When it comes to Xishi , the first thing people think of is her beauty. Xi Shi ranked first among the four great beauties in ancient China. Idioms are often used in later generations to describe it because of the beautiful Xi Shi. While washing yarn by the stream, the fish in the water were attracted by its beauty. They were so fascinated that they forgot to swim and ended up sinking to the bottom of the water.
In 494 BC, King Wu Fuchai was defeated, King Yue Goujian retreated to Kuaiji Mountain and was surrounded by Wu army. Goujian was forced to seek peace from Wu Kingdom . In addition to Goujian and his wife who went to Wu as hostages as slaves, Goujian treated Fuchai's lustfulness and gave the beautiful Xi Shi, the King of Wu, after some training, to Wu King Fuchai. Xi Shi entered Wu from then on and until the demise of Wu. Before, Xi Shi had been living in Gusu City , which was the best time in his life. According to records, King Fuchai of Wu favored Xi Shi and built the Chunxiao Palace, the forest hall, etc. for Xi Shi.
In 473 BC, the capital of Wu State Gusu was captured by the Vietnamese army and Wu State was destroyed. According to historical records, Xi Shi came to an abrupt end, and her life seemed to be drowned in history with the demise of the Wu Kingdom. So what is the whereabouts of Xi Shi after the glory? How did she spend the second half of her life? There are five statements about Xi Shi's ending.
The first type is said that the Wu Kingdom destroyed Xi Shi and was executed by Goujian. Goujian defeated Wu and brought back Xi Shi. He wanted to force Xi Shi on the night he returned to China, but Xi Shi refused to agree, so he executed Xi Shi for the crime of resisting the army. If this statement is true, then Goujian is really a villain who can only share hardships and cannot share wealth and honor. He actually uses this method to treat a hero who plays a decisive role in his restoration.
The second statement is that Xi Shi returned to Fan Li and left with Panwu Lake. He said that after the demise of Wu Kingdom, the task of revenge for the country was actually completed. He sailed with Fan Li, a doctor from Yue Kingdom, and finally disappeared. Later generations made some processing on the statement of Yuan Kang , saying that Xi Shi was originally Fan Li's lover. After the fall of Wu, he returned to Fan Li, who led him to retreat to the mountains and forests.
The third statement is that according to the records of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Nationalities, when Goujian defeated Wu State in triumph, Jiangxi studied under Gusu and brought back Goujian's wife from Yuegu. I don’t know if it was because Xi Shi, who was afraid of the beauty, threatening his status, or if I really felt that it was actually a beauty, and I was also afraid that Xi Shi would bring disaster to Yue Kingdom. He asked his subordinates to trick Xi Shi out on the grounds of the destruction of the country, and then tied up a large stone to sank into the river.
And the fourth statement is that it is actually meant by the people of Wu. After the demise of Wu, the people of Wu were very angry and believed that it was Xi Shi's seduction of the King of Wu, which led to the King of Wu not paying attention to the government, and eventually the demise of Wu. They attributed all the blame for the demise of the Wu Kingdom to Xi Shi. So, Xi Shi was wrapped in brocade layers by the angry people of Wu State, and sank into the middle of the river.
The fifth statement, in addition to the above, there are also people who say that after King Fuchai of Wu committed suicide, he actually returned to his hometown and lived an ordinary life. From then on, I never care about the world, and my ancestors have passed away forever. We can only guess the ending of Xi Shi after Wushen, but we will never know clearly.
