Four Beauties of Ancient China：Diao Chan貂蝉

    Diao Chan was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have been born in 161 or 169 AD, depending on the source. However, unlike the other three beauties, she does not appear in any known historical writings, and is quite possibly a fictional character.
    Diao Chan appears in the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a plot involving the warrior Lü Bu and the warlord Dong Zhuo. According to historical records, Lü Bu did have relations with a maid of Dong Zhuo’s. However, there is no evidence that this person’s name was Diao Chan. In fact, it is extremely unlikely that it was Diao Chan, because “Diāo” was not, and is not, commonly used as a Chinese family name. “Diāochán” likely referred to the sable (diào) tails and jade decorations in the shape of cicadas (chán), which at the time adorned the hats of high-level officials.
    There is a folktale that Diao Chan was captured by Cao Cao after Xiapi. When Cao Cao was trying to keep Guan Yu in his service, he sent Diao Chan to seduce Guan Yu. Guan Yu suspected that he was being tricked as he knew how she had betrayed Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo so he killed her to prevent her from hurting anyone else. A second version of this story is that years after Xiapi, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu all wanted to marry Diao Chan and the three argued bitterly over her. To end the strife between them Guan Yu cut her in half.
    In one Yuan Dynasty play, Diao Chan is introduced to Guan Yu by his ‘brother’ Zhang Fei after the death of Lü Bu, but instead of accepting her as the spoils of war, Guan Yu decapitates her with his sword. This event does not appear either on the history records or the novel itself, but is propagated through mass media such as operas and storytelling. There is also another idea of what happened to Diao Chan. There is also a source that says she did meet Guan Yu, but he let her become a nun. After hearing this, Cao Cao wanted to take her as his own. When the news reached Diao Chan, however, she committed suicide.