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Xi Shi
Beauty of Yue already named in the Mozi and the Mencius, whom Han-era accounts make the woman King Goujian sent to distract Fuchai of Wu
Mural of the event “Legend of Xi Shi”, which this person took part in.
Around 490 BCE, following defeat at Kuaiji, King Goujian adopted strategic counsel to select Xi Shi from Zhuji's Zhuruo Mountain, instructing her in courtly dance and ritual before sending her to King Fuchai of Wu.
Also known as Xi Zi · Yi Guang
- Roles
- Cultural Persona
Xi Shi, also called Xizi, was a byword for beauty before the Qin: the Mozi says her beauty led to her drowning, the Mencius says people would hold their noses if she were covered in filth, and the Zhuangzi tells of an ugly neighbour who copied her frown. Neither the Zuo Commentary (Zuozhuan) nor the Records of the Grand Historian mentions her. Her part in Goujian's revenge first appears in the Han-era Yuejue shu and Annals of Wu and Yue (Wu Yue chunqiu): the king of Yue found two firewood sellers on Mount Zhuluo, Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, had them trained for three years and sent Fan Li to present them to Fuchai of Wu. Her end is told two ways: the Mozi line implies drowning, while a passage later quoted from the Yuejue shu has her leave with Fan Li on the Five Lakes. Wang Wei of the Tang retold her story in his Song of Xi Shi.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Zhoutraditionally of Yue, late Spring and Autumn period - 490 BCELegend of Xi Shi
Took partSelected from Zhuji to enter the Wu court, Xi Shi's presence in Guanwa Palace and afterlives across Lake Tai shaped the most enduring cultural memory of the Wu-Yue rivalry.- Selection of Xi Shi at Zhujic. 490 BCEAround 490 BCE, Goujian selected Xi Shi from Zhuji's Zhuruo Mountain and sent her to the Wu court after training in palace dance and ritual.
- Guanwa Palace Revelry of Xi Shic. 485 BCEAround 485–475 BCE, Fuchai built Guanwa Palace and the Xiangxie Corridor at Mount Lingyan, making Xi Shi a symbol of Wu court performance and political imbalance.
- Traditions of Drowning and Five Lakes473 BCEAfter Wu fell, parallel traditions of Xi Shi's drowning and Fan Li's departure across the Five Lakes turned the Wu–Yue story into a lasting Jiangnan literary motif.
- Selection of Xi Shi at Zhuji
- 473 BCEGoujian Conquering Wu
Took partAfter captivity in Wu, Goujian rebuilt Yue's army and economy, then captured the Wu capital and ended Fuchai's reign. - UnknownDied
