The four beauties in ancient China traditionally refer to Shi (sinking fish), Wang Zhaojun (falling geese), Diophantine (closing the moon) and Yang Guifei (feeling ashamed of flowers). When people describe women as beautiful, they often use the metaphor of "closing the moon and feeling ashamed of flowers, sinking fish and falling geese".
Sinking fish: According to legend, when washing gauze by the Puyang River in the state of Yue, the fish in the water saw her face and sank to the bottom of the river.
Yan: It is said that when Zhao Jun went to the Great Wall, Wang Zhaojun was on his way to the desert, sad about his fate and far away from his hometown, so he was bored at once and played Song of the Great Wall.
And the geese flying over the horizon, hearing the bitterness and sadness of the tune, were heartbroken and fell to the ground. Therefore, the "wild goose" in "Falling Fish and Wild Goose" got its name.
Closed Moon: According to legend, The Story of Diusim was seen by Wang Yun in the garden of Yue Bai, where a cloud obscured the moonlight. Since then, Wang Yun told people that The Story Of Diu Sim is more beautiful than the moon, calling it "the moon is closed".
Flower shame: Legend has it that Yang Guifei lamented her fate in the garden, stroking the flowers with her hands, perhaps mimosa, or for other reasons. The petals contracted and the leaves drooped. When the maid-in-waiting saw it, she said that Yang Guifei was more beautiful than the flowers, and the flowers bowed their heads in shame.
1. The woman who sold firewood in Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period was very beautiful. When she was washing gauze by the river, the clear river shone on her beautiful figure, so that the fish in the water forgot to swim and slowly sank to the bottom, so the stone was nicknamed "sinking fish"
She was chosen because Gou Jian, the king of Yue, used a "honey trap" against Fu Cha, the king of Wu, to avenge the national subjugation. When Wu was destroyed, because she was so beautiful, she was afraid that this "disaster" would come to Yue again and was drowned by the Vietnamese army.
2. Wang Zhaojun, a poor woman in the late Western Han Dynasty, was born in today's Jiegui County, Hubei Province. It is said that on his way home, Wang Zhaojun saw geese flying far away, which aroused endless homesickness. A flock of flying geese heard the piano, saw her beautiful appearance, forgot to shake their wings and fell to the ground. Therefore, Wang Zhaojun got the reputation of "Wild Goose".
She is a beautiful woman with both talents and looks. When Emperor Hanyuan ascended the throne, she was elected to the palace. She was left out because she couldn't see the emperor, and she was naturally unhappy. When he married the Huns, Wang Zhaojun weighed the weight after hearing the news and volunteered to marry the Huns, making an epic contribution to maintaining Sino-Hungarian friendship.
Thirdly, The Story Of Diu Sim, a geisha in Wang Yunfu, a minister of Xian Di in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was favored by Wang Yun for her outstanding beauty and good singing and dancing. It is said that one night when The Story Of Diu Sim was in Yue Bai, a cloud covered the moon. Wang Yun proudly said, "The moon is not as beautiful as my daughter, so I am ashamed to hide behind the clouds."
Therefore, The Story Of Diu Sim is called the beauty of "closed moon". At that time, Dong Zhuo was authoritarian and monopolized state affairs, and the Eastern Han Dynasty had existed in name only.
In order to kill Dong Zhuo and alienate him from his adopted son Lu Bu, Sima set up a "serial plan": The Story Of Diu Sim, aged 16, was first betrothed to Lu Bu, and then The Story Of Diu Sim was given to Dong Zhuo, causing Dong Zhuo to take away Lu Bu's love. The Story Of Diu Sim also deliberately seduced Lu Bu in the back garden, which was seen by Dong Zhuo, causing Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu to declare war against each other. Finally, Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu and married The Story Of Diu Sim as his concubine. In fact, The Story Of Diu Sim loves neither Dong Zhuo nor Lu Bu. She is only used as bait, a plaything or a victim in the hands of powerful people.
Fourth, Yang Guifei, originally the adopted daughter of a small official in Luoyang, was called Taizhen, with the small print Yuhuan. Now Shanxi is a water-saving place. Li Mao's concubine, the son of Li Longji of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was favored by Li Longji for her beauty and became a concubine in Tianbao four years (745). Legend has it that one day she went to the garden to enjoy flowers to relieve boredom, and accidentally met a mimosa, which immediately rolled up its leaves. Don Huang Ming praised her for being "ashamed of flowers"
Later, Yang Guifei's cousin Yang took control of Chaogang, and the Manchu dynasty held a grudge against him, which led to the outbreak of An Shi Rebellion.
On the way to escape with Yang Guifei, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty mutinied, killed Yang and forced Yang Guifei to hang himself in the Buddhist temple.
It's a pity that this "peerless beauty" favored by the emperor ended up sacrificing for the emperor's life.
The idiom "sinking fish and falling geese, closing the moon and feeling ashamed of flowers" comes from the allusions of four beautiful women respectively. Flowers and the moon are synonymous with beauty in the hearts of ancient people, which are more beautiful than flowers and the moon, showing their extraordinary beauty; Fish swim in the water, geese fly in the sky, moved by beauty, which shows its extraordinary beauty.
The ancients first used these four figures of speech to describe the four beauties, and later they were more widely used to describe the beauty of people.