The Tragic History Of Chinese Emperors

While being the brood mare for a total stranger is inhumane, let's remember that said stranger is the emperor. Anyone with access to the emperor has some level of power, even if by their mere feminine presence — which apparently was regularly so beguiling that beautiful women, usually concubines, ended entire dynasties, according to GB Times. 

The Four Beauties are the most beautiful women of ancient China, although at least one may be a fictional figure instead of a historical one. Their stories come from four different dynasties and for centuries epitomized the Chinese ideals of beauty, similar to Helen of Troy. Also like Helen, three of the Four Beauties, two of which were concubines, brought down a kingdom. One of them, Xi Shi, sometime referred to as the most physically beautiful of them all, was actually sent by a rival king as revenge. 

Then there was King You, the last king of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BCE), according to China Knowledge, in no small part because he dropped his current wife and son for another woman. Bao Si was of surpassing beauty but never smiled. The only thing the king could do to make her smile was repeatedly light the signal towers warning the kingdom of invasion. This predictably aggravated his allies so, when an invasion did happen, King You was left to his fate.

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