The Legend

    Ancient China was a man's world, and history was also the story of their triumphs and sorrows. Though some beautiful women were mentioned, they were usually footnotes, or the "source water of disasters" to the state and country. However, stories of some beautiful women have survived because of their impact on state affairs. As one of the four ancient beauties, Xishi originally surfaced in historical records in passages of no more than a few words; but her character was speculated on, rounded out and brought to life in folk literature and theatrical productions in subsequent centuries, until she became the vibrant character she is popularly depicted as today.

    During a large part of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), south of the Yangtze River, the vassal states of Wu and Yue were classic rivals, locked in incessant conflict and skirmishes with no conclusive winner. In 494 B.C. a full-scale war broke out, with the State of Wu using its superior military power to defeat the Yue. To buy peace for his people, defeated king Goujian surrendered a portion of Yue territory to Wu and he and his queen entered Wu to serve a three-year term of slavery to its king.

    While in Wu, the vanquished king submitted himself to the miserable conditions of enslavement and swallowed silently all its humiliations, but deep in his heart he was determined to bide his time for a period of 10 years – long enough for his state to recover to the degree powerful enough to avenge his defeat. Meanwhile, to convince the Wu king of his obeisance and loyalty, he arranged for a lavish tribute of precious metals and beautiful women to be sent to the State of Wu.

    A young woman, Xishi, was selected as part of the bounty, for her beautiful looks. The suspicious General Wu Zixu tried to persuade his king to press on militarily until the State of Yue was effectively wiped off the map, but the monarch was having more fun humiliating a captured rival than in destroying his country. Wu Zixu also warned his king that the beauty Xishi was a strategy deployed by Yue to disarm him. But so intoxicated was he by Xishi's beauty, that the hapless king turned a deaf ear. In the end Xishi took possession of the Wu king's heart with her beauty and wisdom, and compelled him to kill Wu Zixu by threatening that she would kill herself otherwise. With Wu Zixu disposed of, the State of Yue staged an opportune uprising and vengefully crushed the State of Wu.

    Xishi's sacrifice blessed her home state with a decade of peace but ancient official history merely concluded this episode by saying that the State of Yue finally wiped out the State of Wu, without mentioning a word about the heroine's fate.

    Folk history picked up where that left off, supplying several different versions of Xishi's fate after her successful state mission. The earliest record is found in a book by Mozi (468-376 B.C.), a philosopher who lived most closely to the time of Xishi. The 2,000-year-old tract has Xishi drowned in the river by the Yue king. As this was the earliest version, it carries a certain weight.

    But a more popular version provides us a happy ending, probably because the tragic death of such a beautiful and patriotic woman was too cruel for the general public to accept. According to this legend, she is saved by Fan Li , the high-ranking official in charge of selecting Yue's beautiful human trophies for the State of Wu. The two fell in love at first sight, but both agreed to set aside their personal happiness for the well-being of their homeland. After the fall of the State of Wu, Xishi escaped with the help of her lover, and the version goes on to say the two stole away to a remote town and started a new life with Fan Li earning a living as a businessman.

    The opera Xishi adopted the more plausible ending of Mozi, and arranged a scene to prepare the audience for it. When Goujian met with the selected beauties before they were sent to Wu, he was suddenly smitten by the beautiful Xishi and reluctant to let her go. He wrestled himself out of this caprice only when the queen snapped at him sharply: "Goujian, have you forgotten the state's humiliation?" This scene implies the queen's worry that this beauty might become a threat to her status and prefigures Xishi's tragic end.

    The performances that enchanted audiences from October 30 to November 5 were a commercial success, and public opinion was unequivocal on its artistic achievements. By any measure, this endeavor to graft a beloved legend that has intrigued the Chinese for millennia to a foreign operatic form was worth it.