Four Beauties of Ancient China: Yang Guifei

    Consort Yang Yuhuan (June 1,[citation needed] 719 — July 15, 756), often known as Yang Guifei (with Guifei being the highest rank for imperial consorts at her time), known briefly by the Taoist nun name Taizhen, was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. She was the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang for many years. During the Anshi Rebellion, as Emperor Xuanzong was fleeing from the capital Chang’an to Chengdu, she was killed because his guards blamed the rebellion on her powerful cousin Yang Guozhong and the rest of her family.
    Consort Yang was known for being slightly overweight, which was a much sought-after quality at the time. Misinterpretation of quotes describing this in the West has often led to her being described as “obese”. The term “obese”, when used to describe Yang Guifei, must not be viewed in its modern context of someone who is extremely overweight. She was often compared and contrasted with Empress Zhao Feiyan, the beautiful wife of Emperor Cheng of Han, because Consort Yang was known for her full build while Empress Zhao was known for her slender build. This led to the Four-character idiom yanshou huanfei, describing the range of the types of beauties.
    Lychee was a favorite fruit for Yang, and the emperor had the fruit, which was only grown in southern China, delivered by the imperial messenger service’s fast horses, whose riders would take shifts day and night in a Pony Express-like manner, to the capital. (Most historians believe the fruits were delivered from modern Guangdong, but some believe they came from modern Sichuan.)
    Consort Yang was also granted use of the Huaqing Pool which had been the exclusive private pool of previous Tang Emperors.
    In the following generation, a long poem, “Song of the Everlasting Sorrow”, was written by the poet Bai Juyi describing the Emperor’s love for her and perpetual grief at her loss. It became an instant classic, known to and memorized by Chinese schoolchildren far into posterity. The story of Yang Guifei and the poem also became highly popular in Japan and served as sources of inspiration for the classical novel “The Tale of Genji” which begins with the doomed love between an emperor and a consort, Kiritsubo, who is likened to Consort Yang.