to Chengdu,the emperor's guards demanded that he put Yang Guifei to death because they blamed the rebellion on her cousin Yang Guozhong and the rest of her family. The emperor capitulated and reluctantly ordered his attendant Gao Lishi to strangle Yang to death. Yang Guifei became a tragic figure in later depictions. Particularly influential was the Tang poet Bai Juyi's long poem,"Chang hen ge" ("Song of Everlasting Sorrow").
Well-known idioms describe the Four Beauties. [6] The exact origin of these idioms is debated.
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| 西施沉魚 昭君落雁 貂蟬閉月 貴妃羞花 | Xi Shi sinks fish Wang Zhaojun entices birds into falling Diaochan eclipses the moon Yang Guifei shames flowers |
These separate idioms are sometimes merged to describe especially beautiful women or simply to refer to the Four Beauties' legendary good looks. The merged idiom is 沉魚落雁，閉月羞花 (sinks fish and entices birds to fall,eclipses the moon and shames flowers);the two parts can also be used separately.
Yang Yuhuan,often known as Yang Guifei,and known briefly by the Taoist nun name Taizhen (太真),was the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang during his later years. She is known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China.
Wang Qiang,commonly known by her courtesy name Wang Zhaojun was known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Born in Baoping Village,Zigui County in the Western Han dynasty,she was sent by Emperor Yuan to marry Chanyu Huhanye of the Xiongnu Empire in order to establish friendly relations with the Han dynasty through marriage.
Dong Zhuo,courtesy name Zhongying,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han,Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province,Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials led by General-in-Chief He Jin.
Diaochan was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Although based on a minor historical personage,she is mostly a fictional character. She is best known for her role in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms,which romanticises the events in the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel,she has a romance with the warrior LüBu and causes him to betray and kill his foster father,the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo. She was praised in tales as a woman of unrivaled beauty who did what no other hero in China was able to accomplish:put an end to Dong Zhuo's regime of terror and the eventual end of LǚBu;triggering the events that would lead to the formation of the Three Kingdoms:Cao Wei,Eastern Wu,and Shu Han.
Xi Shi,also known by the nickname Xizi,was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived in a small Yue village during the end of the Spring and Autumn period. According to legend,Xi Shi was originally a girl who regularly washed gauze in the Huan Sha river.
An Lushan was a Chinese military general and rebel leader during the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion which devastated China and killed millions of people.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang,personal name Li Longji,was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China,reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Through two palace coups,he seized the throne and inherited an empire still in its golden age. He was initially assisted by capable chancellors like Yao Chong,Song Jing and Zhang Yue who were already serving as government officials before Xuanzong ascended the throne. However,under Emperor Xuanzong,the empire reached its turning point and went into sharp decline and near collapse,due to numerous political missteps throughout his long reign,such as over-trusting Li Linfu,Yang Guozhong and An Lushan,with Tang's golden age ending in the An Lushan rebellion.
Wang Yun,courtesy name Zishi,was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He served in the Han government through the reigns of three emperors –Emperor Ling,Emperor Shao and Emperor Xian. The highest offices he served in were Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing and Minister over the Masses in the early reign of Emperor Xian. In 192,with help from the general LüBu and others,he plotted a successful coup in Chang'an against Dong Zhuo,a tyrannical warlord and regent who controlled the Han central government,and assassinated him. However,later that year,Dong Zhuo's followers staged a counter-coup and seized back control of the central government in Chang'an. Wang Yun,along with his family members,was captured and executed.
Emperor Suzong of Tang,personal name Li Heng,néLi Sisheng (李嗣升),known as Li Jun (李浚) from 725 to 736,known as Li Yu (李璵) from 736 to 738,known briefly as Li Shao (李紹) in 738,was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty and the son of Emperor Xuanzong.
The grand chancellor,also translated as counselor-in-chief,chancellor,chief councillor,chief minister,imperial chancellor,lieutenant chancellor and prime minister,was the highest-ranking executive official in the imperial Chinese government. The term was known by many different names throughout Chinese history,and the exact extent of the powers associated with the position fluctuated greatly,even during a particular dynasty.
Geshu Han,formally Prince Wumin of Xiping (西平武愍王),was a general of Tang China who was of Turgesh extraction. A veteran of many battles,he became a powerful general late in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and in 756 became responsible for defending Tong Pass against the rebel forces of An Lushan.
Diao Chan is a 1938 Chinese sound film directed by Bu Wancang and produced by Zhang Shankun's Xinhua Film Company. The film is a portrayal of one of the "Four Beauties" of ancient China,in this case the titular Diaochan,from the late Eastern Han dynasty era. Like Diaochan,the film is also known by the literal translation of her name,the Sable Cicada.
Princess Yang Kwei Fei is a 1955 Japanese historical film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was a co-production between Daiei Film and Shaw &Sons,Hong Kong. It is one of Mizoguchi's two colour films,the other being Tales of the Taira Clan,made the same year.
The Great Revival,also known as Wo Xin Chang Dan,is a Chinese television series based on the conflict between the Yue and Wu states in the Spring and Autumn period. The Chinese title of the series is a Chinese idiom derived from King Goujian of Yue's perseverance in overcoming the odds to revive his fallen state of Yue and conquer the rival state of Wu. The series was first broadcast on CCTV-8 in mainland China in January 2007.
Bao Si was the concubine of the ancient Chinese sovereign King You of Zhou. She was considered one of the most beautiful Chinese women ever.
The Legend of Yang Guifei,also known as The Secret History of Concubine Yang,is a Chinese television series loosely based on the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his consort Yang Yuhuan. The series was directed by You Xiaogang and starred Yin Tao and Anthony Wong as the couple. It was first broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV from April to May 2010.
Da Tang Fu Rong Yuan is a Chinese television series based on a novel by Nangong Bo (南宫博) about the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his consort Yang Yuhuan. The series was directed by Zhou Xiaowen and starred Fan Bingbing and Winston Chao. It was first broadcast on CCTV-8 in mainland China in 2007.
Tang Ming Huang is a Chinese television series based on historical events in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. The series was directed by Chen Jialin and starred Liu Wei as the eponymous emperor. It was first broadcast on CCTV-1 in 1990 in mainland China.
Lady of the Dynasty is a Chinese epic romance war film directed by Cheng Shiqing and featuring Fan Bingbing,Leon Lai and Wu Chun. The film also had a director group including Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang. The film was released on 30 July 2015.
Huhanye,born Jihoushan,was a Chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire,the son of Xulüquanqu Chanyu. He rebelled in 59 BC with the aid of Wushanmu and Woyanqudi Chanyu soon committed suicide,leaving the Xiongnu torn apart by factional strife. By 55 BC,only Huhanye and his brother Zhizhi Chanyu were left.