Farewell My Concubine

Yu Ji (224-202 BC), from present-day Suqian or Shuyang in Jiangsu, was a beauty of Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu during the Chu-Han Contention. She accompanied Xiang Yu throughout the dire situation of being surrounded on all sides, for whom Xiang Yu composed the 'Song of Gaixia'. It is said that Yu Ji was stunningly beautiful and talented, with a graceful dance, and was known as 'Yu the Beauty'. Later generations, based on the 'Song of Gaixia' and the 'Song to King Xiang' which is said to have been composed by Yu Ji, speculated that she ended her life by committing suicide in the Chu camp, thus giving rise to the legend of 'Farewell My Concubine'. Once the all-powerful Overlord of Western Chu, seeing the situation was hopeless, couldn't help but become sentimental in the end. He drank and expressed his feelings with Yu Ji in the tent, singing the ever-lasting 'Song of Gaixia'. Yu Ji also stood up, drew her sword and danced, tearfully singing the 'Song to King Xiang', 'The Han soldiers have already taken the land, the songs of Chu are heard from all directions. The king's spirit is exhausted, why should I, a lowly concubine, live on!' Faced with Yu Ji's singing, Xiang Yu was moved to tears. After the song, she committed suicide with her sword, and Xiang Yu took her head and broke through the encirclement on horseback. The 'Song to King Xiang' had completely revealed her feelings to Xiang Yu. Yu Ji knew well that Xiang Yu was defeated and that if she was captured by the Han army, her end would be very tragic. Therefore, Yu Ji decided to follow him in death, to show her determination with death. The five words 'why should I, a lowly concubine, live on' revealed Yu Ji's state of mind at the time, and explained to later generations why Yu Ji would commit suicide. Yu Ji's beauty and bravery, her tragic and poignant end, have moved countless generations. From ancient times to the present, heroes have sacrificed themselves, beauties have died for love, widows have remained widowed, this is the need for a certain social value orientation. Yu Ji, time and again on stage, committing suicide with her sword, is deeply moving and makes people sigh, all to fulfill the moral values that have been passed down to this day. The three words 'Yu the Beauty' have now become a cultural resource. Not only used as a 'lyric pattern' in Song Dynasty lyrics, allowing literati to write poems to express their feelings, but also as a 'brand' for flowers, Yu Ji's hometown has become a land of flowers.