THE SEARCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: A Cultural History of Japanese and Chinese Beauty, by Cho Kyo (Zhang Jing), translated by Kyoko Selden. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, 287 pp., $49.95 (hardcover)
China has a phrase, "the four beautiful women," Cho Kyo (Zhang Jing), the Shanghai-born scholar who teaches comparative culture and literature at Meiji University, tells us. It usually refers to Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan and Yang Guifei — all imperial consorts from the fifth century B.C. to the eighth century, except for Diao Chan, who may not have existed.
But there is another difference among the four. The first three are mostly legendary, so you might say all that's told about them is fantasy. In contrast, the fourth, Yang Guifei, was a historical figure real enough for three great Tang poets to write about her.