Xi Shi (西施,
Pinyin: Xī Shī, c.
506 BC – ?) was one of the renowned
Four Beauties of ancient
China. She was said to have lived during the end of
Spring and Autumn Period in
Zhuji, the capital of the ancient
State of Yue.Xi Shi's 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. (Thus the idiom 沉魚落雁, 闭月羞花 which is used to compliment someone's beauty.)
King Gou Jian of Yue, king of
Yue, was once imprisoned after a defeat in a war by
King Fu Chai of Wu, king of the
State of Wu. The state of Yue later became a tribulatory to Wu. Secretly planning his revenge, Gou Jian's minister
Wen Zhong suggested training beautiful women and offering them to Fu Chai as a tribute. His other minister,
Fan Li, found Xi Shi and Zheng Dan, and gifted them to Fu Chai in
490 BC.
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[Chinese] The Chinese patroness of merchants of face creams and perfumes. She was a daughter of a butcher and became a royal concubine. When she was presented to the emperor, she smelled so sweet that the odor could be noticed for ten li.
dong1 shi1 xiao4 pin2
Dong Shi knitting her eyebrows (in imitation of Xi Shi).
A person who blindly copies others with ludicrous effects. A jackdaw in a peacock's feathers. Compare with 邯郸学步 (han2 dan1 xue2 bu4) and 亦步亦趋 (yi4 bu4 yi4 qu1).
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