Who is Su Xiaoxiao | China’s dream girl for over 1500 years

Hello everyone, I’m Ally Today’s video is about one of the most famous entertainers in ancient China - Su Xiaoxiao She has been the dream girl of many scholars throughout different dynasties. There were a lot of stories written about her. She was so famous that even her tomb became a popular tourist attraction. But the funny thing is, almost none of the stories about her were actually true So who is Su Xiaoxiao exactly? Su Xiaoxiao’s first name is Xiaoxiao, which means small or little Let’s call her Xiaoxiao from now on Her first appearance in history is in a book called ‘New Songs from the Jade Terrace’. It’s a collection of poems from the Han dynasty to the Southern dynasties There was one poem titled “Song of the Qiantang Su Xiaoxiao” and there were four lines I ride in an oil painted carriage, He rides a blue-white horse. Where should we tie the knot for our heart? Under the pine and cypress by the river. This was in fact the first and only written record about her during her time Which is during the Southern Qi dynasty. The poem didn’t give us much information Besides that she lived in Qiantang city (today’s Hangzhou) And was fairly well off because she was able to ride in an oil painted carriage And also that she was spirited enough to pursue her own love interest Instead of a family arranged marriage But the poem didn’t tell us anything else Such as whether she was a common girl, a noble girl, or an entertainer So how did she become a legendary figure that we know today? After this original poem Her name was not mentioned again until the middle of the Tang dynasty, some 200 years later The Tang dynasty is famous for its poets and their beautiful poems. During this time, Xiaoxiao suddenly became a hot topic among poets Many famous poets including Li He, Liu Dan, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, Du Mu, Wen Tingyun And even a Tang dynasty prime minister Quan Deyu all mentioned her in their poems Even though this was 200 years after her death People wrote about her as if she was alive during the Tang dynasty They praised about how lovely she was And visited her tomb and pitied her passing But in these poems, people seemed to all describe her as an entertainer Which is someone who sings, dances, or plays instruments as a profession In ancient China, entertainers were different from prostitutes. You can learn more about the Chinese entertainment industry in my previous video So by the Tang dynasty, Su Xiaoxiao had gained a new identity A popular entertainer who lived in Qiantang city By the Northern Song dynasty, she came back as a beautiful ghost A government official named Sima You dreamed of her on his way to Qiantang city. When he arrived he found out her tomb was right by his house. He wrote a poem about her and passed away not too long after Someone adapted this story into a romantic novel And made Xiaoxiao popular again By the Southern Song dynasty Another story appeared, but this time It was about another Qiantang city entertainer with the same name as Su Xiaoxiao The story begins with Xiaoxiao’s older sister Su Pannu Falling in love with a poor student Zhao Bumin Pannu paid for Zhao to continue his study. And Zhao eventually passed the imperial exam and was assigned to work in another city Pannu, however, was bound by her entertainer identity So she couldn’t relocate to live with Zhao The two of them missed each other so much that they both became sick and died young Before Zhao passed away He asked his younger brother to deliver half of his assets to Pannu And also told him that Pannu’s sister Xiaoxiao was a good girl to be married to When Zhao’s brother arrived in Qiantang He found out that Pannu had already passed away. Fortunately, the local official was touched by their story And granted Xiaoxiao to be freed from her entertainer identity So that she could marry Zhao’s younger brother and stay together with him This version was also very popular, but as time passed, it changed again By the Qing dynasty An author wrote a long and detailed novel about Su Xiaoxiao By combining the Song dynasty Xiaoxiao’s sister Pannu’s story and another entertainer’s story And it became the story of Su Xiaoxiao as we know today So this novel begins with Xiaoxiao being born into an entertainer’s family. She never knew her father and her mother died early. She only had an aunt When Xiaoxiao was around 14 to 15 years old She was already beyond beautiful and very talented Many rich bachelors wanted to marry her But she was only in love with a boy riding a blue-white horse They tied the knot with Xiaoxiao’s aunt’s help. But after only three months, the boy’s father, a prime minister Forced the boy to leave her When Xiaoxiao was heart broken She met a young scholar traveling in a state of dire poverty. Xiaoxiao recognized his talent and offered 100 gold to him So that he could continue his journey to the capital city for the imperial exam Five years later, Xiaoxiao had garnered more popularity among the wealthy and the powerful. When someone tried to insult her, she handled it gracefully with a poem She then decided it was time for her to retire But that’s when she caught a bad cold and passed away at a young age of 19 years old A few days after, the poor scholar she helped passed the imperial exam and came back Only to find her in her coffin already He arranged for a lavish funeral and burial As this was the only repayment he could do for Xiaoxiao now So this novel ended up being the most widespread version of Xiaoxiao After the novel came out The Qianlong Emperor asked to visit Xiaoxiao’s tomb twice when he was passing by Qiantang city The local officials renovated her tomb in order to show it to the emperor. And later people even built a pavilion around her tomb And it has been a popular tourist attraction ever since Even though the tomb is actually empty From the Southern Qi dynasty to the Qing dynasty Su Xiaoxiao has had many stories attached to her With most of them being fictional Scholars from different dynasties contributed collaboratively And created a beautiful and smart entertainer who loved someone wholeheartedly Helped someone selflessly, and passed away tragically Leaving only a legend behind Alright, that’s it for the story of Xiaoxiao. I’ll be making more videos about other famous women in Chinese history. Let me know if you are interested in anyone in particular And just another reminder that I will be publishing my videos on Gan Jing World first. It’s a clean platform free from harmful, violent, and sexual content. Hope to see you there! Thank you for watching. I’ll see you next time!