386:, 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
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258:, 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.
203:. 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". This passage is the source of the well-known
185:. They all were said to have in some manner caught the attention of a ruling king or emperor in their respective eras. They gained their reputation from the influence they exercised over kings and emperors and, consequently, the way their actions impacted
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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
350:'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. However, the maid's name was not recorded in history. In later retellings, such as the
320:, 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.
295:, 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.
485:
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
360:, this woman is called "Diaochan," either as a nickname, an official position or her real name, and fictional details about her life were added over the centuries.
637:
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285:, she was said to be so beautiful that her appearance would entice birds in flight to fall from the sky. Locally renowned for her beauty and skill at playing the
589:
375:. 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,
235:, 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.
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181:. The scarcity of historical records concerning them meant that much of what is known of them today has been greatly embellished by
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period. She was said to be so luminously lovely that the moon itself would shy away in embarrassment when compared to her face.
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491:(sinks fish and entices birds to fall, eclipses the moon and shames flowers); the two parts can also be used separately.
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One of the earliest references to qualities later associated with the canonical Four Great
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describe the Four
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lived in the 8th century and was the beloved consort of
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551:Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings
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624:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
600:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
527:. Algora. pp. 1–4.
373:Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
314:marriage alliance system
308:came to the Han capital
229:Spring and Autumn period
689:Lists of Chinese people
548:Ziporyn, Brook (2020).
281:. Again reflecting the
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102:sei3 daai6 mei5 neoi5
384:An Lushan Rebellion
335:and the subsequent
279:Western Han dynasty
244:Ancient Yue Kingdom
156:Four Great Beauties
34:Four Great Beauties
18:Four Great Beauties
724:Sexuality in China
719:Chinese concubines
664:2012-11-07 at the
640:2011-07-25 at the
616:2011-07-25 at the
592:2011-07-25 at the
523:Woo, X.L. (2016).
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110:Southern Min
81:sì dà měi nǚ
75:Hanyu Pinyin
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670:纪连海叹说四大美人 .
477:Yang Guifei
406:Well-known
382:During the
369:Yang Guifei
364:Yang Guifei
333:Eastern Han
293:Emperor Yun
215:Biographies
179:Yang Yuhuan
683:Categories
635:Big5.ce.cn
611:Big5.ce.cn
587:Big5.ce.cn
572:2022-01-09
507:References
464:sinks fish
193:Background
646:貂蟬拜月——閉月.
622:昭君出塞——落雁.
598:西施浣紗——沉魚.
488:沉魚落雁，閉月羞花
348:Dong Zhuo
158:are four
714:Quartets
662:Archived
638:Archived
614:Archived
590:Archived
495:See also
472:Diaochan
419:English
416:Chinese
388:Bai Juyi
329:Diaochan
324:Diaochan
310:Chang'an
283:Zhuangzi
233:Zhuangzi
200:Zhuangzi
175:Diaochan
96:Jyutping
306:Huhanye
300:Xiongnu
248:Goujian
160:Chinese
117:Hokkien
45:Chinese
558:
531:
501:Bao Si
462:Xi Shi
408:idioms
402:Idioms
354:novel
303:Chanyu
264:Fan Li
256:Fuchai
225:Xi Shi
220:Xi Shi
183:legend
177:, and
167:Xi Shi
344:Lü Bu
240:Zhuji
163:women
556:ISBN
529:ISBN
398:").
394:" ("
352:Ming
288:pipa
209:沉魚落雁
150:The
51:四大美女
668:."
644:."
620:."
596:."
211:).
154:or
120:POJ
685::
515:^
456:羞花
454:貴妃
447:閉月
445:貂蟬
438:落雁
436:昭君
429:沉魚
427:西施
252:Wu
246:.
173:,
169:,
575:.
537:.
20:)
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