Four Beauties

The Four Beauties, or Four Great Beauties are four ancient Chinese women, renowned for their beauty. According to legend, they are the most beautiful women of ancient China. Using their beauty they exercised influence over kings and warriors. Three of the four beauties even brought kingdoms to their knees.

The four beauties lived in four different dynasties. The four beauties were:

Xi Shi
Xi Shi was said to have lived during the end of the Spring and Autumn period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue. Her beauty was said to be so extreme that while leaning over a balcony to look at the fish in the pond, the fish would be so dazzled that they forgot to swim and gradually sunk away from the surface, birds would forget to fly and fall from the sky, the moon would fade, and flowers would close their petals in shame in comparison to her.

Xi Shi's Story King Goujian of Yue, king of Yue, was once imprisoned after a defeat in a war by King Fuchai of Wu, king of the State of Wu. King Fuchai was a sexaddict and could not resist beautiful women, so Goujian's minister, Wen Zhong, suggested training beautiful women and offering them to Fuchai as a tribute. Goujian's other minister, Fan Li, found Xi Shi and Zheng Dan and gifted them to Fuchai in 490 B.C.