Xi Shi

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Xi Shi ( Chinese  西施 , Pinyin Xī Shī ; * around 506 BC; † unknown) is one of the four beauties of ancient China . She is said to have lived in Zhuji , the capital of ancient Yue State , during the spring and autumn annals .

Xi Shi was so beautiful that the fish were blinded by their beauty when she leaned over the balcony to look at each other in the pond that they forgot to swim and slowly sank to the bottom. Xī Shī chēn yú西施 沉 魚 'Xi Shi makes the fish sink'.

Xi Shi's story

Xi Shi's father was a lumberjack who lived west of Huansha Village; therefore her nickname is Xi西 "West". When Xi Shi's lord, King Goujian of Yue lost a war against King Fuchai of Wu in 494 , he and his advisor Wen Zhong planned vengeance, the so-called 'strategy of beauty' ( meiren ji美人 計). It was known that King Fuchai could not resist beautiful women. Minister Fan Li then came across the beautiful women Xi Shi and Zheng Dan. Both were handed over to King Fuchai of Wu, so that he no longer dealt with the rule and did not react to the warnings of his general Wu Zixu. King Fuchai even had the Guanwa Palace (Palace of the Beautiful Women) built. King Goujian eventually countered and defeated the army of Wu. King Fuchai then committed suicide.

According to legend, Xi Shi learned to walk with extraordinary grace and trained on the city walls so that everyone could see them. People were thus distracted from their work. After a short time, people were paying money to see them in markets. After three years the people and the King of Wu were so distracted and effeminate that it was easy for King Goujian to defeat the Wu Empire.

Some scholars believe that Xi Shi and Zheng Dan were not the names of two women, but local terms for "beauty" and "excellence".

In some stories, Xi Shi later became Fan Li's wife. In another story, Xi Shi drowned in a river.

According to one anecdote , Xi Shi frowned from pain when she had a sore throat. The ugliest girl in the village, Dōng Shī (東 施), imitated this expression and became even uglier. At the sight of them, people ran away. This is how the saying Dōng Shī xiào pín東施效颦, 'Dong Shi frowns', came about, which means something like 'blind copying with grotesque results'.

influence

The Taiwanese betel nut girls (Bīnláng Xīshī) are named after Xi Shi.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Persons in Chinese History - Xi Shi 西施. In: Chinaknowledge. Retrieved March 23, 2014 .