Yōkihi 楊貴妃

Ch: Yang Guifei (719-56). The famous Chinese beauty and concubine of Emperor Xuanzong (Jp: *Gensō 玄宗, 685-762), whose many depictions in painting and sculpture epitomize the feminine ideal of the Tang dynasty. The wife of Xuanzong's son, Yang Guifei caught the eye of the aged-emperor, over sixty at the time, and became his consuming passion. As his favorite she used the emperor's affection to secure high positions for her family, and so aroused much resentment. During the 755 rebellion led by An Lushan (Jp: An Rokusan 安禄山, ?-757), the emperor and Yang Guifei fled the capital for Sichuan 四川 with loyal troops. When the entourage reached the village of Mawei 馬嵬, the soldiers demanded the execution of Yang Guifei, the perceived cause of the social unrest. Heartbroken but powerless, the emperor permitted Yang Guifei to be killed. After suppressing the rebellion and returning to the capital, the emperor was haunted by the desire to see Yang Guifei again. He summoned a Daoist wiseman to search for her spirit. The sorcerer eventually found her living on Penglaishan (Jp: *Hōraisan 蓬莱山), the Isle of the Immortals, and he returned with some mementoes and a message for the emperor. This tragic story is told in the famous narrative ode "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" (Ch: Changhenge, Jp: Chōgonka 長恨歌) by the Tang poet Bai Letian (Jp:*Haku Rakuten 白楽天, 772-846). The poem became popular in Japan, especially at the Heian court, where it's influence extended to Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji; see *Genji-e 源氏絵). In Japanese eyes, Yang Guifei is an enormously sympathetic character. Her story was eventually adapted into the *Noh 能 play Yōkihi by Konparu Zenchiku 金春禅竹 (1405-68) and retold in popular songs of the Edo period. The 13th-century sculpture, Yōkihi Kannon 楊貴妃観音 at Sennyūji 泉涌寺 in Kyoto, said to have been made in prayer for Yang Guifei's happiness in the next life, is one early example of representations including religious images that were created out of her legend.
The earliest Japanese painted depictions of Yang Guifei are in illustrations of The Song of Everlasting Sorrow. In the 16th-17th century, interest in the ode had developed into a broader taste for screen paintings of imaginary Tang court scenes, featuring beautiful Chinese women. Chief among these paintings are scenes of elegant battles, fūryūjin 風流人, showing two teams of courtiers, led by Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, holding flowers as if spears. Yang Guifei has long been associated with erotic themes, evident in Edo period painting subjects such as "Yōkihi mounting a horse" and "Gensō teaching Yōkihi to play the flute" found in paintings by Komai Genki 駒井源き (1747-97) and Iwasa Matabei 岩佐又兵衛 (1578-1650, MOA Museum), as well as in many *ukiyo-e 浮世絵.