Lady Yang
Yang Guifei (楊貴妃 "Secondary-consort Yang") (June 1,
719- 756), born Yang Yuhuan (楊玉環),
was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. She was a consort of Xuanzong of Tang
China who was killed (together with her cousin Yang Guozhong) because
the angry army was convinced that the Rebellion of Anshi was ultimately the Yangs' fault.
Yang was born in Yongle (永樂), Pu Prefecture (蒲州) with an ancestry in Huaying (華陰),
Hongnong (弘農) (in Shaanxi) to Yang Xuanyan (楊玄琰),
the sihu (司戶), a finance and food official, in Shu Prefecture (蜀州). A few years after her
father's death, sixteen-year old Yang married the Xuanzong's sixteen-year old son Prince Shou (壽王), Li Mei
(李瑁).
Three years after Emperor Xuanzong's wife Wu Huifei (武惠妃) died in 737, the highly-placed eunuch advisor Gao Lishi arranged for Xuanzong to meet Yang in
Xingwen Fountain Palace (幸溫泉宮). The emperor then made Yang divorce her husband the prince, and become
a nun with the sobriquet Taizhen (太真 "Utmost Truth") living in Taizhen Palace.
Five years later, Prince Li Mei was given another wife, the daughter of General Yuan Zhaoxun (韋昭訓), and then
Yang was made a guifei (consort).
Most of Yang's relatives become officials, such as:
- Yang's eldest sister became Lady of the Han State (韓國夫人)
- Yang's third eldest sister became Lady of the Guo State (虢國夫人)
- Yang's eighth eldest sister became Lady of the Qin State (秦國夫人)
- Yang's gambler distant cousin, Yang Guozhong, became a high-ranking
official.
In addition, members of the Yang family married two Li princesses and two prefects. (See also: Guanxi)
In the aftermath of the Anshi Rebellion, the emperor made his
escape to Chengdu. Along the road, at Mawei Relay Stop
(馬嵬驛站) (today in Xinping (興平縣), Shaanxi), the soldiers accompanying
the imperial party, who believed that the Yangs were responsible for the country's upheaval, demanded the death of Yang Guozhong. Still unsatisfied, the army insisted that Yang Guifei should be
killed as well. Rather than turn herself over to them, Yang (then 38) hanged herself or was hanged by Gao Lishi. The following
year, Xuanzong tried to retrieve her body from Mawei Relay, but no body was found. Therefore, a Japanese myth tells that she was rescued, escaped to Japan and lived her remaining life there. A memorial tomb for
her was erected in Xi.
Literature
Yang's life is popular in literature, such the operas
- Guifei Intoxicated (貴妃醉酒 Guifei Zuijiu)
- The Unofficial Biography of Taizhen (太真外傳 Taizhen Waizhuan)
- The Slope of Mawei (馬嵬坡 Mawei Po) by Chen Hong (陳鴻)
Novels:
- The Unofficial Biography of Yang Taizhen (楊太真外傳 Yang Taizhen Waizhuan)
- The Biography-Song of the Everlasting Sorrow (長恨歌傳 Changhen Kezhuan)
- The Court of the Lion (modern English novelization) - Eleanor Cooney, Daniel Altieri (ISBN 0877959021)
Drama plays:
- The Hall of Longevity (長生殿 Changshen Dian) by (洪升) of the Qing Dynasty
- The Mirror to Grind Dust (磨塵鑒 Mocheng Jian) by an anonymous of the Ming Dynasty
- The Records of Shocking the Grandeur (驚鴻記 Jinghong Ji) by (吳世美) of
the Ming Dynasty
- The Records of Colourful Hair (彩毫記 Caihao Ji) by (屠隆隆) of the
Ming Dynasty
- Emperor Ming of Tang China in an Autumn Night with Kolanut and Rain (唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨 Tang Minghuang Qiuye
Wutong Yu) by Bai Pu (白樸) of the Yuan Dynasty
Movies:
- Princess Yang Kwei-Fei (The Empress Yang Kuei-Fei) (楊貴妃 Yōkihi, 1955) by Kenji Mizoguchi
While some literature describes her as the author of much misfortune, other writings sympathize with Yang as being a
scapegoat.
External links
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