Beauty captivating

Author: Xiao Fengzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Excerpt: The fox somehow got associated with women; the term "fox spirit" is used to describe women as charming. However, the "old fox" does not refer to women but to cunning men. Don't believe it? The appearance of a fox is indeed quite attractive. First, you have to sit up straight—"sitting is taller than standing." Look at her, she puffs out her chest and raises her head, exuding elegance. Her two cleverly perky ears are slightly tilted upward, her long, curved, smiling eyes, pointed chin—truly some of the elegance of a beautiful woman. In reality, the cat's appearance is also quite good, but its ears, eyes, and face are rounder than those of a fox, and its temperament is much gentler. They generally don't sit up straight or have a slightly plump figure. As far as I'm concerned, foxes and cats look very similar. Chinese people compare women to foxes, while Westerners compare women to cats. I think, at the very least, both take these animals' graceful postures as a reference.
The love story of Emperor Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei made "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" and "The Palace of Eternal Life" famous, making it seem exquisitely noble and pure. In reality, if you tear away the facade, Emperor Minghuang was nearly sixty when he took Yang as his concubine. If he hadn't held power, he would have been just an ordinary man. Moreover, the sanitary conditions in the Tang Dynasty were far worse than today's, and sixty years back then might be equivalent to seventy today. Such an age difference would be considered impossible for love in modern terms, at least in terms of sexual attraction. Legends have already idealized Yang Yuhuan, calling her the most beautiful woman in the world, a celestial beauty who captivated the emperor the moment he saw her. In reality, in our daily lives, even if we say, "She is truly beautiful! She is as beautiful as an angel," without genuine emotion, we would find it absurd. Without the corresponding status and deeds to match, even the most beautiful woman can only be praised as pretty.
As for Yang Guifei, people say she wasn't particularly beautiful. Her appeal to the emperor must have gone beyond mere physical beauty. Emperor Minghuang taught the disciples to sing, and he could also write poetry—he was an emperor with an artistic temperament. In the palace, he was surrounded by beautiful women, so he wasn't lacking in that regard. Yang Guifei must have attracted him with her "bearing" or, perhaps better, her "aura," or a sense of "having seen her somewhere before." This later developed into a mutual reliance where neither could live without the other.
If the An Lushan Rebellion had not occurred, Emperor Minghuang and Yang Guifei would have lived out their days in peace. Even if their love was strong, when Emperor Minghuang reached seventy or eighty, he would have passed away. Yang Guifei, as his widow, would have been granted the title of Tai Fei and would have lived in the old palace. As she grew older, her health would have declined, and she would no longer be able to recount stories of the former emperor to the maids and eunuchs who served her. When she died, the imperial family would bury her with due ceremony, and her story would certainly not have been passed down to this day. Not even the common people at the time would have known of her existence, and their love story would not have been considered anything extraordinary. The beauty of Yang Guifei would have been no more than one of the "palace concubines" of the era.
The An Lushan Rebellion was what dramatically embellished this love story, instantly elevating its historical significance. Yang Guifei's death at Ma'wei was not suicide but a "rebirth of the phoenix!" She was lifted beyond the ordinary, becoming a timeless beauty. The term "" (to overturn a country and city) originally meant "to captivate the nation," but in reality, how could that be? Even the most beautiful woman would be forgotten if she simply passed by. A single face is never enough. To truly be "," a woman must bring down a country and city, creating a monumental event. Only with such earth-shattering deeds can a beauty live forever, becoming a legend. Historical beauties like Daji, Bao Si, Xi Shi, and Yang Guifei all followed this pattern. They were far more famous than virtuous women in history, such as Empress Changsun of Tang Taizong or Empress Ma of Zhu Yuanzhang, whose names are rarely known.