What unpopular historical knowledge do you know?

We all know that there were four beauties in ancient my country, namely Xi Shi, Diao Chan, Wang Zhaojun, and Yang Yuhuan. It can be said that many people have grown up listening to the stories of the four beauties, and the beauty, wisdom and magnanimity of these women have deeply impressed every Chinese. But what everyone may not know is that Xi Shi is not actually a real person.

In the story, Xi Shi is a very beautiful woman from the Yue Kingdom. In order to complete his imperial hegemony, the Yue King Gou Jian gave Xi Shi to the Wu Kingdom as a "honey trap". After Xi Shi came to the Kingdom of Wu, she was obsessed with the King of Wu. She ignored the government affairs all day long, slept drunk in the beauty land, and finally let Gou Jian destroy the country.

However, as a famous beauty in the Spring and Autumn Period and the favored concubine of King Wu Fucha, there is no trace of Xishi in the "Historical Records", not even a single mention about Xishi. This is very strange. . After all, Xi Shi was also the main culprit that indirectly led to the demise of Wu State. How could we not mention it at all? What's more, apart from "Historical Records", there is no record about this beauty in "Zuo Zhuan" and "Guoyu". Therefore, some people infer that Xi Shi, like Diao Chan, is just a symbol of beauty fabricated by later generations.

Secondly, Xishi does not refer to a specific person's name, but is a general term used to refer to beauties, which can often be seen in works from the pre-Qin period. After looking through all the classics, there is no record of "Beauty Trap" in any document where "Xi Shi" appears. It was not until "Yue Jueshu" that Xi Shi had anything to do with "Beauty Trap". "Yue Jueshu" is a book dedicated to rumors and rumors, and has little reference value. Therefore, it is very likely that Xi Shi is just a made-up character and did not exist in real history.