Xi Shi

Xi Shi (西施, Pinyin: Xī Shī, c. 506 BC - ?) was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of Spring and Autumn Period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient state Yue.

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Xi Shi's beauty is said to be so extreme that she caused the fish to dip in shame while laundering her garments in the river.

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King Gou Jian of Yue, king of Yue, was once imprisoned after a defeat in a war by King Fu Chai of Wu, king of the State of Wu. The state of Yue later became a tribulatory to Wu. Secretly planning his revenge, Gou Jian's minister Wen Zhong suggested training beautiful women and offering them to Fu Chai as a tribute. His other minister, Fan Li, found Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, and gifted them to Fu Chai in 490 BC.

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Bewitched by the beauty of Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, Fu Chai forgot all about his state affairs and on their instigation, killed his best advisor, Wu Zixu. Fu Chai even built Guanwa Palace (Palace of Beautiful Women) in an imperial park on the slope of Lingyan Hill, about 15 kilometres west of Suzhou. The strength of Wu dwindled, and in 473 BC Gou Jian launched his strike and put the Wu army to full rout. King Fu Chai then committed suicide.

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In one disputed account of her fate, it was written that Gou Jian ordered that Xi Shi be drowned by being thrown into a lake, to avoid being tempted by her as Fu Chai was.

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In legends, after the fall of Wu, Fan Li retired from his minister post and lived with Xi Shi on a fishing boat roaming like fairies in the misty wilderness of Tai Ho Lake, and no one have seen them ever since.

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She is remembered by the Xi Shi Temple, which lies at the foot of the Zhu Lou Hill in the southern part of the city, on the banks of the Huansha River.

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The West Lake in Hangzhou is said to be the incarnation of Xi Shi, hence it is also called Xizi Lake, Xizi being another name for Xi Shi, meaning Lady Xi.

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There is another well-known figure of unknown origin, probably fictional and paradical, named Dong Shi (??). The "Dong" in her name means "east", contrasting to Xi Shi's "Xi", which means "west". Apart from her name, she is said to be the exact opposite of Xi Shi in being extremely ugly and, in modern depictions, fat. This in turn has created the saying "Dong Shi imitates a frown" (Xi Shi, being a sickly girl, often had chest pains; it was said that her beauty was most marvellous when she was wincing from the pain), meaning to attempt imitating another work only to show up one's own weaknesses.

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Pinyin: Pinyin (??, p?ny?n) literally means "join (together) sounds" (a less literal translation being "phoneticize", "spell" or "transcription") in Chinese and usually refers to H?ny? P?ny?n (????, literal meaning: "Han language pinyin"), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcripti...

506 BC: REDIRECT 509?500 BC...

Four Beauties: The Four Beauties () are four ancient Chinese women, renowned for their beauty. Though actual historical figures, their stories have been greatly embellished by legend....

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