How beautiful is Yang Guifei?The murals in the tomb reveal the truth, no wonder Tang Xuanzong loved his life.
In Chinese history, Yang Guifei is known as one of the four beauties, alongside Xi Shi, Diao Chan, and Wang Zhaojun. It is said that even the flowers are ashamed to see it, hence the name"Shame flowers"。
Although we cannot see her beauty with our own eyes, we can get a glimpse of it in the poems of many literati and rioters.
Emperor Tang Ming and the concubine enjoyed the peony in the imperial garden, and the song and dance troupe was preparing to perform. However, Emperor Tang Ming felt that it was too cheesy to celebrate such a precious peony and the peerless appearance of the noble concubine with only ordinary songs and dances.
So, he invited Li Bai into the palace to compose a new movement. After Li Bai entered the palace, he saw the concubine standing among the peony flowers, and was immediately attracted by her beauty, so he immediately splashed ink and wrote three poems of "Qingping Tune", among which the most widely circulated is the first song "The cloud wants to dress and the flowers want to look, and the spring breeze blows Revlon."
If it weren't for the jade mountain, it would meet Yaotai under the moon. ", vividly depicting Yang Guifei dressed in gorgeous clothes and with outstanding appearance, like a fairy coming out of a fairyland.
Those heart-warming beauties in history often cannot escape tragic endings. Yang Guifei is one such example. In the later period of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the society was in turmoil. In 755 AD, An Lushan launched a rebellion in the name of the Qing monarch's side, aiming directly at Chang'an.
Tang Xuanzong was unable to stop the rebellion and fled to Shuzhong with Yang Guifei and Yang Guozhong. At the time of Ma Weipo, the soldiers of the forbidden army, led by Chen Xuanli, unanimously believed that Yang Guifei was a disaster for the country, confused the emperor, and asked Xuanzong to execute Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei.
The forbidden army first killed Yang Guozhong with a knife, and then put pressure on Tang Xuanzong, and finally under the persuasion of Gao Lishi, Tang Xuanzong was forced to order Yang Guifei to be killed and hanged under the pear tree in the Buddhist hall.
After pacifying the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Xuanzong was deeply saddened by the death of Yang Guifei, so he sent people to find her body, but to no avail. This has also caused some people to speculate whether Yang Guifei is still alive, but according to historical records, she did die in Maweipo.
It may just be the kind wish of people who are unwilling to accept the thin life of a beautiful woman. In 1994, the excavation of an ancient tomb of the Liao Dynasty in the Chifeng area of Inner Mongolia allowed us to see the true face of Yang Guifei, and also made us realize how beautiful Yang Guifei, who was favored by Xuanzong.
The Chifeng area is also one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, where many ancient civilizations such as the Xinglongwa culture 8,000 years ago, the Hongshan culture 6,000 years ago, and the Neolithic culture 5,000 years ago were unearthed.
In 1993, an amazing thing happened on the "Baoshan" in Baoshan Village, Chifeng, and the villagers were awakened by a ** sound, which turned out to be an ancient tomb of the Liao Dynasty excavated by tomb thieves.
The tomb robbers used a brutal method to directly blast a large hole, not only looting the burial goods in the tomb, but also causing devastating damage to the structure of the tomb. Fortunately, the archaeological department moved quickly to protect the tomb and began salvage excavations in 1994.
The ancient tomb is located on the sunny slope of Baoshan Mountain, surrounded by three rows of burial chambers of different sizes, and there is also a burial chamber in the middle for memorial services. According to this layout, archaeological experts analyzed and confirmed that this was a burial place for the nobles of the Liao Dynasty.
Due to the destruction of the tomb robbers, only two relatively intact tombs remained of the main tomb and dozens of sub-tombs, so the true identity of the tomb owner could not be confirmed. However, in Tomb No. 2, where the wife of the suspected owner of the tomb is located, we find a complete series of frescoes.
The frescoes are well preserved and, because they are frescoes, they have not been looted by tomb robbers. There are frescoes on the four walls of Tomb No. 2, the north and south walls depict myths and legends, the west wall is a peony picture, and the east wall is a figure painting.
This figure painting allows us to see the charm of Yang Guifei. Based on the costumes of the characters on the murals, experts speculate that the content of the murals should be from the late Tang Dynasty. On the mural, a lady dressed in a gorgeous Tang costume, **fair-skinned, delicate in appearance, and noble in manners is teasing a parrot.
There was a mahogany table in front of the noblewoman, on which there was a parrot, and the noblewoman was writing. Behind the lady were two maids, one holding a container and the other a fan, apparently serving the woman in front of her who was teasing the parrot.
The bodies of the three people are all slightly fat, which is consistent with the aesthetic concept of white fat as beauty in the Tang Dynasty.
Why do people call this mural Yang Guifei's?The reason is that the book "Miscellaneous Records of the Ming Emperor" records an interesting incident during the Xuanzong period of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Lingnan Jin offered a snow-white parrot, and the local government dedicated it to Tang Xuanzong, who in turn rewarded this smart and clever parrot to Yang Guifei, who loved parrots.
Yang Guifei loved this parrot very much and named it "Snow Cloth Lady". She often trains this parrot herself, and it is said that this parrot only needs to listen to Yang Guifei read the "Heart Sutra" a few times, and it can be recited very well.
This parrot called "Snow Lady" was deeply favored by Yang Guifei, but one day, when it was playing on the bricks and tiles of the palace, it was unfortunately killed by an eagle, Yang Guifei was very sad about this, and even made a monument for it, and called its cemetery "Parrot Tomb".
This mural vividly depicts the scene of Yang Guifei training the parrot "Snow Lady", and was named "Yang Guifei Teaching Parrots" by archaeologists. Due to the destruction of the tomb robbers, there is nothing more precious than these well-preserved murals.
This mural is now in the museum of the Chifeng region of Mongolia and is known as the treasure of the town. Through this mural, we see a beautiful and luxurious Yang Guifei, who is fully in line with the aesthetic standards of the Tang Dynasty.
Bai Juyi once described her as "looking back and smiling, and the six palaces have no color", which can be seen from Tang Xuanzong's love for her. However, Yang Guifei finally became the "scapegoat" of the turbulent situation and ended her life on Ma Weipo.
Although Xuanzong later regretted it, he could not save her life.