Prostitution, as an institution and profession, can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. There are records in the literature that Guan Zhong of Qi State built a women's house in the capital to increase the revenue of the national treasury, and Gou Jian of Yue State recruited widows to satisfy the sexual desire of soldiers. After the Han Dynasty, the government-run (or private, or private) prostitution industry for entertainment, satisfying men's sexual desires, or making profits became a system. It was usually women who provided sensual skills and sex to satisfy men's needs.
Introduction to famous prostitutes in ancient China. Their knowledge of XXOO and their pretty faces cannot be recorded in history. They are all models of overall improvement in quality.
Yu Xuanji, named Youwei, was born in the late Tang Dynasty. Born in the home of a settled scholar on the outskirts of Chang'an, Yu's father read poetry and books, but failed to achieve any success in his life. Youwei could recite hundreds of poems at the age of five, compose poems at the age of seven, and by the time she was eleven, her compositions were already being recited among the literati in Chang'an.
The Yu family lived in the southeast corner of Chang'an, a place where prostitutes gathered at that time. After Yu's father passed away, Yu's family was in dire financial straits. Youwei had a small reputation for poetry, and she soon attracted the attention of the extremely ugly Wen Tingyun, a poet of the Huajian School in the Tang Dynasty, and later became her master and apprentice. One day, two teachers and students went to the Chongzheng Temple in the south of the city to visit each other. They met a group of Xinke Jintu who were competing to write poems and names on the wall of the temple. Youwei also wrote:
Full Moon at Yunfeng Open your spring eyes, and you will see the silver hook pointing down to life;
I hate myself for covering up my poems with my robes, and I raise my head in vain to envy the name on the list.
There was a handsome young man named Li Yi who admired him greatly and asked Wen Tingyun to help him. Li Yi was just over 20 years old. He came from a noble family, was born upright, and had a gentle temperament. However, my wife Pei comes from a prominent family and is unruly by nature. Xiao Youwei, who was 16 years old and in her prime, was not yet familiar with the ways of the world. Since this person was introduced by her teacher and had such an elegant and noble appearance, she somehow became Li Yi's "mistress". Mr. Li hid his beauty in the golden house outside Chang'an City. Mrs. Pei, who was far away from her hometown, came fiercely from other places. Not only did she beat Youwei severely, but she also forced Li Yi to drive her out of the house. Their marriage only lasted three months.
Li Yi was secretly reluctant to leave and donated money to send Youwei to Xianyiguan. The Taoist nun in the temple gave Yu Youwei the Taoist name "Xuanji", and from then on Youwei became Xuanji. Taoism was popular in the Tang Dynasty, and most of the famous Taoist temples were tourist attractions and social places. Many talented and beautiful female Taoists became social butterflies. However, the Taoist nun in Xianyiguan has a rigorous character and follows the rules, so she has always maintained a very pure situation.
Three years later, Xian Yiguan’s master died, and Taoist friend Caiyu also eloped with the painter who repaired the murals. At the same time, Mr. Li took his wife out of Beijing to serve as an official in Yangzhou, and left without even saying hello. After Mr. Li left, Xuanji's economy also had problems. She is a woman as fiery as fire, how could she bear such contempt! So in the deserted Xianyi Temple, she wrote this poem that was later passed down through the ages: "It is easy to find priceless treasures, but it is rare to find a lover":
The sun covers my sleeves in shame, and I am too lazy to put on my makeup in spring;
It is easy to find priceless treasures, but it is rare to find a lover.
There are tears weeping on the pillow, and heartbreak among the flowers;
Why hate Wang Chang when you can get a glimpse of Song Yu.
From then on, outside the Taoist temple, she posted a red paper notice saying "Yu Xuanji Poetry and Prose is waiting for teaching". This was undoubtedly a bright banner and a sudden announcement. Yu Xuanji's reputation spread more and more widely. One of her "Tao Huai Poems" can quite reflect her life situation at that time:
The sparrows are only noble, and the gold and silver are not sought; the wine is full of green wine, and the moonlight night is quiet.
The puzzles are all interesting, the hairpins are pulled out to reflect the trickle of water; I deleted all the books while lying in bed, and I combed my hair when I was half drunk.
At that time, Yu Xuanji's lovers came and went, and among them was the talented scholar Zuo Mingyang of the Later Tang Dynasty. When he was still a failed scholar, he became Yu Xuanji's guest because he looked exactly like Li Yi. The love between the two can be inferred from a poem by Zuo Mingyang:
The sun is setting when the white doves are flying, and the monastery is quiet and fragrant tea is tasted;
The sun sets and the bells ring. Send it out, and hang the cassock on the foil curtain.
But she seems to have no fate with Zuo Mingyang. After that, Yu Xuanji also fell in love with Li Jinren, a wealthy businessman in the silk business, and a musician named Chen Wei.
During this period of life, Yu Xuanji lived a leisurely, unrestrained and happy life, which can be read from her poems:
Spring flowers and autumn moon are included in poems, and the day and night are like scattered immortals.
The empty rolled bead curtain has never been lowered, and I have moved a long couch to sleep on the mountain.
Xuanji has a personal maid named Luqiao, who is plump and good at coquettishness. One day, Xuanji came home from outside and saw Luqiao hesitating in her words, her eyes showing spring, and Chen Qinshi leaving without saying goodbye. Xuanji immediately became suspicious and carefully examined Luqiao's body and found nail scratches on her chest. As soon as Xuanji's anger came up, he couldn't restrain it and vented all his old and new hatreds on Lu Qiao. So this talented woman who was just 24 years old was executed by the evil official Pei Cheng, a member of the Pei clan, for flogging her maidservant. When she was taken to court, she didn't even say a word to defend herself. She confessed everything and only wanted a quick death.
There are a total of 48 poems by Yu Xuanji in "The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty".
The Eight Beauties of Qinhuai were first published in Yu Huai's "Banqiao Miscellaneous Notes", and were written about six people including Gu Hengbo, Dong Xiaowan, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun, Kou Baimen, and Ma Xianglan! Later generations added Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan and called it Bayan.
1. Liu Rushi (one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
Liu Rushi was a famous singing prostitute who was active during the Ming and Qing dynasties. She had a strong personality, integrity, intelligence, and courage. Qiwei, his reputation is no less than that of Li Xiangjun, Bian Yujing and Gu Meisheng. Liu Rushi's name is Rushi, with the diminutive character "蘼武". His real name is Ailiu. He read Xin Qiji's poem: "I see how charming the green mountains are, and I expected that the green mountains would be like this to me." So he named himself Rushi; later he was also called "Hedong Jun", "Hedong Jun", "Mr. Miwu".
She is from Jiaxing. She was born in the 50th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. She was smart and eager to learn when she was young. However, due to her poverty, she was robbed and sold to Wujiang as a maid at an early age. When she was young, she fell into Zhangtai and changed her name to Liu. Hidden, traveling between Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jinling in the troubled times. Because of her unparalleled beauty and talent, she became a famous concubine of Qinhuai. She left behind many anecdotes worthy of telling as well as literary poems "Grass on the Lake", "Wu Yin Zhuo" and rulers.
Liu Rushi was once friendly with Zhang Fu and Chen Zilong, the leaders of the Nanming Restoration Society, and agreed with Chen Qing. However, Chen was unfortunately defeated and died in the anti-Qing uprising. Liu's requirements for choosing a son-in-law were very high. She looked down on many proposals from celebrities, and some of them only stayed at the friendship stage. Finally, in the 14th year of Chongzhen, when she was in her 20s, she married Qian Qianyi, a leader of Donglin who was over fifty and a well-known bureaucrat. After Qian married Liu, he built the magnificent "Jiangyun Tower" and "Hongdou Pavilion" for her in Yushan. The golden house hides the beauty. Liu's descendants gave birth to a daughter. Some "red scholars" believe that the Jiangyun Pavilion designed by Cao Xueqin is derived from the Jiangyun Tower of the Liu family.
When Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself and the Qing army occupied Beijing, Nanjing built Hongguang Academy, and Liu Rushi supported Qian Qianyi to become the Minister of Rites of Nanming. Soon the Qing army marched south. When the troops approached the city, Liu persuaded Qian to join him and die for his country. Qian was thoughtful and speechless. Finally, he stepped into the pool and tested the water and said: "The water is too cold to enter." Mrs. Liu "struggled to sink into the pool", but Ms. Qian held her back. So Qian was shy and welcomed the surrender. Qian Jiangqing went to Beijing, but Liu stayed in Nanjing. Qian became a minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of the Imperial Academy in the Qing Dynasty. Due to the influence of the Liu family, he resigned after half a year due to illness. Later, he was involved in two lawsuits. Liu Rushi bribed him to be released from prison while he was ill, and encouraged him to contact Zheng Chenggong, Zhang Huangyan, Qu Shichun, Wei Geng, etc. who were still resisting. Liu also tried her best to support and comfort the anti-Qing rebels, all of which showed her strong patriotism and national integrity. Qian Qianyi's surrender to the Qing Dynasty should have been criticized by later generations, but Liu Rushi's righteous deeds diluted people's antipathy towards him.
Yu Dafu recorded Liu Rushi's poem "I Listen to the Room in Spring" in "Yuxia Zazai". In terms of literary and artistic talents, she can be called one of the "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai". After reading her poems, the famous scholar Chen Yinke felt "stunned" and admired Liu Rushi's "clear words and beautiful sentences". The people of the Qing Dynasty believed that her ruler slips were "more beautiful than those in the Six Dynasties, and they were deeply affectionate to Ban Cai". Liu is also proficient in music, good at dancing, and is also famous for her calligraphy and painting. Her paintings are skillful, simple, and beautiful; her calligraphy is highly praised by future generations, who call her "an iron fist with a silver hook that can capture wonderful traces."
After Qian's death in 1666, the villagers gathered to seize his property. In order to protect the Qian family's property, Liu actually committed suicide with a silk tie. Although the villains were scared away, a generation of talented women ended their lives like this. After Liu's death, he was buried in Fushui Villa in Yushan.
2. Chen Yuanyuan (one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
Chen Yuanyuan was originally a Kunshan singing girl who once lived in Qinhuai. Because of her outstanding erotic skills, she was also associated with major historical events. Therefore, the Qing people included her among the "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai". Chen Yuanyuan's original surname is Xing, her given name is Yuan, her courtesy name is Yuanyuan, and her courtesy name is Wanfang. She adopted her adoptive mother Chen as a child, so she changed her surname to Chen. She is extremely beautiful, with bright flowers and snow, she is good at singing and dancing, and her beauty and art are among the best.
In the last years of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's peasant uprising army was so powerful that Emperor Chongzhen was uneasy day and night. Zhou Kui, the uncle of Jiading, wanted to find a stunning beauty for the emperor to relieve the emperor's worries, so he sent Concubine Tian's brother Tian Wan to the south of the Yangtze River to look for her. After Tian Wan found Chen Yuanyuan, he was so fascinated by her beauty that he secretly took it as his own. Soon Li Zicheng's troops approached the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen urgently summoned Wu Sangui to guard Shanhaiguan. Tian Wan was worried about the peasant uprising all day long, so he held a grand banquet for Wu Sangui, and Yuanyuan led the singing group to perform in the hall. After Wu Sangui saw Yuanyuan, he was so fascinated that he was so happy that he hugged Yuanyuan and drank with her. After drinking for three rounds, the alarm suddenly sounded. Tian Wan stepped forward in fear and said to Wu: "What will happen to the invaders?" Wu Sangui said: "If you can see Yuanyuan as a gift, I will protect your family first." Before Tian Wan could answer, Wu Sangui That is, with a round greeting. Wu Sangui was persuaded by his father, who was in charge of the imperial camp, to keep Yuanyuan in the capital to prevent his colleagues from causing trouble and letting the emperor know about it.
After Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, Wu Sangui's father surrendered to the rebels, and Chen Yuanyuan was plundered by Li's men. When Wu Sangui agreed to surrender to Li Zicheng, he heard that Yuanyuan had been captured by Li's generals. He was furious and shouted, "What can a man do if he can't protect himself?" Then he surrendered to the Qing army and started a war with the peasant army. This is what Wu Meicun said in "Yuanyuanqu": "The six armies who mourn are all in plain clothes, and the crown and anger become beauty."
After Li Zicheng was defeated, he killed Wu's father and all 38 members of his family, and then abandoned Beijing and fled. Wu Sangui pursued the peasant army to Shanxi day and night with the revenge of killing his father and seizing his wife. At this time, Wu's troops searched for Chen Yuanyuan in the capital, teleported on flying cavalry, and led Wu Sangui to take Chen Yuanyuan from Qin to Shu, and then monopolized Yunnan. When the Wu family became Queen of Yunnan, she wanted to make Yuan Yuan his concubine, but Yuan Yuan resigned with excuses and Wu Sangui did not marry her. Not wanting the concubine she married to be jealous, she framed and unjustly killed Wu's concubine, so Yuanyuan lived alone in a separate courtyard. After Yuanyuan fell out of favor, she gradually became alienated from Wu. Wu once plotted to murder her. After Yuanyuan learned about it, she became a nun and became a nun. From then on, she embroidered Buddha images in Changzhai at Huaguo Temple in Mount Wuhua.
Later Wu Sangui declared independence in Yunnan, Emperor Kangxi sent troops to Yunnan, and the city of Kunming was destroyed in the winter of 1681. After Wu Sangui died, Chen Yuanyuan also sank in the lotus pond outside the temple and was buried beside the pond after his death. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were two small frames of Chen Yuanyuan hidden in the temple, and there were poems carved on stone by the pool.
3. Dong Xiaowan (one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
Dong Xiaowan is one of the eight beauties of Qinhuai who was famous in the late Ming Dynasty. Female history, her name and surname were derived from her admiration for Li Bai. She is smart, graceful, beautiful, graceful and graceful. She is a first-class figure among the women in the old courtyard of Qinhuai. Her beauty once caused a group of famous officials, gentry and merchants to fight openly and secretly. But this woman who lives in the world despises the powerful, cleverly maneuvers, and has the courage to fight. One of the four talented men in the late Ming Dynasty ventured across the border, he was talented and charming, and the two fell in love at first sight. Mao Bijiang has a handsome appearance and a chic demeanor. He is known as the "beautiful boy" and is a talented man in Fushe.
After Xiaowan entered the Mao family, he got along very harmoniously with the Mao family. Ma Gongren (Pijiang's mother) and Su Yuanfang (Pijiang's wife) particularly like Xiaowan, and Xiaowan is also very respectful and obedient, serving them more carefully than a maid. In their spare time, Xiaowan and Pijiang often sat in the study room of the painting garden, splashing ink, admiring flowers and drinking tea, commenting on landscapes, and identifying gold and stone. When Xiaowan first entered the Mao family, he imitated Zhong Yao's calligraphy and Cao'e's stele. He wrote thousands of words every day, and he neither missed nor missed any words.
Xiaowan also wrote small regular script fans for relatives and friends on Pijiang's behalf. When she was in Suzhou, Xiaowan had studied painting for a period of time and was able to paint small clumps of cold trees with lovely and moving brushwork.
The "Colorful Butterfly Picture" she painted when she was 15 years old is now collected in the Wuxi Municipal Museum. It has Xiaowan's inscription, the stamp of Erfang, and the inscribed poem that is highly praised by recent people. Very few of Xiaowan's paintings have been handed down from generation to generation, and this painting is a rare masterpiece. After arriving in Rugao, she maintained her special interest in painting and often played with new scrolls or old ones at home.
The most impressive thing about Xiaowan is that she leads a romantic, beautiful and affectionate life in her trivial daily life. Xiaowan is indifferent by nature and does not like rich and sweet food. Boil rice with a small pot of tea, and serve it with one or two dishes of pickled vegetables and fermented black beans, and that's her meal. Pijiang appetite likes sweets, seafood and cured and smoked foods. Xiaowan knows Pijiang's taste well, and the delicacies she makes for Pijiang are fresh, delicious, and varied. For example, after wine is made into dew, use a white porcelain cup to hold dozens of floral dews. Not to mention tasting them with your mouth, the five colors floating around and the strange fragrance overflowing are enough to quench your thirst and quench your thirst. When it comes to drinking tea, Xiaowan and Pijiang have the same hobby. They often sit with one person and one pot, facing each other in silence in front of the flowers and under the moonlight, savoring the color, fragrance and temperament of the tea.
Xiaowan often studies recipes. When he sees a strange flavor, he goes to find out how to make it and makes it with his own clever hands. The tiger skin meat that people often eat now, that is, the fat-free meat, was invented by Dong Xiaowan. Therefore, it also has a little-known name called "Dong Pork". Although this dish name is a bit abrupt, it is the same as "Dongpo Pork". On the contrary, they complement each other interestingly. In addition, Xiaowan is also good at making sweets. When she was in Qinhuai, she used sesame, fried noodles, maltose, pine nuts, peach kernels and sesame oil as raw materials to make halva. She cut it into cubes that were five minutes long, three minutes wide and one minute thick. This kind of crispy candy is yellow on the outside and crispy on the inside, sweet but not greasy. People call it "Dongtang". Now the famous Yangzhou snacks are fragrant dongtang (also called cunjin dongtang) and rolled dongtang (also called sesame halva). and Rugao Shuiminglou brand Dongtang are famous local specialties throughout the country. Some people list Dong Xiaowan, Yi Yin, Yi Ya, Taihe Gong, Shanzu, Fanzheng, Liu Niangzi, Song Wusao, Xiao Meiren and Wang Xiaoyu as the top ten famous chefs in ancient my country. It is probably not an exaggeration.
The moonlight is like water, which is what Xiaowan is most attracted to. To enjoy the coolness on summer nights, Xiaowan likes to recite Tang Dynasty poems about chanting the moon and "Flowing Fireflies" and "Wan Fan". In order to appreciate the beauty of the moonlight, she often moved several couches with the rise and fall of the moon. When she returned indoors in the middle of the night, she would still open the window and let the moonlight linger between the pillows. When the moon went to the west, she rolled up the curtains again, leaned against the window and looked out, reluctant to let go, and often recited Li He's poem "The moon is wet, the waves are misty jade". "You and I love to appreciate the bright moonlight all year round, and the fairy road to Zen is opened in silence." This is how Xiaowan appreciates the subtle and elegant cultural taste in the natural and plain daily life, and in the humble life Yearning for a poetic life of detachment and clarity in life.
Pijiang said that he had enjoyed all the happiness in his life in the nine years he lived with Xiaowan. This blessing also includes **Xiang Pavilion, where you can savor famous incense. Pijiang admires "Hengge Shen" most, which is a kind of agarwood with a firm inner substance and horizontal texture. Xiaowan cherishes the "daughter fragrance" that Dongguan people consider to be the best, and they also have a lot of "Penglai fragrance". Pijiang once found a kind of "raw yellow fragrance" from the south of the Yangtze River that tasted like fragrant orchid. He gave one or two pieces to his friend Li Suiqiu from Guangdong to appreciate it, and Li Suiqiu was amazed. Xiaowan also made hundreds of fragrant pills using Western fragrant prescriptions obtained from the inner palace. They pay attention to the mood when tasting fragrance. In the small room on a cold night, jade curtains hang down, two or three red candles are lit, agarwood is burned in several Xuande stoves, and quietly observing the nostrils feels like entering the depths of the fragrance of pistil beads.
4. Li Xiangjun (one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
In the very decadent era of the late Ming Dynasty, most of the court ministers were so numb that they could no longer feel what they were facing. The situation is increasingly becoming internal and external troubles. On the banks of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, in the embroidered buildings with fragrant and green clothes, there lived a group of mortal women who were very worried about the future of the Ming Dynasty.
The Meixiang Building located in the middle section of Chaoku Street is one of these embroidery buildings. Its owner, the singing girl Li Xiangjun, is a household name. In fact, among the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai at that time, Li Xiangjun was not as famous as Liu Rushi or Chen Yuanyuan. Now when you walk through the old alleys of Qinhuai, this is the only embroidery building you can find. This is a two-story embroidered building with narrow stairs, and the sound of walking footsteps is clearly transmitted upward through the floor.
In the autumn of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Hou Fangyu, who was only 21 years old but already famous all over the world and one of the four young masters of Fushe, had just arrived in Nanjing from Shangqiu, Henan Province. He put aside the upcoming provincial examination and went straight to this dark red stairs.
That year, Li Xiangjun was in her prime at the age of sixteen. She was "gentle and slender, and she only accompanied the tortoise-shell banquet. She was shy and shy, and had not yet entered the hibiscus tent." She sat on the lattice window with embroidered curtains hanging down. In front of her, looking at the Qinhuai River, she was waiting for the love in her dream. When Hou Fangyu suddenly appeared in front of her, she must have felt that the marriage she was looking forward to had arrived. This was supposed to be a romance between a talented man and a beautiful woman, but it was a pity that the wrong era and background were chosen. With the entry of the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty building collapsed rapidly. Prince Zhu rushed south in a hurry and hurriedly established the Nanming regime in Nanjing amidst the chaos.
Ruan Dacheng, Fushe’s archrival, seized this opportunity and walked out of the deep alleys of Jinling. He took refuge with Ma Shiying, a minister of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and appeared on the front stage of the political stage. Ruan Dacheng was originally a figure spurned by the elite class, but he still wanted to change his appearance. Therefore, he tried to use money to bribe Hou Fangyu to achieve his personal political goals. This trick was quickly discovered by Li Xiangjun, who had learned a lot about people. She resolutely rejected Ruan Dacheng's financial temptation and asked Hou Fangyu to immediately sever ties with him and draw a clear line. Ruan Dacheng, who grew angry due to shame, used despicable means to retaliate. Hou Fangyu was helpless and left Nanjing in tears. This short-lived love also came to a hasty and sad end.
No matter how Hou Fangyu performed later, it should be said that Li Xiangjun was above reproach in his love life. Afterwards, she was still in the embroidery building and sighed deeply to her friends: "Is Mr. Tian different from Mr. Ruan? Who do I praise Mr. Hou? Now I go to him to benefit from his gold. I am a concubine." Selling the young master!" It is rare for such a persistent pursuit of love to happen to a Qinhuai singing prostitute.
In the third year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1646 AD), Nanjing fell, and Nanming became a historical bubble. For Li Xiangjun, the external environment in which she lives has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the love she pursues is ultimately shattered by Hou Fangyu's return to the north. Hou Fangyu, who was advertised in books as a celebrity with ambitions to serve the country, was a former official's son, but he did not stick to his political integrity for long. In the eighth year of Shunzhi, he took part in the imperial examination organized by the Qing Dynasty, but failed again. And ended. In terms of love life, he did not reunite with Li Xiangjun in Qixia Mountain as written in "The Peach Blossom Fan". After reading Hou Fangyu's life history, he should be a very failure.
In the late spring of the twelfth year of Shunzhi (1655), the peach blossoms on the trees had withered and fell red all over the ground. Li Xiangjun quietly closed the fan with a poem inscribed by Hou Fangyu, packed his bags sadly, and said goodbye to the past. She came alone to the foot of Qixia Mountain and became a Taoist priest in a quiet Taoist temple. According to historical records, Li Xiangjun’s fate is unknown.
5. Gu Hengbo (one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai)
Among the famous "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Gu Hengbo was the most prominent one. She was once grandly conferred the title of "First Grade Madam", Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan were not as good as her. At the same time, she was also the most controversial one - it is said that a talented man with whom she had a private life-long private contract died because of her betrayal of the alliance. Later, her husband Gong Dingzi, who was serving in the late Ming Dynasty and was in danger of losing his job, would always say to people, "I want to die, but I won't do anything". She was like a beauty who was a disaster, either killing people's lives or ruining their reputations. She had a different impression from most people. The chivalrous and soft-hearted people in the "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" understand that justice is very different. The famous historian Mr. Meng Sen once wrote an article "An Examination of Mrs. Hengbo". He was very disapproving of Gong Guzhi's character and believed that both the couple were snobbish and shameless people who were greedy for profit. Is Mrs. Hengbo, who was once known as "a courteous and virtuous lover, a chivalrous lady" really so unbearable?
Gu Hengbo, born in 1619, whose real name is Gu Mei, also named Meisheng. Named Gu Mei, also known as Hengbo, also known as Zhizhu, Shancaijun, also known as Meisheng, known as "Mrs. Hengbo". After marriage, she changed her name to Xu Shanchi. According to "Banqiao Miscellanies", Gu was born in Shangyuan (now Nanjing). Hengbo "Zhuang Yan is beautiful and graceful.
Her hair on the temples is like clouds, her face is full of peach blossoms; her bow is small and her waist is light." She was well versed in literature and history, and was good at poetry and painting. The landscapes she painted were naturally beautiful, and she was especially good at painting orchids. The fan of "Orchid Picture" painted when she was seventeen years old is today Hidden in the Palace Museum. At the age of eighteen, he joined Li Xiangjun, Wang Yue and others in the "Lan Society" organized by Yangzhou celebrity Zheng Yuanxun in Nanjing. People at that time followed Ma Shouzhen (that is, Ma Xianglan, who was born earlier, and was also a Qinhuai painter) with his painting style. One of the Eight Beauties, a well-known female painter in the Ming Dynasty, who was especially good at painting orchids). Because of her beautiful appearance, she was ranked first in Nanqu. Dong Xiaowan co-starred in "The Story of the West Tower" and "The Godson"
Gu Hengbo lived in Meilou, "with embroidered windows, toothpicks and jade scrolls, stacked tables; Yaoqin, brocade and sequins, furnishings on the left and right, cigarette smoke lingering on the eaves. "Martin Dang" was jokingly called "Mild Tower" by people at the time - some people said "Mild Tower" refers to Gu Hengbo's romantic and charming character, which made all visitors fascinated. The other courtyard in Yangzhou is named "Milou" because of its "deep twists and turns, scattered attics, curtains and curtains, connected to each other, like immortals wandering around". It is nicknamed "Meilou" after "Milou", which is the origin of the figurines. He was a talented person from the south of the Yangtze River, and at that time he was deeply attached to Hengbo. His words should be taken as compliments, saying that the "Mei Tower" is a wonderful building with unique craftsmanship and unique layout. It looks like a fairyland. As soon as this reputation came out, it spread everywhere. For extension. Gu Hengbo had a bold and unruly personality, and he was more like Liu Rushi among the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. People at that time called him "Brother Mei", which was quite similar to Liu Rushi who called himself "Brother". Zhiliu was a bit more willful and jealous.
According to legend, the Neo-Confucian scholar Huang Daozhou (who later died in Jiangxi during the Anti-Qing Dynasty) boasted that he had "a prostitute in his eyes but no prostitute in his heart". Zhu Sheng took advantage of his drunkenness to invite Hengbo to his bed to test whether he really had Liu Xiahui's abilities. This rumor may not be true, but it reflected Gu Hengbo's attitude of not caring about secular ethics in the eyes of the people at the time. Her style of going her own way and not caring about the world's opinions was probably an important reason why she was able to have a close relationship with Gong Dingzi, a talented man from Jiangzuo, for three lifetimes. However, her being controversial is also a consequence of this personality to a certain extent. Gu Hengbo was a man of extraordinary talent and appearance, and was known as the "Number One" in the Southern Song Dynasty. Naturally, he was widely favored by famous celebrities. As a result, the Meilou was full of people, and people who invited him to banquets were often called "Meilou Guests". " has become a symbol of elegance, and Gu Meisheng's absence is always regretted at many literary banquets in Jiangnan.