Xi Shi

Xi Shi (Hsi Shih; Chinese: 西施; pinyin: Xī Shī; Wade–Giles: Hsi¹ Shih¹, lit. '(Lady) Shi of the West'), also known by the nickname Xizi，was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived in a small Yue village (today part of Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, Zhejiang) during the end of the Spring and Autumn period. According to legend, Xi Shi was originally a girl who regularly washed gauze in the Huan Sha river.^[1]

In traditional stories, Xi Shi was named Shi Yiguang (施夷光).^[2] She was discovered by the Yue minister Fan Li and given to King Fuchai of Wu by King Goujian of Yue in a sexpionage operation which successfully brought down the State of Wu in 473 BC. This account first appeared in Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue published five centuries after the conquest, and is completely absent in earlier works such as Guoyu, Zuo zhuan, and Records of the Grand Historian.^[3]

Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan and Yang Guifei are known as the “Four Beauties in Ancient China”, among which Xi Shi is the first.^[4]

^ "西施傳說 Legend of Xishi". china-ich. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
^ "古代笔记中的西施归宿之争". Archived from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
^ 渔歌唱晚话西施 [Discussing Xi Shi with a Fishermen's Song at Eventide] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2020 – via CNKI.
^ "Before dragons coiled and tigers crouched: Early Nanjing in history and poetry". Journal of the American Oriental Society; Ann Arbor. 115.

[1] "西施傳說 Legend of Xishi". china-ich. Retrieved 2024-05-12.

[2] "古代笔记中的西施归宿之争". Archived from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2012-01-29.

[3] 渔歌唱晚话西施 [Discussing Xi Shi with a Fishermen's Song at Eventide] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2020 – via CNKI.

[4] "Before dragons coiled and tigers crouched: Early Nanjing in history and poetry". Journal of the American Oriental Society; Ann Arbor. 115.

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