On this episode of Noble Blood, Dana Schwartz tells us about the mythically beautiful Yang Guifei, who was first a princess and Emperor Xuanzong’s daughter-in-law, then a Taoist nun, and then his most beloved consort, before dying as a blood sacrifice to protect his power. Yang Guifei was born in 719 to a high-status family, and at the age of 14, married Li Mao, the Prince of Shou, and went to live in the Imperial Palace. When she was 19, she caught the eye of the Emperor, who was so enamored of her beautiful face and voluptuous figure that he had to have her as his consort. Of course, she was already married to his own son, so it was necessary to force her to take an oath as a Taoist nun first, in order to dissolve their marriage. After a few months, the Emperor had his beautiful consort by his side.
He was so entranced that he forgot about all the duties of ruling, and laid whatever he could at Yang Guifei’s feet. Her favorite fruit was lychee, which grew in the south; so as soon as it was harvested, a horse and rider had to carry it to the palace in the north, passing their lychee load off to another rider like the Olympic torch, until the fruit reached the capital. She was permitted to bathe in a hot spring where only emperors had ever bathed before. She welcomed the Emperor’s favorite military general, An Lushan, to the palace with honors and even jokes: She pranked him by giving him a giant baby swaddle to wear. And the Emperor gave her entire family honors and important court positions, including her second cousin, Yang Guozhong.
Thanks to Yang Guifei’s influence, Yang Guozhong would become a chancellor, one of the most powerful people in the empire. And he didn’t like An Lushan; he even had all of the staffers at An Lushan’s home arrested and executed. An Lushan, already fed up with an indolent and disinterested emperor, finally led a rebellion against Xuanzong – and he was winning. The emperor was broke, and his own soldiers protecting him in his palace started to look discontented. One day, they made the Emperor an offer he couldn’t refuse: Either we turn against you, join An Lushan, and you lose the throne – or you let us kill your favorite concubine, Yang Guifei. The Emperor wept….and nodded. Listen to the episode for the full story of Yang Guifei’s demise, the fall of the Tang Dynasty, and her enduring legacy on this episode of Noble Blood.
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