The Love Story of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei - Essay Example

The love story of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei "Yang Taizhen rumored" write Yang life story, the emperor,princess fell in love with life and death was soulstirring. Yang Shou word Yuhuan, formerly princess, after the return of Emperor Xuanzong, canonized as the imperial concubine. Xuanzong loved anomaly. The royal brothers and sisters are given, a young have rights in ones hand. After the fall of Tongguan, "he raised an army, six army not helpless, moth-like eyebrows; beauty Ma ago". After suzong ascended the throne, with Beijing, Overlord day and night miss Royal, a Shu Fang, found Yang Taizhen in the Penglai Pavilion, and a palace of vows, and to "token of love". And Bai Juyis "song of Everlasting Sorrow" and Chen Hongs "song of Everlasting Sorrow" is. But the plot is more specific and detailed, like a Yang Guozhong and lead a luxurious and dissipated life, break the pale, are given only Korea, Xuanzong, Guo Guo, Qin lady Rouge one item, is 100000 per person per month. Once, operatic players for Mrs. Qin time, Mrs. Qin Gratuity is three million. At the end of the thesis of "Shi Chen Yue" pointed out that the purpose of creation: "this rumor, not only pick up the Yang Feizhi story", and reveals the "Tang Minghuang of error, a world of shame". And Bai Juyi "song of Everlasting Sorrow" is sympathetic to Li Yangs love tragedy and reveals the theme of the introduction of double Xuanzong licentious, and Chen Hungs "song of Everlasting Sorrow" transfer "punishment. Luanjie beauty," directed by, are different. The years between 755 and 756 were very important years to the Chinese history. As witnessed between the periods, the Tang dynasty grew into a multinational center filled with activities of various kinds because of the Silk Road which passed through it. These led to the growth of acrobats, musicians and importation of such animals like horses among others. Interestingly, within the period, emerged a general Known as An Lushan who started a rebellion that influenced how the court of the visualized and made judgments of various things like the attitude and position of women in the society. In addition, the perception of Buddhism and visitors coming into the empire was also influenced both negatively and positively. The love story of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei lays major emphasis on the shift of attitude towards women during the era. An example is that using the cases of Yang gGuafei, the ‘ prized consort’ was considered to be responsible for the rebellion sparked by the general. It was widely speculated that the rebellion was because of the relationship between Yang and the general. The result was that the general sacked the capital making the emperor of the empire to flee the city in the company of Yang the girl considered to be his ‘prized consort’. However, the emperors men were not pleased with the turn of events thus plotted on ways of killing Yang. A comparison of the The love story of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, reveals that the shift in values was attributed to a number of shared similarities. However, regarding the extent to which the actions carried out by the general and Yang is open for debates because the relationship between the general and Yang is pupported to be a vital force in the change of attitude towards women in the era. Yang Guifei “Yang” is a family name, and “Guifei” is an official title, translated as “Prized Consort,” held by the woman ranked most highly by the Emperor. Yang Guifei’s uncle and siblings rose to power from the time she was 27 until her death eleven years later in 756. There are many legends about her. When tourists go to Huaqing Springs in Xi’an today, they can bathe in hot water as she allegedly did when the aging Emperor first saw her among the court women. She is said to have formed a friendship with An Lushan, who became a general of Chinese troops despite his Central Asian origins; she may have even adopted An Lushan as a son. Both Yang Guifei and An Lushan are described as dancing the “whirl,” a Central Asian dance which can be seen in pictures of the Tang court preserved in Dunhuang’s caves on the Silk Road. The Emperor is believed to have been so in love with Yang Guifei, he neglected his duties. The location of Yang’s death is as famous as that of her bath; guidebooks will tell you exactly the location of Ma Lei Station, the place where she was throttled, hanged, or forced to commit suicide by the Emperor’s disgruntled associates. The historian Susan Manning points out that paintings and plays about Yang Guifei made her a household name in China over the centuries. Many Tang dynasty sculptures said to resemble Yang Guifei are exquisite pieces of art. Bai Juyi’s poetry was also well known in tenth-century Japan. In the first chapter of the illustrious eleventh-century Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu quotes his poetry repeatedly; and, indeed, depictions of both Genji and his mother may have been influenced by descriptions of Yang found in Bai Juyi’s writings. Women in the Tang Dynasty In imperial China, alliances of consorts to the Emperor or the Emperor’s extended family could elevate the consorts’ families and served to tie outlying regions to the central government. Because women were useful for these marriage-like arrangements, families with ambitions would carefully tend to women’s upbringing, whether in dress or skills of music, dance, reading, and composing poetry. There was no foot-binding by the Tang dynasty; there are many images of women riding horses and even playing polo. Perhaps because of Yang Guifei’s promotion of her relatives, the importance of marriage alliances as a vehicle for political advancement diminished after the Tang dynasty. As in East Asia and the West today, family influence was held under control and meritocracy advanced by a strong system of rigorously maintained examination systems. This shift from a system that benefited many women to one where families funded the formal education exclusively of men is a major aspect of Chinese economic, political and social history. Women became more sequestered, and foot-binding of women gradually spread from aristocratic women to laborers. Reversion to earlier attitudes toward women was also accompanied by lower receptivity to Buddhism and arts from Central Asia. Women in the Tang had a hundred different styles of putting up their long hair. These were given names such as yunji (resembling clouds), and hudie ji (resembling the wings of a butterfly). Hairpins with bird and flower designs became a main accessory. Plucked eyebrows were considered a main feature of women’s beauty. (Women of the Tang Dynasty, pamphlet published by the Shaanxi History Museum, 1995, p. 8.) In Dunhuang Art, Duan Wenjie writes, “Dong You of the Song dynasty observed, ‘Human figures are painted in exuberance and in full bloom…. This is the Tang style. It is often said that Lady Yang had a delicate frame in full bloom. After seeing the paintings, I can appreciate what Master Han has described about the past, the arched eyebrows and plumy cheeks. It was the Tang fashion to admire plump figures’” (Duan, Wenjie. Dunhuang Art: through the eyes of Duan Wenjie. Ed. Chung Tan. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1994. Page 150. An Lushan While An Lushan is not the central focus of this essay, more information about his background and motivations may be helpful. An Lushan is often described as of Turkic or Sogdian ethnicity. While he was not Islamic, the name “An” later became associated with ethnic groups in Central Asia who did later convert to the Muslim religion. These groups had never been won over to a Confucian ideology that placed one secular emperor at the top of an administrative hierarchy and sent taxes and tribute to the capital. An Lushan was powerful because he controlled three contiguous areas northeast of Chang’an, and he had been allowed to maintain control of these troops for at least a decade. Eventually, he led 200,000 troops. The exact nature of his relationship with Yang is the subject of some debate. In the popular imagination, some of the association of An Lushan and Yang Guifei was because both were portrayed as hefty, a body-type that might have been linked to what was perceived, from the Han Chinese point of view, as being of similar foreign extraction. The Tale of Genji Many individuals are often confused about three basic facts in Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji: 1) The Tale of Genji is written about two hundred years after Bai Juyi’s poem about Yang Guifei; 2) Genji is a fictional character; and 3) all of The Tale of Genji occurs in Japan. It is useful to explain how Murasaki knew this Chinese source. Murasaki lived in the Heian Period (794-1185). She started writing about Genji about the year 1000. Kyoto, the capital city of Japan at that time, was modeled after the Chinese capital of Chang’an, with similar parallel streets, gardens, and architecture. The life of aristocratic Japanese women was also somewhat similar to that of Tang Chang’an, even though that court life had largely disappeared in China by the year 1000. Aristocratic women in Heian Japan were highly educated, clearly for the purposes of marriage alliances. Murasaki and some other court women, such as the famous writer Sei Shonagon, could read poetry written in Chinese characters, even if they knew no spoken Chinese. Manuscripts from China entered Japan and were recopied, including illustrations.The Emperor, wallowing in the pleasures of the flesh, neglected his court and politics. Lady Yang GuiFei even adopted An Lushan, a general of Turkic origin, as her son and helped him win power at court. In 755, An Lushan seized the opportunity to stage a rebellion and marched into the capital starting a civil war that lasts eight years, and in which millions are killed. The Emperor fled towards the southwest, taking Lady Yang GuiFei and her cousin, Chief Minister Yang Guozhong along with his faithful eunuch, GAO Lishi with him. Years of neglect had weakened the imperial army, and its remaining soldiers were determined to remove Lady Yang GuiFei, the cause of its decline. When stopping to change horses at Mawei village, the soldiers mutinied, killing Yang Guozhong, and demanding the death of Lady Yang GuiFei. The Emperor, faced with an impossible decision, reluctantly orders Lady Yang GuiFei’s execution. In conclusion, Yang Yuhuan (713-756), later became Yang Guifei or Yang Gui Fei, the beloved consort of Xuanzong Emperor of Tang. She was known to be one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. In addition to her beauty, Yang was an accomplished singer and dancer. As a daughter of a census official, she was chosen to enter the imperial harem as a concubine of Prince Shou, one of Xuanzong Emperor’s many sons at the age of 16. Two years later, Yang Yuhuan was noticed by her father-in-law and immediately winning his heart. The emperor then made Yang divorce her husband the prince, and become a nun. Five years later, her ex-husband was given another wife, and then Yang was conferred the title of Guifei (consort or First Lady). Since then she was made to be the most favorite woman in the imperial harem and dismayed of hundreds of the other concubines.The pair soon fell in love. They often strolled hand in hand among the foliage in the imperial garden. She constantly amused and feasted with him, accompanying him on his spring outings, spending the nights with him. The emperor wallowed in the pleasures with her, neglected his duty and nation. Most of Yangs relatives thus become officials including her gambler distant cousin, Yang Guozhong a high-ranking official. In 755, her adopt son An Lushan, a Turkic origin general rebelled for a power struggle with Yang’s brother Yang Guozhong over control of the central government. Fleeing the capital before the rebels captured it, angry royal guards, who blamed Yang Guifei and her brother for the rebellion. They killed Yang Guozhong and forced Xuan Zong Emperor to order Yang Guifei’s execution. The emperor then had no choice but to let Yang Guifei kill herself in the courtyard. Read More