Some time ago, there have been rumors on the Internet lamenting the renaming of some cities, because it was not beautiful before the change, but after changing the name, it was not as good as before. For example, in the current Qi County, many people who hear this name will think of the appearance of a small county town, but thousands of years ago it was a bustling and lively song. This name change instantly wiped away the cultural heritage of the past, and how good the previous songs were.
However, the name change of Qi County is not very frequent, like Nanjing, which is probably too long in history, plus the location is special. In history, it has changed its name more than forty times, such as Jinling and Jiankang, which are its former names. There are those who have changed their names, there are those who do not change their names, and another small county town has not changed its name for 3,500 years, only because of a beautiful woman here. It can be said that it is the first county in China, and mentioning this name seems to be able to think of the beauty under the peach blossoms.
This beauty was one of the four beauties of the Spring and Autumn Period, and her father was the Duke of Chen Zhuang, the monarch of the State of Chen, and a person with the surname of guī (姗). In the tenth year of the Duke of Luzhuang (684 BC), she married the monarch of the State of Shi, so she was called Lady Xi, or Lady Xi. As one of the four beauties, She has a unique face, bright eyes and bright teeth, eyes as moving as autumn water, and a face like a peach blossom. She also has a nickname called Madame Peach Blossom, and it is said that on the day she was born, the peach blossoms suddenly bloomed.
But beauty in the chaotic world will only bring trouble, Madame Peach Blossom lived in the Spring and Autumn is an unstable era, when the princely states recorded in the history books more than 170. They were bent on annexing each other, and the state of Shi, where the concubine lived, was sandwiched between the Jin and Chu states, which had previously fought a battle of Chengpu. Since then, a north-south confrontation has been formed, and small countries are either dependent on the Jin state or dependent on the chu state, relying on the protection of the powerful country to survive. And because of this beauty, she also led to a series of misfortunes, because she was passing through Cai Guo, and earlier she had a sister who married Cai Aihou.
Just by the way through here, I didn't think that Cai Aihou saw the beauty of the concubine, so he caught her attention and forcibly left her behind. When Hou Hou heard this, he was very angry, so he devised a conspiracy with King Wen of Chu of Chu and successfully let Chu take the State of Cai. At this point, Cai Aihou was not happy, since he couldn't get the beauty, He Hou didn't want to get it. Soon after, Marquis Cai Aihou tried his best to praise The beauty of Concubine Xi in front of King Wen of Chu, and King Wen of Chu made an excuse, and he saw that she was indeed a beauty unparalleled in the world.
This brought ruin to the state of Chu, and The next day King Wen of Chu found an excuse to destroy the state of Chu and capture the Marquis of Chu. When she heard that her husband had been captured, she had wanted to commit suicide, but she was dissuaded. In order to rest the people of the country, but also for the sake of the rest of the people, the concubine chose to sacrifice herself. A woman who single-handedly protects the safety of the people, and the courage in it is very comparable to that of others. King Wen of Chu liked her very much, and after entering the palace for three years, Concubine Xi gave birth to two sons. But she never took the initiative to speak, and once King Wen of Chu asked why, Concubine Xi's answer was: I am a woman and a second husband, I can't keep the festival and die, what face do I have to speak to people!
Later, in the autumn, King Wen of Chu went out of the city to hunt, and Concubine Xi found an opportunity to see The Princess who was a soldier under the city wall. The two of them were tearful when they saw each other, and Mrs. Xi cried and said, I am only alive to save your life, to see you, and now I am blind when I die. After saying that, he crashed into the wall and died, and Hou Wannian also followed, and King Wen of Chu was quite sad. However, feeling the chastity of the two people's feelings, he buried the two together outside Hanyang City with the etiquette of the princes.
The original country of Shi also became a county, and the name of the city has not changed for 3,500 years, and the people of the country of Shi have missed the concubine. A shrine was also built, called the Peach Blossom Lady Temple, and Du Mu also wrote a poem for her. A delicate beauty, in order to save her husband in a chaotic world, can only choose to endure humiliation. Her non-words are a confrontation with reality, a struggle between rights, and what is the matter with beauty?
References: "Zuo Chuan Zhuang Gong Ten Years", "Lienu Biography Volume IV"