Noble Blood - The Blood Sacrifice of the Tang Emperor

Episode Date: September 29, 2020

Yang Guifei is considered one of the four great beauties of China. But her role as imperial consort would have deadly consequences and spell the end of the Tang Dynasty. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, The cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and Grimmin Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion is advised. In Chinese folklore, there exists the idea of four great beauties. four women from different eras who all had beauty of mythic proportions. The first, Shishi, lived in the spring and autumn period, and she was said to be so beautiful that when she went on a walk near a pond or stream, the fish who saw her would be so entranced by her appearance

that the fish would forget how to swim and drown beneath the water. Next, there was Wang Zhao Jun in the first century BC, the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Xiaoshun was so beautiful that birds would fall from the sky mid-song when they saw her, forgetting how to fly. In the Three Kingdoms period, there was Tao Chan, whose face was so luminous and milky that the moon itself was said to shy away in embarrassment, lest it be compared to her. Finally, there was Yanguefe in the Tang Dynasty, who, they say, put flowers to shame. Of course, legend also notes that all four beauties had one single, less conventionally perfect trait.

In order, those flaws were big feet, a slipped shoulder, small ears, and body odor. But still, in spite of their singular flaws, the four beauties. The four beauties became objects of legends, characters in stories that were retold for centuries in poems, operas, songs, and novels. They were all so beautiful, the stories go, that they brought men to their knees and empires fell with them. That narrative is especially strong with Yanguefe, the last of the four beauties. They say that she's so much. entranced Emperor Sheng Zong that he began neglecting his duties. He became forgetful and dilettante in his role as an emperor and spent all of his energies instead on pleasing

Yang Gwe Fei and throwing honors onto her and her family. It was Yang Gwe Fei's fault then that after Shenzong, the Tang Dynasty would all but collapse. It was she who ushered in an era of political upheaval, the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period. The woman so beautiful that she destroyed a kingdom is a favorite narrative in history. Think, for example, about the way people talk about Anne Boleyn, the witchy enchantress who seduced King Henry VIII away from the Catholic Church, or Marie Antoinette, the indulged and opulent queen who single-handedly turned out of her the peasants against the monarchy.

Of course, these narratives conveniently overlook that it was the kings with the real political power. The glamour or excitement of a queen's behind-the-scenes machinations make for lovely Lady Macbeth drama, but it really does condescend to our worst cultural instincts of boys will be boys. How can we ever expect a king to rule when there is. a beautiful woman in his eyeline. For centuries, men have wielded the vast majority of political power, with legal systems set up exclusively for their benefit, and yet it is queens and lovers who bring kingdoms down, so we say. It makes me think of a quote from Alexander Chee's excellent novel, the queen of the night. The protagonist narrates,

men often complain of the wickedness of women. Oh, how we delight in what power we have over their hearts. But they reign over everything else, so of course they grudge us this, should we ever come to rule over this thing the size of their fist. I think it's worth pointing out that all of the women I mentioned, Marie Antoinette, Anne Boleyn, Yangue Fei, all four of the beauties of Imperial China, all met violent and tragic ends. In Yangue Fei's case, her lover would order her death and then spend the rest of his life mourning her. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. The woman that history most often refers to as Yangue Fei was actually born Yang Yu'Khei was actually born Yang Yu-Huan. Yang is her family name and Guifay is the rank she would be given

later in life, the highest rank for an imperial consort. But for clarity's sake, I'll refer to her as Yang Guifay continuously throughout the episode, even though she's given several different names at several different points of her life. When she was born in 719, it was to a high status family, royals. They were wealthy enough to be within a royal inner circle without being royals themselves. But it wasn't a complete shock when at age 14, Yang Wifei already considered beautiful, married Li Mao, the Prince of Shu, the son of the Emperor Shunzong and his favorite consort, Consort Wu. It was a golden period in the Tang Dynasty, with the emperor already and middle age, having ushered in an era of creativity and art.

If you listen to an earlier podcast episode about the Empress Wu Zetian, this was her grandson. And things were good for Shenzong. If there were murmurs of political descent at the edges of his kingdom after a few military losses, they were still just murmurs, easy for the emperor and his family to allow to fade into the background while they enjoyed the bounty of what their rich empire had to offer. But then, Consort Wu died. The emperor, now 52, sunk into a deep depression, a depression that only lasted until he laid eyes on his beautiful, now 19-year-old daughter-in-law, Yang Gwifay. There was only one slight problem, of course. She was already married, and she was already married to his son.

The first hurdle was easy enough to deal with. Yang Gwifé was forced to become a Taoist nun, which meant that when she symbolically received the tonsure, her marriage officially dissolved. She was temporarily given a new name, Tai Zhen, and for a short period of time, she served as a nun in the Imperial Palace, keeping her head down and wearing modest clothing. Living in the same palace where she had, for the past five years, lived as a princess. After whatever period seemed respectable enough to make overtures on his former daughter-in-law, Shon-zong made Yangueffé an official consort, bestowing countless honors on her and her family. Her cousins were given important imperial positions.

One of her uncles was married to one of the emperor's daughters. The Yang family moved up into a position of prominence, and it was all thanks to the beautiful Yang Gwifé. And this is when she received the official title, Gwifé, a title that none of the emperor's other consorts had been designated. Even Consort Wu, his dead favorite, had only been Huefe. Of course, we don't know how Yang Guife felt about what happened to her.

Maybe she was delighted by her new royal status and importance. It's possible. Maybe she adored the emperor. Or she could have been in love with the prince that she had married as a teenager, the boy she had slowly gotten to know and grown up with. Those five years of her life where she was married to the prince are usually just fast-forwarded. in any history of her. She would have seen the prince mourn his beloved mother,

the mother that had been fighting for him to be next in line for the throne. Yanguefei was ready for a full life as a royal wife, and then, out of nowhere, she was informed that that life was over. We don't know how she felt about that. Like a puppet on an assembly line, she had to make oaths as a Taoist nun, oaths that she knew would be meaningless eventually, and then she had to smile gracefully and accept the affection

of the emperor nearly three times her age. For Yangue Faye's ex-husband's part, the emperor made sure to give him a new wife right away, a daughter of an important general. Maybe he didn't mind the trade. The only feelings we get in the story are the feelings of the emperor, and the emperor was delighted that he got what he wanted.

Yanguefe's beauty was legendary, even in her own lifetime. Her figure was famously round and full, though modern-day historians tend to find very offensive ways of describing that. The emperor was so besotted by her that he denied her nothing. The consort's favorite fruit was leachy, but they didn't grow in the region. Not a problem. The emperor demanded that fresh leachy fruit be brought to her. As soon as the leeches were plucked from the trees in southern China, a man on horseback would begin his frantic ride towards the capital to the north.

When the rider and his horse became exhausted, another messenger would pick up there immediately and start riding through the night. Yang Wei Fei got the freshest leeches that made. manpower and eighth-century technology would allow. She was also afforded the special privilege of being allowed to bathe in the Hwa-King-hot springs, up until her only emperors had been allowed there. Being an imperial consort may seem glamorous, but it was a bargain with the devil. On one hand, you live a life of leisure in a beautiful palace, having all of your material needs

cared for. But you're also imprisoned, unable to leave the palace or see your family unless you get special permission. Once the emperor you served died, you lost all of your power. Emperor Shwan Zong, especially later in his life, would have thousands of concubines at any given period, all jockeying for attention with the awareness that the entire course of their lives existed at the behest of a single man's whims. But if you're the favorite, things are pretty good. There were occasions when Yang Wei Fei and the emperor fought. Once, Yang Wei Fei said something that put the emperor in such a rage

that he sent the consort away from the palace and back to her family. With his favorite consort gone, the emperor moat. He refused to eat. You know you overreacted. One of the emperor's counselors, Jiuwen said, the emperor just grunted back. It had only been one day, but like a teenager after a breakup, the emperor already wanted her back. As a gesture of generosity and goodwill, the emperor sent eunuchs to Yanguefe's family home to deliver her royal meals from the palace.

When she saw the deliveries, Yanguefei wept, I deserve death. She moaned, the emperor is too good for just sending me back to my household. I can't give him any of my gold or jade because it was all gifted by him. I must have something to give him to show my remorse. And so, while the few eunuchs watched, Young Wife cut off a lock of her hair and told one of the men to bring it back to the emperor. As soon as the emperor got it, he sent back a guard to personally escort his consort back to the palace.

And from that point on, he loved her even more than he had before. In 947, a general named An Lushan visited the palace at Chang'an. An Lushan was of Turkish descent, and he was one of the empire's top military leaders, the governor of one of its military republics, and he had earned a reputation for taking decisive action. He was a big man in every sense of the word, a man who took up space in a room. When he arrived at the palace, Yang Gwifai liked him right away. He said what he was thinking. So few people in the palace seemed to do that. The emperor liked An Lushan too. As a sign of respect to his consort, the emperor had An Lushan formally honor Yanguefe as a mother. Some people

misinterpret that and say Yanguefe legally adopted the adult man, but that is not the case. The general just honored her, and the two became friendly. People who might have been outsiders, but through a strange twist of providence, had reached the royal inner circle. A few years later, Anlu Shan returned to the palace, where Yanguefei honored him for his birthday. She presented him with the customary treasures and gifts, before she brought out her final offering, the 8th century equivalent of a gag gift. Reading history is strange sometimes, because just as often as some things get lost in translation or cultural differences, it's also important to remember that people in these 700 had a sense of humor,

and sometimes what might have been uproarious, live at the Apollo comedy to them, might just come across as bizarre to us. So, as it happened, one of the gifts that Yang Wei Fei presented to the general Anlishan was a giant baby swaddling, the joke being, I assume, that Anlishan was such a large man that he would look very silly wearing it. And he put it on, and turns out they were right. It was hilarious. Everyone laughed until the emperor walked in,

as confused as anyone might be upon coming across the scene of your favorite consort and one of your top generals wearing what was basically a large diaper. One of Yang Gwifay's ladies broke the silence by laughing hysterically. Young Goyfe just gave birth three days ago, she said. Look at how big the baby's gotten. There was a pause, and then the emperor laughed. The entire scene became silliness again, the type of meaningless tomfoolery that happened sometimes among people

with too much free time and unlimited money. But Anlu Shan's relationship with the rest of the young family wasn't nearly as carefree. When Yang Guifé was thrust into her position as favorite consort, one of her cousins, a man named Yang Guazhong, was made a chancellor. Over the years that she was a favorite consort, Yang Wei Fei protected her cousin from going into battles, working behind the scenes, using her influence and the king's ear to keep her. per cousin safe. And so while his colleagues fell off one by one, Yang Guasong just rose in the

rank steadily until, through no real accomplishments of his own, he was one of the most powerful men in the empire. And Yang Guazhong did not like An Lushan. Their grievances with each other were nothing more than petty sniping to begin with, but the grudge was there, and the grudge grew. An Lushan didn't like a pampered, nepotistic nobody with so much power, and Yang Guazhong didn't like this upstart military man who didn't rein in his staff properly. Yang Guasong would lash out at An Lushan, flaunting his power by arresting various staffers at An Lushan's mansion and executing them. That wasn't the reason Anlushan launched a rebellion against the emperor in 755, but it didn't help.

Yang Guasong represented everything that Anlushan had come to resent about the emperor, a man who made it very clear that he would rather lounge in his palace of worldly pleasures and spend time with his consort than do anything that even look. like ruling. He was spoiled and he promoted family members to high positions instead of people who were actually worthy. A few embarrassing military defeats meant that he had lost the respect of his army and the emperor didn't even pretend as though he wanted to earn it back. The time for the Tang Dynasty was passed and Anlu Shan would make sure that China knew it. So, in 700, 155, Anlu-Shan launched a rebellion against Emperor Shwan Zong, and it was so successful early on that the imperial household was forced to flee the capital and moved to the Maui district for their own safety.

Maybe I should step down, the emperor thought out loud. I've ruled for long enough. Clearly, I'm unpopular. Maybe my son should become emperor instead. when Yang Guazhong heard that the emperor was considering stepping down, he panicked. It's not like the rebellion was his fault, but it's not like it was not his fault either. He did do that thing of executing all the staff members working at Anlushan's house. Yang Guasong's political position was all thanks to the goodwill of the emperor, and if the emperor stepped down, all of that goodwill, immediately disappeared. Please, cousin, Yang Guasong begged Yang Kwefe.

Please, put in a good word with the emperor. Tell him not to step down. Not yet. Yang Kui Fei sighed and agreed. She spoke to the emperor behind closed doors, and whatever she said worked. The emperor decided to continue to rule as he put the rebellion to bed. But that was proving. more difficult than it first appeared.

Anlushan had the support of large military factions, and the emperor was heavily in debt. The battle over the capital was becoming long and drawn out. The emperor's own soldiers were becoming disheartened. Back in Maui, the emperor's guards were growing disgruntled. They were underfed and overworked and annoyed that they were protecting Yang Guifé and her family, when everyone knew they were the ones who basically started this whole mess. Angry soldiers who supported the emperor went to Yang Guazhang's home and killed him,

along with two of Yang Guifay's sisters. And then they came for the consort herself. It was General Chen of the imperial guards who approached the emperor and said that if the military was going to continue to support the emperor, they needed blood. They wanted Yangue Fei. Nobody thought she was guilty of treason. She wasn't actually a criminal, hadn't committed any crimes. It wasn't punishment for doing anything wrong. She was a blood sacrifice. The emperor at first refused outright in disgust. But then he saw the steely look in his general's eyes. eyes, and he realized that they weren't going to be willing to back down. The soldiers stationed in his palace to protect him suddenly looked like an invasion. This was the fate of his kingdom

at stake. And so, he gave a nod, and he instructed that Yanguefe be brought to a nearby Buddhist trine and killed. Soldiers strangled her there. and her body was brought back before General Chen, who gave the orders for the soldiers to disperse. Yang Wei Fei was buried at Mawe without a coffin, but the emperor did give orders for her to be buried with bags of fragrance wrapped in purple blankets. The rebellion ended eventually.

One of the emperor's sons retook the capital. Shwan Zhang made it back to the palace, but Yang Wei Fei was, still dead. As he and his party were leaving Maui, he asked to bring Yangue Fei's body back with them, to give her a proper burial. But his advisors all told him that that would be impossible. It was still a sore subject amongst his supporters. Honoring her in any public way could lead to mutiny. By the time the emperor was back in his palace with his power secure enough to send for her body, it was too late. The eunuchs the emperor sent to disinter the body of his favorite consort

returned with word that her body had decomposed. All they could bring back instead were the purple bags of fragrance. The emperor held them to his face and he wept. He had given the order to kill her, but he had no choice. He had no choice, right? he had no choice. That's the story of young Guafe, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about her legacy. What's up, everyone?

I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Stepbrothers, Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day,

and I was like, And dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot.

He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

You can have opinions. You can have like a strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive. scientist and hosts of the podcast a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent, and that is that our resilience rests on our relationships. I wish that I hadn't resisted

for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live. We have to be willing to live, with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. Listen to a slight change of plans on the I-HeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The tragic story of Yanguefe, the favorite consort who was killed to save off mutiny, became a favorite of Chinese literature and art. Most famously, it inspired the epic poem, Song of Everlasting Sorrow, from the year 809. Her story also made it to Japan, where elements of it went on to inspire the Japanese classic

novel, The Tale of Genji, sometimes considered the world's first novel, and certainly the first published novel written by a woman. There are rumors, similar perhaps to stories of Anastasia escaping Bolshevik bayonets, that Yangtwe-Fei was actually never killed, that instead she was able to sneak away with with the help of a guard and make her way to Japan. It seems that when someone is young and beautiful, it's romantic to imagine that their story has a happy, or at least mysterious ending.

Though countless sculptures and paintings of Yanguefe exist, they say there's also a physical reminder of her existence. A carved outline of her hand on a stone at the palace in Chang'an. now Xi'an. But, unfortunately, I've never been there to verify for myself. And the only source I could find saying that the outline of the hand actually belonged to the legendary Yangue Fei comes from, Ripley's Believe it or Not.

So, it's up to you. Believe it or not. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimmin Mild from Aaron Manky. The show is written and hosted by Dana Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more about the show

over at Noble Blood Tales.com. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodom. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there.

Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. This is an I-heart podcast, guaranteed human.