Women have played an important role in Chinese history. Ancient beauties can even affect the rise and fall of a country and the course of history. This post will introduce you to the top 10 beauties in Chinese history.
1.Su Daji 苏妲己
Su Daji was a daughter of the Su clan tribe and a native of Su State (now Wen County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province). Legend has it that Daji was a beautiful woman. According to the “Mandarin Jinyu” record: King Zhou of Shang launched a large army to attack the tribe of Su clan. Some Su tribes could not resist the attack of the powerful merchant army. Between perishing and bowing their knees, some leaders of the Su tribe chose to bow their knees and sacrificed their cattle, sheep, horses and beautiful women. The “Bamboo Book Chronicle” records that Di Xin attacked Yousu in the ninth year and married Daji, and “Emperor Century” records that: Di Xin took Daji as his wife in the second year.
Various records and legends about Daji have become well-known and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, archaeologists excavated and unearthed many relics from the Yin and Shang periods in Xiaotun Village, Anyang City, Henan Province. Among them, jade, Bronze utensils and other utensils, especially the large number of characters and “divinations” engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones, make our understanding of the historical situation before the Zhou Dynasty far more than that of Confucius and Sima Qian at that time. There is a close-to-fact assessment of the true faces of Daji and the Shang King Di Xin.
2.Xi Shi 西施
Xishi was a beauty of Yue country during the Spring and Autumn Period, commonly known as Xishi, and later generations called her “Xi Zi”. Riverside, so it is also called “Huansha Girl”. She is naturally beautiful, and she is the embodiment and synonym of beauty.
Xishi, together with Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan and Yang Yuhuan, are known as the “Four Beauties in Ancient China”, of which Xishi is the first.
3.Yang Yuhuan 杨玉环
Yang Yuhuan (June 22, 719 – July 15, 756). During the Tang Dynasty, she was a concubine, court musician, dancer, and one of the four beauties in ancient China. She was the daughter of the Duke of Qi, Yang Xuanyan, and the cousin of the prime minister, Yang Guozhong.
She has a graceful and graceful character, and is good at singing and dancing, and is proficient in rhythm. Married to Shou Wang Li Kun as a concubine. In the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan (740), she was ordered to become a female Taoist priest. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Yang Yuhuan to return to the secular world, and she joined the palace and was officially canonized as a noble concubine.
In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), after An Lushan launched a rebellion, he followed Tang Xuanzong and Li Longji into exile in Shu.
4.Wang Zhaojun 王昭君
Wang Zhaojun (about 54 BC – 19 BC), nicknamed Haoyue, was born in Zigui (now Xingshan County, Yichang City, Hubei Province), Nanjun of the Western Han Dynasty. “Luoyan”, one of the four beauties in ancient times. In the idioms “sinking fish and falling geese” and “painter abandoning the market” record her life allusions.
In the Jin Dynasty, in order to avoid Sima Zhao, she was also known as Concubine Ming and Wang Mingjun.
5.Diao Chan 貂蝉
Diao Chan, a character in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and its derivative works, is one of the four beauties in ancient China. Diaochan is a figure in folklore, formerly known as Ren Hongchang, a village girl in Shanxi. Some people think that Du Shi (Du Xiuniang), the ex-wife of Qin Yilu, a general of Lu Bu’s army, is Diaochan. Its appearance in “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” was only added by the novelist to add color, and there is no record in the official history.
6.Chen Yuanyuan 陈圆圆
Chen Yuanyuan (1623-1695), who was adopted by his adoptive mother Chen, changed his surname to Chen. He lives in Taohuawu, Suzhou, and belongs to Liyuan.
In the last years of Chongzhen, he was captured by Tian Wansuo, and was later transferred to Wu Sangui as a concubine. According to legend, after Li Zicheng conquered Beijing, his subordinate Liu Zongmin kidnapped Chen Yuanyuan, and Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass.
Chen Yuanyuan was born in a family of merchants. Her mother died early, and she was raised in her uncle’s house. Her surname was “Chen”.
Chen Yuanyuan is a master of color and art. Since she was a child, Bingxue was smart and shocked the village. At a time when the valley was not high in the south of the Yangtze River, Yuanyuan was sold to Suzhou Liyuan by his uncle who valued profit over righteousness, and was good at performing Yiyang Opera.
7.Madame Huarui 花蕊夫人
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were several women called Madame Huarui, who were not only beautiful in appearance, but also proficient in poetry and prose, and were versatile. Their deeds are mostly scattered in various historical records from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty. Because they lived in the same era and were both called Madam Huarui, there are still many mysteries about their identities and deeds.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, there were three people who were called Madam Huarui. One of them was Concubine Xu (about 883-926), the former lord of Shu, Wang Jianshu, a native of Chengdu. The middle name in the palace was Mrs. Huarui. Because her sister was also Concubine Wang Jian, she was also called Concubine Xu, and her sisters were all favored. His elder sister Wang Yan (known as the queen in the world, said to be born of Concubine Xu ) enthroned her as the Concubine of Yisheng. Madam Huarui and her sister made fortunate officials, took bribes to intervene in politics, led the later master to fail in power, and later and Wang Yan were both killed by Emperor Zhuangzong of the later Tang Dynasty.
The second is the concubine of Meng Chang, the Lord of Later Shu, also surnamed Xu (one said surnamed Fei), named Concubine Hui, a native of Qingcheng (now Dujiangyan, Sichuan), who is beautiful like a flower, so she is called “Mrs. After Meng Chang surrendered to the Song Dynasty, she might have been captured in the Song Palace.
8.Xiao Chuo 萧皇后
Xiao Chuo (June 18, 953 – December 29, 1009), Xiaozi Yanyan, Khitan nationality, statesman, strategist and reformer of the Liao Dynasty. During her reign, the Liao Dynasty entered its most prosperous period.
Xiao Chuo was born on the fifth day of May of the third year of the lunar calendar (June 18, 953). Xiao Chuo has been smart and quick-witted since she was a child. She has a spirit of never giving up on everything, even in trivial matters. This kind of behavior has won the favor of her father, Xiao Siwen. Once, several sisters of Xiao Chuo were doing housework together, and the sisters ended up hastily, but she continued to clean carefully, and the furniture was neatly tidied up. Xiao Siwen often praised it with praise: ” This woman is going to be a big deal.”
9.Zhuo Wenjun 卓文君
Zhuo Wenjun, a native of Linqiong (now Qionglai City, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province) during the Western Han Dynasty, was known as the four talented women in ancient China and the four talented women in Shu. His father, Zhuo Wangsun, was an iron smelting tycoon in Linqiong, Shu County. There were only 800 children in his family. Zhuo Wangsun shared a hundred child servants and one million taels of money from Zhuo Wenjun, who eloped. Zhuo Wenjun has a beautiful appearance, is good at rhythm, and is good at playing the qin.
During the reign of Wenjing in the Han Dynasty, the Zhuo family of Linqiong County in Shu County (Qionglai, Chengdu, Sichuan) was passed down to the generation of Zhuo Wangsun. Due to social stability and good management, the Zhuo family has become a huge wealth, owning thousands of acres of fertile land; Huatang and beautiful courtyards, high cars and horses; as for gold, silver, jewelry, antiques and treasures, it is even more numerous. Zhuo Wenjun was the daughter of King Zhuo, a giant merchant in Linqiong, Sichuan. She was beautiful, proficient in rhythm, good at playing the qin, and had a literary name.
10.赵飞燕
Xiaocheng Empress Zhao (?-1 BC), whose name is unknown (Yizhu is recorded in unofficial history), with the number Feiyan, created the “palm dance” and “jumping”. She was the second empress of Liu Ao, Emperor Chengdi of the Han Dynasty.
Hongjia was named Jieyu in the third year (the first 18 years). In the first year of Yongshi (the first 16 years), he was established as the queen in June. In the second year of Suihe (the first 7 years), Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty died, and the crown prince Liu Xin became the emperor, that is, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, and Zhao Feiyan was honored as the empress dowager. In the second year of Yuanshou (the first year), Emperor Ai of Han died and was demoted to Empress Xiaocheng. More than a month later, he was demoted to a commoner and ordered to guard the cemetery. Zhao Feiyan committed suicide that day.
In Chinese history, she is known for her beauty. The so-called “Huan Fei Yan Shou” refers to her and Yang Yuhuan, and the word “yan” refers to Zhao Feiyan. In this way, Yanshou is also usually used as a metaphor for beauties who are light and thin. At the same time, she also became a representative figure of the obscene emperor because of her beauty.