During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were three Lady Hua Rui, whose stories have been passed down in various historical records due to their outstanding appearance and versatility. The first one was Lady Xu, the concubine of former Shu ruler Wang Jian, who was from Chengdu and had the palace title of Lady Huarui. She was highly favored. The second one was the concubine of Meng Chang, the ruler of Later Shu. Her surname was also Xu, and she was later captured by Emperor Taizu of Song into the palace. And the third one appears in Zhao Yi’s “The Study of Yu Cong”. She was a palace maid of Li Yu, the late ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, she was also sent to the Song Palace. There are still many unsolved mysteries about the information about these three ladies in history. Let’s take a brief look below.
In chronological order, let’s talk about the first two “Mrs. Huarui”, who were the concubines of Wang Jian, the founding emperor of Shu, Xu’s sisters! The two of them gained the favor of the emperor due to their outstanding appearance, and it can be said that their status was equally important in the emperor’s heart. Later, their sister gave birth to a son named Wang Yan for the emperor, who was crowned Crown Prince by Emperor Wang Jian.
In a few years, Wang Jian passed away, and Wang Yan naturally became the emperor of Former Shu. However, he was indeed an emperor who neglected his duties and indulged in food, drink, and entertainment every day. As a result, it can be imagined that in ancient times when wars were frequent, destruction was inevitable.
It is worth mentioning that these two ‘Lady Huarui’ had sons who were not engaged in formal work, while they befriended eunuchs who sold their official positions and titles, ultimately allowing Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang to take the opportunity to destroy Former Shu. These two ‘flower ladies’, although beautiful in appearance, have lost the capital to go down in history.
When it comes to ‘Lady Huarui’, our favorite is still Fei Guifei, the consort of the late Shu ruler Meng Chang. According to the ‘Biography of Fei, the Concubine of Hui’ in the ‘Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms’, Meng Chang doted on her very much, and she was appointed as a noble consort and later promoted to the title of Hui consort. I tasted the technique of climbing a tower with a dragon brain powder painted on a white fan, which fell to the ground and was obtained by others. The people of Shu vied to emulate this technique, and it was called the ‘Snow Fragrance Fan’. Later, I wrote a small poem with a summer retreat on the Maha Pond to express my beauty. The poem said, ‘Ice and jade bones are clear without sweat, and the water palace breeze is filled with hidden fragrance.’ Because of its delicate and bright beauty, I was given the title ‘Lady of Flower and stamen’.
Madame Huarui is not only beautiful, but also very talented. There are more than 100 poems about her that have been passed down to this day. Unfortunately, her king Meng Chang was not a good king and was addicted to food, drink, and entertainment all day long. In the 18th year of Guangzheng (965 AD), the Northern Song Dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin destroyed Later Shu in just 66 days.
In this way, Lady Huarui became a prisoner. On the way to Kaifeng, during her rest, Lady Huarui left behind the poem: “At the beginning of leaving the Shu Road, my heart was about to shatter, and my hatred was endless. Spring is like the year, and I immediately hear the cuckoo.” Due to the urging of the police, this poem was not completed, but it still shows the pain of her country’s downfall.
After arriving in Kaifeng, Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, was deeply attracted by the beauty of Lady Huarui. In order to cover up his loss of composure, Zhao Kuangyin accused Lady Huarui of saying, “People say that women are the cause of the downfall of the country. You rely on your beauty to make Meng Chang idle and lose the country. What crime should you be guilty of?” Lady Huarui calmly stated, “As a monarch, you have control over military affairs, hold power, cannot fully understand court affairs, strengthen the military and protect the country. You are obsessed with sensuality, and you want to blame the imperial concubine. What is the reason
On the spot, I asked for paper and pen and wrote a poem titled ‘A Poem on the Decline of the Country’: ‘The flag was raised on the king’s city, but I didn’t know it in the deep palace.’. 140000 people have all been disarmed, but there is not a single male!
Perhaps Zhao Kuangyin was moved by Lady Huarui’s ambition and adopted her as a concubine. However, her former king Meng Chang died in his mansion seven days later, and Lady Huarui was very sad. Therefore, she hung a portrait of Meng Chang in the palace as a commemoration. In order to deceive Emperor Taizu of Song, she said it was the “Zhang Xian Sending off Children Picture” (it is said that later generations popularized the worship of “Zhang Xian Sending Off Children Picture”, which originated from this).
There are different accounts about the death of Lady Huarui. Cai Tao’s “Discussions on Tiewei Mountain” records that “after tasting poison and repeatedly suffering from it, it cannot be stopped”, and she was finally executed by Emperor Taizu of Song.
Some people say that Lady Huarui died of aging and depression in her later years, while others say that she was killed by Zhao Guangyi. However, as for how Lady Huarui died, we cannot know, perhaps it will forever remain a mystery.
