Xi Shi

Who is Xi Shi?

Xi Shi was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of Spring and Autumn Period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue. Her name was Shi Yiguang.

Xi Shi's beauty was said to be so extreme that while leaning over a balcony to look at the fish in the pond, the fish would be so dazzled that they forgot to swim and sank away from the surface. This description serves as the first two characters of the Chinese idiom 沉魚落雁, 閉月羞花, which is used to compliment someone's beauty.