CHINESE POETRY AND ITS CONNOTATIONS 12? 



the Emperor in her heart she was not true to him, and really cared 

 for those "to the right of him" and those "to the left of him" her 

 special favourite being one called Chi Chiang =fi ££. he is reported 

 to have said that Hsii Liang although not young could love with much 

 passion, and a saying has crept into the language which is often quoted 

 in reference to a elderly woman whose affections and passions are as 

 strong as those of the young. 



"Hsii Niang although old has still much love." 



Kung Kuei Fei ft, ^ #B Concubine of Hou Chu ^ £ of Chen fyg. 

 Hou Chu had ten favourite concubines of whom the most popular were 

 Chang Kuei Fei and Kung Kuei Fei. The latter was noted for her 

 ability to write poems, etc. Upon the fall of the dynasty when the 

 soldiers of Sui had already reached the Capital, then at Nanking, 

 Hou Chu, Kung Kuei Fei and some favourite courtiers were enjoying 

 themselves drinking wine, writing verses and making music and con- 

 tinued until the enemy was actually at the Palace doors, then Hou Chu 

 and the ten favourite concubines threw themselves down a well which 

 to-day can be seen behind the temple of Chi Ming. The soldiers of 

 Sui called to them down the well saying that if they did not reply great 

 stones would be thrown down upon them, whereupon Hou Chu 

 answered, saying that he was there, a rope was let down and Hou Chu, 

 Chang Kuei Fei, and Kung Kuei Fei were dragged back to life. 



Hsii Hui %fe ^ T'ai Tsung fc ^ of T'ang Iff, was very devoted to 

 Hsii Hui who was very learned as well as beautiful. She had, however, 

 not become one of the seventy-two " Fei " which is the highest class of 

 Imperial Concubines, and who are selected by the Emperor himself. 

 She gave him much good advice, in regard to the ruling of the Empire 

 to which he listened, and when he died her grief was such that she, 

 stating that her ambition was to serve her Lord in the other world, 

 committed suicide. 



Ch'iang Ts'ai Pin ££ $fc iff Concubine of Hsiian Tsung ^ ^ 

 of T'ang Jff, better known as Ming Huang g^ J|L. She was of a very 

 refined and delicate nature, liking soft faint colours, and using a very 

 light "make up." Her eyebrows she painted in the shape of "cassia" 

 leaves and because of her great love for the plum-blossom she came to 

 be called the "Plum-blossom Concubine." She was eventually sup- 

 planted by the famous Yang Kuei Fei ^ f| #g and retired to live in 

 an eastern palace, the Emperor often thought of her with her charming 

 refinement, a great contrast to the dazzling brilliant charms of the 

 new favourite. One day he received some pearls as tribute and con- 

 cealing his intent from Yang Kuei Fei sent them to the Plum-blossom 

 Concubine as a gift ; she, heart-broken in her loneliness, returned them 

 to her Lord with an exquisite little poem in which she expressed her 

 inability to be comforted with "precious pearls," her desolation was 

 too deep for that ! 



Yang Yii Huan ^ 3£ Jjf "Yang of the Jade Ring," Concubine of 

 Hsuan Tsung >£ ^ of T'ang J|? and perhaps the most famous of all 

 the Imperial Concubines. She was given the Taoist title of T'ai Chen 

 ;fc ifll, and was, of course, a Kuei Fei. She and her sister rose to such 

 heights of power that their word was law in the Palace. Her beauty 

 was such that the Emperor, who at the time of her arrival was already 

 very old, was an absolute tool in her hands, She had her own Palace, 

 her own dancing girls and singing girls and was even allowed by the 

 doting monarch to adopt the great An Lu-shan t§? f$ |Jj, for whom she 

 had a passion, as her son. She Avrapped the high official in a most 

 beautifully embroidered quilt, as if he had been a little child, and had 

 him carried about in a chair. Her follies and extravagances are too 

 numerous to relate, and her ill-fame spread about the country to such 

 an extent that when the An Lu-shan rebellion broke out the soldiers 



