The water is bright and sunny, and the mountains are empty and rainy; if you want to make the West Lake better than the West Lake, light makeup is always appropriate. This is a poem by the Northern Song Dynasty poet Su Shi. The Xizi in the poem is Xi Shi, a mountain and wild raccoon yarn woman, but she took on the heavy responsibility of restoring the country, and finally fulfilled her mission, making great contributions to the revival of the Yue Kingdom and the victory of the Wu-Yue War. Her life is full of legends. About her final destination, it has become a mystery for eternity...
The reason why Yue Wang Gou Jian was able to successfully restore the country was not only the tenacity and wisdom of "lying down and tasting courage", but also that he was good at using the "beauty plan" to confuse Wu WangFuchai. He sent Xi Shi, who was very skilled in color and art, to circulate within the court of the State of Wu and deliver intelligence to Gou Jian, and played an important role in the process of destroying Wu. For thousands of years, Xi Shi has been widely sung by people as the embodiment and synonym of beauty. But the strange thing is that when Wu Wangfu was killed and Gou Jian returned to power, Xi Shi mysteriously disappeared. Where did Xi Shi go?
Xi Shi, formerly known as Shi Yiguang, was a native of the late Spring and Autumn period. Although she is beautiful, she cannot prevent her tragic fate, and her beauty and cleverness are only a tool to be exploited. When she was in an "enemy country" and tried every means to destroy the state of Wu, she won a piece of infatuation with her by Wu Wangfuchai. In order to please the beauties, Fu Cha built luxurious residences and many scenery such as Wu Wangjing, Playing Flower Pond, Playing Moon Pond, Ringing Gallery, Qintai, Dressing Table, Yan Pond, Xishi Cave, etc. To this day, the story of Wu Wang and Xi Shi has been circulated.
There have always been different accounts of the eventual return of Xi Shi after Wu. To sum up, there are roughly the following types.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > The first term is the theory of seclusion. </h1>
This is the most popular folk saying. When the city of Gusu was destroyed and the state of Wu was destroyed, Fan Li, Xi Shi's lover, hurried to the depths of the Wu Palace and led Xi Shi out and entered the misty Taihu Lake from the waterway. Later, the two married, left the whirlpool of political struggle, and went far away, Fan Li, alias Tao Zhugong, with his great talent, became rich in business, lived a luxurious life in the world, and ended up with a happy life.
This statement was first seen in Yuan Kang's Book of Yue Jie in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is recorded that "after Wu's death, Xi Shi returned to Fan Li and went away with the Pan Five Lakes." The Ming Dynasty Hu Yinglin's "Shaomu Shanfang Pen Cong" also has a similar statement, believing that Xi Shi was originally Fan Li's lover or wife, and after the fall of the Wu Kingdom, Fan Li took Xi Shi into seclusion. The Ming Dynasty Chen Yaowen's Zhengyang (正阳) volume 2 "Xi Shi" also quotes the Book of Yue Jie as saying that Xi Shi followed Fan Li into seclusion.
For Xi Shi and Fan Li to live in seclusion, there are also many descriptions in the poems of the ancients. For example, Li Bai's "Xi Shi" poem wrote: "Once the husband is broken, the country is sent, and the thousand autumns are not returned." Su Shi's "Water Dragon Yin" also wrote: "The five lakes heard the tao, and the flat boat returned, still carrying Xizi." There is a sentence in Du Mu's "Du Niang's Poems": "Xizi under Gu Su, one ship chases after the eagle." The "Ci Hai" also said: "Xi Shi yi zuo Xizi, in the late Spring and Autumn years of the Yue kingdom of Ramadan, by the Yue King Gou Jian to Wu Wang Fu Cha, became Fu Cha's favorite concubine." Legend has it that after Wu's death, he and Fan Li entered the Five Lakes. ”
There are also some places to commemorate the love between Fan Li and Xi Shi. It is said that on the way to Send Xi Shi to the State of Wu by Fan Li, the two were unable to restrain themselves, lived in double life, and gave birth to a son. By the time they had rubbed all the way to the Kingdom of Wu, the child was able to open his mouth to speak. To this day, there is also a "Aizi Pavilion" in Wuyuejian to commemorate the love crystallization of Fan Li and Xi Shi. Unfortunately, the legend has it that this child was later given to someone else to raise and never found.
However, in the "Records of History", "Yue Wang Gou Jian Shi Jia" and "Cargo Breeding Column Biography", fan li is only mentioned but xi shi is not mentioned, not to mention that she has nothing to do with fan li. Whether Sima Qian did not see the record of this aspect, did not hear the legend in this regard, or deliberately did not write it in, today there is no way to know.
Many people think that this kind of reunion may only be imagined by good people. In the Eastern Han Dynasty historical book "Wu Yue Chunqiu Gou Jian Wu Wai Biography", the process of Fan Li's death is recorded in detail: Yue Wang Gou Jian twenty-four years, September Ding Wei, Wu Guo has died, in a sound of victory, Fan Li bid farewell to the Yue King, saying that he used to restore the yue king, so he occupied a high position for a long time, and now that the great cause has been accomplished, he asked to resign and live in seclusion. So he flew away in a flat leaf boat. From this point of view, Fan Li ran away and did not take Xi Shi with him.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > the second term is Shenjiang theory. </h1>
When the Yue soldiers invaded the wu capital, the leading Wu Wang Fuchai still wanted to take Xi Shi away, but Xi Shi finally looked forward to his own people, looking forward to the day of victory, where he was willing to leave, so he stayed in the palace. On the day of the class master, the Yue King Gou Jian naturally wanted to take away Xi Shi, who was charming and had made great achievements. Lady Gou Jian is a gloomy and cruel woman, who sees that Gou Jian is indulged in Xi Shi's charm, and secretly grits her teeth, and must be put to death. However, Gou Jian and Xi Shi are inseparable and cannot be started. One day, the convoy crossed the river to return to the south, and on the way, Mrs. Gou Jian said: "The subjects of the enemy country are kneeling on the south bank of the great river to greet the king, and the king should be welcomed by the subjects to show the king's courtesy." Gou Jian was originally more afraid of the lady, but now he asked for it with great righteousness, so he came out of the cabin in response. At this time, Lady Gou Jian tricked Xi Shi to the stern of the ship, and The Fortune Teller tied her to a large rock and sank to the bottom of the river. When Gou Jian found out, he returned to the cabin to inquire, and Mrs. Gou Jian was straight and strong, and said sternly: "What is the thing that left behind this subjugated country?" "The beauty of the generation died in this incense, and her soul was broken in the waves of the river. And what's more, the legend has that since then there has been a kind of human tongue-like grasshopper in the sediment along the coast, and everyone says that this is Xi Shi's tongue, so it is called "Xi Shi Tongue".
This statement is not unreasonable, because in terms of the situation at that time, Xi Shi's fate was extremely unfortunate. Moreover, in the "Mozi Qinshi", it is also said: "It is the cause of bi gan, its resistance; the killing of Meng Ben, its courage; the Shen of Xi Shi, its beauty; the crack of Wu Qi, its affairs also." Among them, the "Shen" of "Xi Shi Zhi Shen" means "Shen" in ancient times. The meaning of this sentence is that Xi Shi was sunk in the water, and she died because of her beauty. The "Xiuwen Imperial Records" quotes the "Wu Yue Chunqiu" record of Xi Shi as saying: "After Wu's death, the more the West Shi yu jiang, so that sui Yi yi ended. ”
In many of the poems of the literati and inkers, there are also many depictions of Xi Shi's death by Shen Jiang. Li Shangyin once wrote a poem in "Jingyang Well": "The Jingyang Palace Well is sad, and the dragon luan swears to die; the intestines cut off the water outside the Wu Palace, and the mud is buried in Xi Shi." Another poet, Pi Rixiu, also has the fifth poem titled "Guan wa Gong Huaigu": "The golden jade steps in the Xiangtun Corridor, the qiluo body on the Pingshan Mountain; I don't know where the water is buried today, and the creek and moon bend to follow suit." It can be seen that Shen Jiang said that there is a certain truth.
In addition, there is also falling water, perhaps the kind people do not want Xi Shi, an innocent weak woman, to have a tragic ending, so they found the early Tang Dynasty poet Song Zhiqing "Huan Sha" poem "Once the old capital is still in the past, beautiful makeup is looking for Ruoye; birds are amazing pine dreams, fish are afraid of lotus flowers" as the basis, it is believed that after Wu's death, Xi Shi returned to his hometown, and accidentally fell into the water and died during a Huan Sha. This claim seems to be the most ideal, but the most lacking evidence.
As for the murder, it is completely from legend, saying that when King Wu killed himself, the Wu people vented all their anger on Xi Shi, wrapped her layer by layer with brocade, and sunk in the heart of Yangzi Jiang. The "Chronicle of Foreign Objects on the Eastern Slope" also states: "There are mermaids in the Yangtze River, also known as Xishi fish, which change color in a day, the flesh is fine and delicious, and the woman eats it, which can increase the flattery, according to the cloud system xishi shenjiang after the illusion." ”
For thousands of years, there have been many opinions about Xi Shi's ending, whether he sank into the water, followed Fan Li to the West Lake, or what other ending, this is still a mystery to be explored.