_CELEBRATED BEAUTIES_
Beautiful women are called in China flowers, or jade jewels, or still
better, the destroyers of the empire, or the destroyers of cities. The
latter nicknames originated in a poem of the celebrated Li-Yan-Nein, of
the dynasty of Han, thus conceived:
“A beautiful woman lives in the north,
Whose beauty has never in any age been rivalled;
To see her is to lose the empire.
If one sees her twice, the kingdom no longer exists.
But I may add, that one prefers to lose both empire and kingdom
Than to renounce the beautiful woman whom one will never see again.”
The poem fell under the eyes of the Emperor, who immediately asked if
such a woman really did exist, or was only the creation of the poet’s
imagination. On receiving an affirmative answer, he expressed his desire
to know this beauty, and it was upon her that he afterwards bestowed his
exclusive favour. An Emperor is no less a man.
One of the favourites of Emperor Han-Wou-Ti, named Li-Kiang—pretty
girl—conquered the heart of her sovereign at the age of fourteen. Her
beauty was perfect, and her body was of extreme delicacy. She clothed
herself alone in the lightest tissues, for fear that coarser stuff might
injure her very delicate skin. Her master built for her a crystal palace,
so that, as he said, no dust should come to stain the whiteness of her
darling person. Her breath was so sweet, that when she sang all the
flowers in the garden danced.
Emperor Ouei-Weng-Ti, having heard it said that a young girl named
Sie-Ling-Yung, was reputed to be of incomparable beauty, wrote to the
prefect, bidding him to send her to the capital. On bidding good-bye to
her parents, Sie-Ling-Yung wept red tears, which were tears of blood.
Her reception at the capital was an extremely brilliant one. The Court
sent out ten carriages to meet her, and sandal leaves were burned all
along the way she was to pass through. A lofty tower was erected for the
occasion, and was illuminated, as were all the houses in the city.
It was a memorable night, and is still mentioned in our histories. His
Majesty went out in person to meet the beautiful woman, driving in a
carriage of carved jade. At regular intervals bronze milestones, two
metres high, had been erected. At last this marvellous woman was received
in the arms of the sovereign, who gave her the name of Ye-Lae, which
means “She who came in the night.”
She was an incomparable artist at embroidery. She could embroider in the
dark masterpieces which could not be imitated in daylight by any other
woman. On account of this she was also called “The Genius of the Needle.”
The celebrated poet Soung-U says, in a poem about his neighbour:
“All the beautiful women in the world
Are not worth my lady neighbour of the west.
Were you to add one inch to her height, she would be too tall;
Were you to reduce her stature by one inch, she would be too small.
Powder would give her too white a colour,
Vermilion would make her look too red.
Her eyebrows are like the lightest feathers;
Her skin is like the purest snow;
Her waist is small as a piece of silk;
And her teeth resemble a row of pearls.
When she condescends to smile, the most reasonable man is troubled.”
It is a matter of great regret in China that the poet did not even
mention the name of this beauty, who, according to his account, must have
been as desirable a person as she was desired by him.
When the famous Fi-Yen—The Flying Swallow—was presented to Emperor
Yang-Ti, he was transported with joy. Not only was she beautiful, but her
body was so light, that the king used often to take her up on one hand to
play with her. In a moment of effusion the Emperor said that he had only
one ambition in life, and that was to live and die by the side of her
whom he loved, and that, unlike his ancestors, he should not commit the
folly of seeking for the land of clouds, by which he meant Paradise.
There have been so many celebrated beauties in China, that it is quite
impossible to mention all their names here. Let us be satisfied by
saying, that some, when they wash their hands in the streams, scent the
water; that others found their beauty improved by a little wound on their
faces; that some shamed the flowers themselves; and that one of them
compelled the moon to hide her face. All those who deserved the name
of beautiful woman, owed all their charms to Nature; those that tried
to imitate them, only rendered themselves ridiculous. History relates
apropos of this, that the beautiful Si-Si used to have the habit of
laying her hand to her heart, which gave her an additional charm. Another
woman, who lived in her village—thinking that it was this gesture alone
that caused her neighbour to be so much admired—imitated it, and got
laughed at for her trouble; for, as it was pointed out to her, she had
overlooked the fact that what is natural is beautiful, whilst what is
forced is often absurd.
Men used to be magnificently gallant towards these beautiful women. Some
housed them in golden palaces, others sheltered every step that they
took with tents of gauze, so as to protect them against the sun and the
wind. Others had screens of pearls carried before their lady-loves,
more beautiful than the pearls which were intended for their adornment.
It will be seen that our writers did not lack in metaphors for the
celebration of charming women. They were in the right. The flowers of
rhetoric are never better employed than when applied to those women which
the gallantry of our language has baptized with the name of flowers.
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