Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Poet · Lady-in-waiting
She was a beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and is a figure associated with the Anshi Rebellion. It symbolizes the glamor of court culture and political crisis. He is an important figure in East Asian culture who has long been depicted in literature and paintings.
View in catalogYongle
Birth
Chang'an
Work
An Lushan Rebellion
755–763
War · Subject
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born into a prestigious family in the Tang Dynasty, she became the wife of a son of Xuanzong, and later became the noble consort of Xuanzong. During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods, the Tang Dynasty boasted prosperity, but the influence of favorite retainers and maternal relatives was growing within the imperial court.
Although he was not a politician, he was remembered as having a great influence on the rise of the Yang family and the court politics of Xuanzong. During the Anshi Rebellion, he lost his life at Mabeng at the request of the military.
Thanks to Bai Juyi's ``Long Grudge Song,'' Yang Guifei also became widely known as a tragic love story. It conveys both political responsibility in history and beautiful tragedy in literature.
Studying Yang Guifei reveals that the Sheng Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty was plagued by political tensions behind the splendor of court culture. The fact that female figures are often talked about in history books as the cause of political crises also serves as a point of view for reading historical narrative and cultural memory.
