"Sinking Fish" tells the story of Xi Shi. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, Wu and Yue competed with each other, and Wu, with its strong army and horses, quickly defeated Yue, taking King Goujian of Yue and Chancellor Fan Li as hostages. In order to avenge the destruction of his country, the king of Yue temporarily stayed in the lap of the king of Wu, pretending to be very honest and loyal. Once the king of Wu had a stomach ache, but he could not find out what was wrong with him even when he called a doctor. When King Goujian learned about it, he tasted his feces in front of King Fu-chai of Wu and said, "The king is not sick, but he has caught a cold and will get better if he drinks some hot wine to warm himself up." The king of Wu did as Gou Jian said and drank some hot wine, and he got well. Seeing that he was so loyal, the king of Wu released him back to the state of Yue. After returning to his country, Gou Jian accepted the three plans offered by Fan Li to restore his country; first, to canton troops and intensify martial arts training, second, to canton fields and develop agriculture, and third, to choose beautiful women to give to the king of Wu as an insider. At that time, there was a woman named Xi Shi, who was a cooner with decent features and peach blossom face. When she was cleaning yarn by the river, the clear river water reflected her handsome figure, making her look even more beautiful. At that time, when the fish saw her reflection, they forgot to swim and gradually sank to the bottom of the river. From then on, the name "Sinking Fish" of Xi Shi spread in the neighborhood. After Xi Shi was sent to the state of Wu, the king of Wu took a look at Xi Shi's beauty and obeyed her, indulging in fun all the time and ignoring the affairs of the state, thus depleting the state's strength. King Goujian of Yue took advantage of the situation and attacked Wu, achieving the purpose of restoration of the country and revenge, and here there is a great credit to Xi Shi.
Then, when the state of Yue submitted to the state of Wu, King Goujian of Yue was trying his best to restore the state. At the time of the national crisis, Xi Shi endured the humiliation and sacrificed her life for her country. Together with Zheng Dan, she was offered by the king of Yue to the king of Wu, Fu Chai, and became the king of Wu's favorite consort. The king of Wu was so bewildered that he was distracted from the affairs of the country, which served as a cover for Goujian's resurgence. She showed the noble ideology of a patriotic woman. Later, Wu was finally destroyed by Goujian. Legend has it that after the destruction of Wu, she and Fan Li went boating on the five lakes and did not know where they ended up.
About Xi Shi's death:
One, Xi Shi lived in seclusion with Fan Li. According to Yuan Kang's "The Book of Yue Jie" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after the fall of Wu, "Xi Shi returned to Fan Jian and went away with him on the five lakes." In the Ming Dynasty, Hu Yinglin's "Shaochou Shanfang Pen Cong" made a similar claim that Xishi was originally Fan Li's lover or wife, and that after the fall of Wu, Fan Li took Xishi with him to live in seclusion. Li Bai's poem "Xi Shi" reads, "Once I broke the state of Fu Chai, I did not return for a thousand years." It is also believed that Xi Shi followed Fan Li to live in seclusion. It is only that "Guoyu" (The Language of Yue) and "Shiji" (The Records of the Grand Historian) recorded Fan Li's retreat in great detail without mentioning Xi Shi.
Secondly, it was said that Fan Li was sunk in the river by the king of Yue. Mo Zi - Pro Shi" said: "Therefore, the extermination of Bi Gan, its resistance; Meng Ben's killing, its courage; Xi Shi's sinking, its beauty; Wu Qi's cracking, its affairs." The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue - The Book of Ease also says: "The Yue floated Xi Shi in the river, and made her end up with the owl." Meaning that Xi Shi was used by the king of Yue in the fight between Wu and Yue, "the cunning rabbit dies, the dog cooks", and when the king of Yue was satisfied, he put Xi Shi in a bag and sank to the bottom of the river.
Three, accidentally fell into the water and died. Kind people do not want to Xi Shi this innocent weak woman has a tragic end, so find out the early Tang poet Song between the "Raccoon" poem: "a day to return to the old capital, beautiful makeup to find Ruoye; bird amazing pine dream, fish sinking fear of lotus" as the basis for that after the death of Wu Shi returned to her hometown, in a Raccoon, inadvertently fell into the water and died. This seems to be the most ideal theory, but it lacks the most evidence.
All in all, around the story of Xi Shi a lot, the mystery is also quite a lot, which is consistent with the historical facts and reasonable, readers can be asked to introspect