375:, 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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247:, 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.
192:. 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
174:. 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
339:'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
309:, 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.
284:, 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.
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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
349:, 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.
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274:, 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
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364:. 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,
224:, 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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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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480:(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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385:Song of Everlasting Sorrow
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698:Groups of Chinese people
661:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
637:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
613:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
589:Retrieved on 2010-02-20.
516:. Algora. pp. 1–4.
362:Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
303:marriage alliance system
297:came to the Han capital
218:Spring and Autumn period
678:Lists of Chinese people
537:Ziporyn, Brook (2020).
270:. Again reflecting the
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91:sei3 daai6 mei5 neoi5
373:An Lushan Rebellion
324:and the subsequent
268:Western Han dynasty
233:Ancient Yue Kingdom
145:Four Great Beauties
23:Four Great Beauties
713:Sexuality in China
708:Chinese concubines
653:2012-11-07 at the
629:2011-07-25 at the
605:2011-07-25 at the
581:2011-07-25 at the
512:Woo, X.L. (2016).
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115:sì tāi bí-lú
99:Southern Min
70:sì dà měi nǚ
64:Hanyu Pinyin
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659:纪连海叹说四大美人 .
466:Yang Guifei
395:Well-known
371:During the
358:Yang Guifei
353:Yang Guifei
322:Eastern Han
282:Emperor Yun
204:Biographies
168:Yang Yuhuan
672:Categories
624:Big5.ce.cn
600:Big5.ce.cn
576:Big5.ce.cn
561:2022-01-09
496:References
453:sinks fish
182:Background
635:貂蟬拜月——閉月.
611:昭君出塞——落雁.
587:西施浣紗——沉魚.
477:沉魚落雁，閉月羞花
337:Dong Zhuo
147:are four
703:Quartets
651:Archived
627:Archived
603:Archived
579:Archived
484:See also
461:Diaochan
408:English
405:Chinese
377:Bai Juyi
318:Diaochan
313:Diaochan
299:Chang'an
272:Zhuangzi
222:Zhuangzi
189:Zhuangzi
164:Diaochan
85:Jyutping
295:Huhanye
289:Xiongnu
237:Goujian
149:Chinese
106:Hokkien
34:Chinese
547:
520:
490:Bao Si
451:Xi Shi
397:idioms
391:Idioms
343:novel
292:Chanyu
253:Fan Li
245:Fuchai
214:Xi Shi
209:Xi Shi
172:legend
166:, and
156:Xi Shi
333:Lü Bu
229:Zhuji
152:women
545:ISBN
518:ISBN
387:").
383:" ("
341:Ming
277:pipa
198:沉魚落雁
139:The
40:四大美女
657:."
633:."
609:."
585:."
200:).
143:or
109:POJ
674::
504:^
445:羞花
443:貴妃
436:閉月
434:貂蟬
427:落雁
425:昭君
418:沉魚
416:西施
241:Wu
235:.
162:,
158:,
564:.
526:.
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