Who they were
Born Yang Yuhuan, she held the rank of “Precious Consort” (guifei) from 745 under Emperor Xuanzong. She had first been married to one of the emperor’s own sons before being taken into Xuanzong’s palace.
What they did
Her family rose with her: her cousin Yang Guozhong became chief minister and was widely blamed for misrule. When An Lushan rebelled in 755, removing Yang Guozhong was among his stated aims. As the court fled toward Sichuan in 756, the escort soldiers at Mawei station killed Yang Guozhong — then forced the emperor to order her death by strangling.
Legacy
Bai Juyi’s “Song of Everlasting Sorrow” (806) turned the tragedy into China’s great love story, and it traveled to Japan as the Noh play Yōkihi. She remains a lasting emblem of beauty entangled with a dynasty’s fall.