Lady of the West
2 min readHer name was Xishi，also known as Xizi，or the Lady of the West.A great poet once compared the West Lake on a sunny day to her beauty，dubbing it Xizi Lake，named for the beautiful spy of the fifth century BCE who would take revenge on her homeland’s conqueror.
States fought each other incessantly during the Spring and Autumn Period（770 BCE-476BCE），and Xishi was born a common village girl in the Yue state not far from Hangzhou.
Her land was conquered by its archenemy，the state of Wu；her king，Goujian，was taken hostage and shamed in the enemy court.
Xishi was so stunning that the fish were said to forget to move upon seeing her reflection.Her beauty soon became so famous that fate came knocking.
King Goujian returned after three years of disgrace and humiliation，but he managed to earn the trust of his enemy King Fuchai of Wu.At one point，Goujian even offered to taste the stool of Fuchai when he was sick to help the doctor with the diagnosis，but beneath stewed a cold plot of revenge.Xishi was selected by Goujian as a tribute to Fuchai，a honey trap to distract him from state affairs.Training in music，dancing，etiquette，and fashion transformed the simple village girl into a royal concubine who would bring down a nation.Unsurprisingly，Fuchai fell head over heels for Xishi.He spent reams of gold building palaces for her，constantly going on trips，and ignoring the warnings of his wise minister Wu Zixu，even forcing him to commit suicide.Goujian，meanwhile，would sleep on a pile of firewood and taste animal bile every day to remind himself of the bitterness of revenge.He took time only to develop the economy and strengthen his troops.
When battle came，Fuchai，who indulged in nothing but pleasure，lost everything including his life，which he took himself.
And what of Xishi？Some say that，instead of rewarding her，Goujian drowned herin a river because he viewed her as a threat；others say she hanged herself in her palace because she fell in love with the enemy king during the mission.The brightest ending tells of her living a life of peace and freedom with an official of Goujian’s court.Thus ends thetale of the Lady of the West，so beautiful that she could stop fish in the streams and bring empires to their knees.
