[General_Zhaoyun]

She is probably the most famous Uighur in chinese history.

Her uighur name is Princess Abakh Kohja, aka Xiang Fei (香妃) according to Qing history or the Fragrant Princess (香香公主) portrayed in the martial art novel "The Book and the Sword" (書劍恩仇录) written by Louis Cha (Jin Yong). She was a princess of Uighur chieftain and was later sent as a gift to Emperor Qian long. But she refused to accept Qian long and was later conferred death by the Empress Dowager.

For more detail history about her, please refer to
http://www.sc.xinhua...ent_2719529.htm

Does anyone know why she was called "Fragrant Prince" or Xiang Xiang?

[Yang Zongbao]

She was said to exude some sort of fragrance, and was thus called "Xiang Fei", the fragrant concubine.

Don't know too much about her beyond that.

[tongyan]

Yang Zongbao, on Jan 12 2005, 06:05 PM, said:

She was said to exude some sort of fragrance, and was thus called "Xiang Fei", the fragrant concubine.

Don't know too much about her beyond that.

i think the fragrance that exuded was supposedly a result of her diet of mutton and using mutton-based products

[owen369]

tongyan, on Mar 4 2005, 01:13 PM, said:

i think the fragrance that exuded was supposedly a result of her diet of mutton and using mutton-based products

it was said that she bath in camel milk .. that why her body had a fragrant smell

[wei]

tongyan, on Mar 3 2005, 11:13 PM, said:

i think the fragrance that exuded was supposedly a result of her diet of mutton and using mutton-based products

could the fragrance really actually be odour???
sounds like body odour to me...

or maybe she was secretly using perfume

[RouLiuRen]

Er...could someone translate and put it up please? When I clicked for the page..it was just squares.
Oh and..I vaguely remember hearing about her, from a history channel probably but the Emperor was heartbroken over it?

[wei]

the emperor using take girls from 15-18, i think, i'm not too sure,
but princess fragrant was 22

[Fobulous]

For some reason she isn't that pretty as the Jing Yong's novel portrait her as..

[lobster]

The 17th - 18th century Manchurian definition of beauty is very much different from today's mainstream Chinese definition.

[Kenneth]

I found the story intriguing too.....and wondered what it really meant.
DOnt know about a diet of mutton being beneficial to smell, and I dont know if camel milk could be fragrant enough to work (although a carton of normal milk on the bench under the sun does perhaps develop its own aroma which could then be applied. I expect it would attract more flies than emperors though)

I also dont know how killing somebodies husband out of greed and then kidnapping her is supposed to be a good way to start a relationship. Childish and shortsighted more like it.
...and then she gets murdered by the Emperess Dowager. Pretty unhappy ending all round.

It could just be a natural sweet body odour, as some people just smell better than others (or worse than others too).
If the Muslim ruler boasted about her i am sure the story would get bigger in the telling by the time it reaches the court and the idea of possessing her may have just been some sort of compulsion for the emperor even without him even smell her scent beforehand!
Often the fantasy is more pleasing than the reality, and once he had her it hardly went well for anyone.

(I havent heard reference to the Emperor meeting her before her kidnap, so it sounds like the story alone was what attracted him. Does anybody have a version where they met? Or did he just hear about this unusual lady and want her from a distance?).

On another note.......in Chinese histories the Empress Dowager always seems to be a scary figure, even in dynasties before CHing.
If teenagers today think their parents are tough and make their life hell they really have no idea.

Lobster,
Oh yeah, definitions of beauty. On another theme I really dont get bound feet either. The pictures I have seen are horrific and they are supposed to be smelly too.....so they have to hide them away and it is just the tip-toe walk of the women that is supposed ot be attractive to men.

& Fobulous
Basing the beauty of the 'fragrant concubine' based on a later painting isnt much use either, as we dont have any descriptions of what Jesus looks like but I always see him depicted in a certain way...and sometimes with blue eyes too!

[lobster]

Hey Kenneth

The dowager empress wasn't always bad and scary. There were many that were like a loving grandma. E.g. Xiaozhuang of early Qing (grandmother of the great Kangxi), Empress Bo of early Western Han (grandmother of Wudi), etc. Of course there were those who totally messed things up, like Cixi, but IMO 99% of them were just traditional Chinese women who played no part in men's politics and stayed behind the scenes quietly.

[Kenneth]

hmm, true. Perhaps the ones that stay in the background and are kind and good dont make such an impression on events as those that manipulate and kill
......so my own knowledge lacking in deep specifics on most dynasties would no doubt mean I hear more about active villians than the kindly Mother Goose types.

[Sephodwyrm]

You probably just heard about the worst of them and drew a general conclusion. Empress dowager Deng Sui was one of the best (and actively participated in governance). Unfortunately that didn't protect her entire clan.

About Xiang Fei, the most common saying is that she's vegetarian and eats a lot of melons and fruits and maybe that's why she smelt good.