The love story between Yang Yuhuan and Tang Xuanzong has been a topic of discussion for thousands of years. Some people will talk about whether Tang Xuanzong has a crush on Yang Yuhuan, but does he have real feelings for Yang Yuhuan? If so, why did he want to put her to death during the "Anshi Rebellion"? There are also people who talk about the fact that Yang Guifei did not die, but that it was a maid who was given to die, and there were many disputes over each end. So what is history all about?
Fan Bingbing as Yang Yuhuan
First of all, to answer the first question simply, does Tang Xuanzong have real feelings for Yang Yuhuan?
The "Testament of Kaiyuan Tianbao" records a story between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan. In the autumn of tianbao's tenth year, on the night of qixi, Tang Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan stood on their shoulders, because they looked up to the sky to feel the sad and joyful scene of the reunion of the cowherd and the weaver girl, and secretly vowed to marry the world. This is what Bai Juyi wrote in "The Song of Long Hate": "On the seventh day of July, the Hall of Eternal Life, when no one whispered in the middle of the night." In heaven wish to be compared to the winged bird, in the earth wish to be connected to the branch" of the source.
So why is there such a story?
From the fifth year of Tianbao (746), Yang Yuhuan angered Emperor Xuanzong of Tang twice and was sent home. We know that, according to the custom, the queen concubines angered the saints, and at best they were imprisoned or beaten into the cold palace, and at worst they were beheaded and never sent home. As usual, couples quarrel, leaving room for maneuver.
Yang Yuhuan
Every time Tang Xuanzong sent Yang Yuhuan back to his mother's house, he would not think about tea and dinner, and he would still lose his temper with the attendants left and right. Until Yang Yuhuan thought that he was indeed a bit excessive, he cut off a strand of hair and let people bring Tang Xuanzong, which greatly touched Tang Xuanzong. It can be said that the feelings between two people far exceed those of the emperor and the concubine, and true feelings exist.
But even such a beautiful love cannot last long.
On July 14, 756, An Lushan led an army to attack Chang'an, which was the famous "Anshi Rebellion" in history, and the prosperous Tang Dynasty fell into decline.
Tang Xuanzong, who received the secret report, led Yang Guifei and his personal forbidden army to flee overnight. The next day, the fleeing team arrived at Ma Songpo in Shaanxi Province. At this moment, the accompanying soldiers suddenly revolted and rebelled, and Yang Guozhong, the prime minister of the dynasty, died in the rebellion in an instant.
Subsequently, the rebel generals pointed their anger at Yang Yuhuan, and the elderly Li Longji finally endured the pain of cutting off love, ordered Yang Yuhuan to hang himself, and buried the body in Ma Songpo.
However, many people in later generations did not believe the claim that Yang Guifei was dead. They thought that since Xuanzong was so deeply in love with Yang Guifei, how could he let Yang Yuhuan hang himself? How can a prince of a country not even be able to keep his beloved woman? Therefore, there are many doubts about Yang Yuhuan's death.
There are historical records that a year after the Ma Songpo incident, the Anshi Rebellion finally subsided. After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang returned to Chang'an, he secretly ordered the eunuchs to bury Yang Guifei instead. However, when people opened Yang Yuhuan's grave, they were surprised to find that the body had long ceased to exist, and only the sachet worn by the noble concubine lay in the coffin.
Subsequently, within Chang'an City, it was reported that Yang Guifei's body was missing, and Yang Guifei may not have died. How could the body of a noble concubine disappear? People are confused. There are many speculations about this.
Some people believe that the body of the noble concubine did die in Ma Songpo, and that the old and new "Book of Tang" and "Zizhi Tongjian" and other historical records are clearly recorded, as are the Tang people's notes, just to hide the eyes and ears, buried elsewhere.
But more people believe that it was not Yang Yuhuan himself who was hanged in Ma Songpo at that time, but a maid. According to historical records, Chen Xuanli, the general of the Forbidden Army, "cherished the beauty of the noble concubine, and could not bear to kill her, so he conspired with Gao Lishi and used a maid to die instead of a maid." If this is the case, where did Yang Guifei go for the rest of her life?
In 1963, a Japanese girl showed her genealogy and ancient documents on television, calling her a descendant of Yang Guifei in Japan, causing a small sensation in Japan.
Japanese historian Kuniko Shiro's "Collection of Interesting Facts about Japanese History", Watanabe Ryumi's "Secret History of the Resurrection of Yang Guifei" and China's "Cultural Translation" all tell the story of a yang guifei who is not dead.
It is said that Yang Guifei was escorted to Shanghai by Chen Xuanli's cronies, and then went out to sea by boat, and after a difficult drift, finally landed at the Tang Ferry Port on the Kutsu Peninsula in Japan and settled in Yaugu Ting. Due to the long period of displacement, the noble concubine fell seriously ill and died soon after, and the locals expressed deep sympathy for her and buried her there.
Yang Guifei's tomb is now located in the scenic Yougu Ting, the tomb base is a platform composed of rocks with an area of tens of square meters, there are 5 stone towers on the platform, the main tower is 153 cm high, the Japanese call it "five wheels", according to legend, Yang Guifei sleeps under the five wheel tower.
Later, it is said that Tang Xuanzong learned of the news of Yang Yuhuan's death in Dongying, and was distraught, and in order to pray for the blessing of the noble concubine, he sent the white horse general Chen An to bring two Buddha statues and prepare to place them in the place where Yang Guifei returned. General Chen An traveled all over the Japanese archipelago and did not find these two places, so he had to temporarily place the two Buddha statues in Qingliang Temple and return to China.
Today, two Buddha statues in Nizun-in are designated as Japan's National Key Cultural Relics, and the Nizun-in Cemetery and The Five Wheel Pagoda in Yotani-in are designated tangible cultural relics at Yamaguchi County. The incense in front of the tomb of the noble concubine continues to this day, because people believe that worshipping Yang Guifei can give birth to beautiful and lovely children.
Whether Yang Guifei died at Ma Songpo or something else at that time can only be said to be a unsolved case in history.