[Peng]

Since I couldn't read Chinese fully. I only understand is that her tomb was found, but there are two graves of her. One in her hometown. Another in Sichuan. But I am not sure about the result of this article.

Anyone can translate this into completely English? Please? I'll appreciate it. Thanks.


http://www.china.org...CU-c/237589.htm

[Yun]

Mok Kwai Yeng, would you like to help Peng by translating this article? You can PM me about any parts you're unsure of.

[Cherry_Blossom]

I can't translate Chinese so i can't help there. I can tell you that I have always heard she is one of the four beauties of China. That she, as Diao Chan, did not exist but that parts of her legend are based on fact. Part of the reason i think most people don't feel she really existed is the way they deal with her "demise". I don't recall how many times it was, but quite a few deal with Guan Yu killing her because of something along the lines of preventing her treachery like the kind that made Lu Bu and Dong Zhou hate each other.

I believe there are about 7 or 8 different versions of how she "died." If you want i can look up the ones I found.

[Bryan]

Or maybe part of the reason people say that she doesn't exist is because she's not found pretty much anywhere in historical records. Or was that the primary reason? Hmm...

[Yun]

Alright, here's Part 1 of my translation (Parts 2 and 3 will follow in the next 2 weeks):

据学者孟繁仁先生考证：貂蝉，姓任，小字红昌，出生在并州郡九原县木耳村，15岁被选入宫中，掌管朝臣戴的貂蝉（汉代侍从官员的帽饰）冠，从此更名为貂蝉。汉末宫廷风云骤起，貂蝉出宫被司徒王允收为义女。不久董卓专权。王允利用董、吕好色，遂使貂蝉施“连环计”，终于促使吕布杀了董卓，立下功勋。之后，貂蝉为吕布之妾。白门楼吕布殒命，曹操重演“连环计”于桃园兄弟，遂赐与关羽。貂蝉为不祸及桃园兄弟，“引颈祈斩，”被关羽保护逃出，当了尼姑。曹操得知后抓捕貂蝉，貂蝉毅然扑剑身亡。

According to the research of a scholar named Meng Fanren, Diaochan had the surname Ren and the name Hongchang, and was born in Mu'er village in Jiuyuan county, Bingzhou prefecture [note: this is a mistake - it should be Jiuyuan perfecture, Bingzhou province]. At the age of 15, she was selected for the imperial harem, and was put in charge of the sable (diao) headdresses of the court officials, and was thus renamed Diaochan. At the end of the Han, court politics was thrown into chaos, and Diaochan left the harem and became an adopted daughter of Prime Minister Wang Yun. Soon, Dong Zhuo became the dictator of the imperial court. Wang Yun manipulated the lust of Dong and Lu Bu by getting Diaochan to make them both fall for her. Finally, they caused Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo, rendering a great service to the dynasty. After that, Diaochan became Lu Bu's concubine. At Baimen Tower, Lu Bu was executed, and Cao Cao used the same trick to try and get Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to kill each other. He gave Diaochan as a gift to Guan Yu. So as not to bring disaster to the three sworn brothers, Diaochan asked Guan Yu to behead her, but Guan Yu spared her and let her become a nun. Cao Cao found out about this and sent men to capture Diaochan. She then threw herself onto a sword and committed suicide.

[Yun's note: This 'scholar' is repeating some myths that have no basis in the historical records. For example, the story of the "three sworn brothers" is purely an invention of the novel.]

中国《三国演义》学会理事、中国《红楼梦》学会理事、四川省行政学院胡邦炜认为，在有些稗官野史中称貂蝉乃关羽之妾，但是否如此还需要考证，封建社会妇女的社会地位和貂蝉自身“侍妾”的地位决定正史不可能有详载。

Hu Bangwei of the Sichuan Institute of Administration, who is a Director of the China "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Society and the China "Dream of Red Mansions" Society, feels that although some private, unofficial history books claim that Diaochan became Guan Yu's concubine, more research is needed to prove whether this is true. The low status of women in society at that time, especially servant girls or concubines like Diaochan, made it impossible that she would be included in official records.

“貂蝉有无其人史无明载。”中国人民大学历史系教授孙家洲先是客观陈述了历史学上的定论。他又说：但是在《吕布传》里，的确记载了吕布与董卓侍女有染的史实——“卓常使布守中阁，布与卓侍婢私通，恐事发觉，心不自安”；而董卓怒刺吕布的史实也是见之于《吕布传》的——“卓性刚而褊，忿不思难，尝小失意，把手戟掷布，布拳捷避之”。由此可知，貂蝉这个人物也可能不是杜撰出来，而是史来有之，由于她的身份地位相当卑贱，所以可能只以“侍婢”一笔带过。

"History has no record of whether there was such a person as Diaochan." Sun Jiazhou, a History professor at China People's University, first states the objective position of history. But he then says: "However, in the biography of Lu Bu [in the Sanguo Zhi], there is indeed a record of Lu Bu having an affair with Dong Zhuo's servant girl - "Zhuo regularly had Bu guard his chambers, and Bu had an affair with Zhuo's servant girl. He was afraid of being found out, and was ill at ease". The actual event of Dong Zhuo trying to kill Lu Bu in a rage is also in Lu Bu's biography - "Zhuo had a hard-hearted and short-tempered nature, and when he wa angry he thought nothing of consequences. Once he lost his temper over a small matter and threw a hand-halberd at Bu. Bu was quick with his fists and blocked the throw." From this we can infer that Diaochan may not have been made up, but because her status was low, she was only referred to in passing as a "servant girl"."

另有学者周士琦发现，唐代开元年间的一本占星学书籍《开元占经》中曾引用史书所云“刁蝉”其人其事。《开元占经》（此书今尚传世，近年有新的印本）卷三十三：“荧惑犯须女。占注云：《汉书通志》：‘曹操未得志，先诱董卓，进刁蝉以惑其君。’”遗憾的是《汉书通志》一书今已不存。

Another scholar Zhou Shiqi has discovered that a book on astrology, the Kaiyuan Zhanjing from the Kaiyuan reign period (713-741) of the Tang dynasty cited a historical record of 刁蝉 (Diao Chan - a different 'diao' from the usual one). The Kaiyuan Zhanjing (which still exists, with a new edition published recently), Chapter 33 says: "The Yinghuo star transgressed into the constellation of Xunu. Annotation: In the "Hanshu Tongzhi", it is recorded that "When Cao Cao had not yet gained power, he first used Diao Chan to seduce Dong Zhuo and cloud his judgment."" Unfortunately, the Hanshu Tongzhi is no longer extant.

to be continued...

[Yun]

Here is Part 2. Sorry for the long delay!

西施与范蠡归隐西湖，老有所终；王昭君出塞，为睦邻邦客死他乡，内蒙草原上至今“青冢”犹存；杨贵妃因兵变被唐明皇赐死于马嵬坡，归宿问题在史书上均有根据。除貂蝉之外的三大美人都芳魂虽归，青冢犹存，惟独貂蝉生死两茫茫，一缕香魂不知归附于何处。

从考古方面来考察，到底能不能获得貂蝉是否在历史上存在过的痕迹呢？

Xishi and Fan Li retired to a life of seclusion in Xihu and died peacefully in their old age; Wang Zhaojun's tomb is still extant on the Inner Mongolian steppe; Yang Yuhuan was forced to commit suicide on Mawei Slope, and the question of where her remains is fully addressed in historical texts. Apart from Diaochan, the other three "great beauties" of Chinese history still can at least be traced to an extant grave. But not only is Diaochan's resting place unknown, even her existence remains in doubt.

Is it at all possible to find any clue of Diaochan's existence from archaeology?

学者孟繁仁先生告诉笔者，他经过考证找到了貂蝉的故里：

貂蝉故里在忻州市东南三公里的木芝村，位于从太原或忻州去禹王洞的途中。木芝村原盛产木耳，故名木耳村，后因村中槐树下发现一株灵芝，遂改名叫木芝村。村中传说，早在貂蝉出生前三年村里的桃杏就不开花了，至今桃杏树依然难以成活，是说貂蝉有羞花之貌的缘故。村中原有过街牌楼、前殿、后殿、王允街、貂蝉戏台和貂蝉墓。

Meng Fanren has told this writer that through his research he has found Diaochan's hometown:

It is Muzhi village 3km southeast of Xinzhou city (Shanxi Province), on the road from Taiyuan or Xinzhou to Yuwangdong. Muzhi village was originally called Mu'er village because it produced many edible black fungi (called mu'er in Chinese). Later, a valuable medicinal lingzhi fungus was found under a pagoda tree in the village, and the village was thus renamed Muzhi. A legend in the village tells that 3 years before Diaochan was born, the apricot trees in the village stopped flowering, and even today the apricot trees have difficulty surviving - this is because Diaochan's beauty surpassed that of the flowers. In the village, there used to be a memorial arch dedicated to Diaochan, a Wang Yun street, a Diaochan opera stage, and a Diaochan tomb.

乡民传说，桃园三兄弟得势后，便把貂蝉送回故里，老死后就埋在这里。又说貂蝉扑剑自戕，关羽得知后将遗体护送回故乡安葬。所以后殿有关羽像，殿前有表示貂蝉演戏的戏台，都是报答关羽拒杀和护送之恩。另在定襄县东南的中霍村是吕布故里，有“霍清泉”、“智擒赤兔马”、“歪脖子树”等民间传说，都与吕布有关。所以民谚有“忻州没好女，定襄没好男”，是说因为有貂蝉和吕布之故，从此，忻州再也生不出好看的女人，定襄也生不出帅气的男人了。

The villagers have a legend that after Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rose to prominence, they had Diaochan returned to her hometown and she died of old age here. But they also have a legend that after Diaochan committed suicide to prevent Cao Cao from using her to sow discord among the three brothers, Guan Yu had her body brought back to the village for burial. So there is a Guan Yu statue and an opera stage in front of it to represent Diaochan's musical performances [my note: Chinese opera stages didn't even exist in the Han dynasty]. Besides this, there is a "Lu Bu hometown" in Zhonghuo village southeast of Dingxiang county, with several sites that are related to Lu Bu. Thus there is a proverb that says "there are no beautiful women coming from Xinzhou and no handsome men coming from Dingxiang", based on the story of Lu Bu and Diaochan - the meaning is that ever since Lu Bu and Diaochan, these two places have exhausted their ability to produce good-looking people.

[My note: all this stuff about hometowns smacks so clearly of tourism gimmicks that I feel painful just translating it ]

[Peng]

I really enjoy reading it in English. I really appreciate your hard working. I can't wait to read part 3.

My Japanese translator, Susumu, is interested in retranslating it into Japanese and post in Japanese RTK board. Just let you know.

EDIT: Sorry about being painful.

[青文景武剑]

YUN, feel free to ask me to translate when you're busy. school is over in 2 weeks.

[Yun]

Thanks Qing Wen, can you try translating Part 3?

[青文景武剑]

i will translate it tomorrow, time to sleep

[青文景武剑]

here is part III

而由成都市民提供的一条线索更是立时震动史学界——成都北郊曾发现貂蝉墓葬。
A clue provided by a ChengDu citizen created a wide repercussion among the historical science field.--Diao Chan's grave were once discovered near the north bound of the city of ChengDu.

线索提供者是成都北郊某文化站一位姓代的干部。据他介绍，1971年，当地修一条铁路支线时，曾挖出一个很大的墓穴，墓中挖出两块大碑，一块隶书，一块篆书。据碑文记载，这个墓穴的主人就是貂蝉。
The clue provider by the last name of Dai, is a cadre in a cultural center in the north bound of the city. According to him, a grave was discovered is 1971 while building a railway. Two tablets where excavated: one with official inscription (note:an ancient style of calligraphy used in the Han Dynasty), and the other is inscripted in seal characters. According to these inscriptions, this grave belongs to Diao Chan.

而成都北郊居民、68岁的老人曾兴发据称也曾收藏过貂蝉墓碑。
68 years old Zeng XingFa, who lives near the Cultural Center also mentioned that he once collected Diao Chan's tablets.

他回忆说，1971年5月的一天，成都铁路局某工程队某分队在这一带修路，推土机在工作中突然掉进了一个长约8米、宽约6米、深有4米左右的大坑里。工程队当时来了20多个工人，说把坑挖成斜坡，好把推土机弄出来。挖着挖着，有人惊奇地发现坑四周都是彩色壁画、图画，还有一些像老虎和其它说不出名字的动物图案。接着挖出了两块合在一起的墓碑，有人说这肯定是古墓。工程队就叫人把坑围了起来，重新认真地挖。据他介绍，好像最先挖到了南边的坟头上，坑里有两扇红沙石的石门，约有8厘米厚，分别是闸门和正门。进门后是一个厅，后来坑里还挖出一段人的小腿骨、一绺头发，他老伴还在坑里发现一块33厘米长、两指宽的“铜片片”，在水里擦洗一阵就干净了，很亮。最后由于坑里没有挖出更多的东西，又没有人说要保护，墓坑填满后，铁路就修了起来。两块墓碑挖出来后，曾兴发说自己将隶书的那块推回了家，该碑约80厘米见方，厚约6厘米，碑石青灰色，有50多公斤重，篆书那块后来被村里的娃娃打烂了，几年后隶书那块也被人拿走了。
He recalls: It was May of 1971, a construction brigade from ChengDu’s railway bureau is mending roads in this area. Suddenly, a bulldozer broke the surface and fell into a large hollow (the hole was approximately 8 meters long, 6 meters wide and 4 meters deep). A dozen of workers gathered over, decided to dig out a slope so they could drag the bulldozer out. After they climbed down to the bottom, someone surprisingly discovered they were surrounded by colorful murals and frescos, including several pictures of unknown animals similar to tigers. Someone noticed this was a old grave, so he asked others to enclose this area and kept excavating. According to them, they first reached the southern grave mound, there were two gates: front gate and sluice gate, both were 8 centimeters thick made of red sandstone. After entering the gate, they discovered a empty hall, and soon they found a section of human bone, a lock of hair, and a 33 centimeters long, two-fingers wide “bronze piece”, it was very bright after washing with water. At the end, people did not uncover anymore, thus no one mentioned to report this discovery. After the hollow was filled, railway was soon built. Zen XingFa also says: After the discovery of the two tablets, he carried the “official inscription” one home, it was approximately 80 centimeters in length and width, 6 centimeters thick, grayish green in color, weight 50 kilograms. Several years after the “seal characters” one were damaged by kids in the village, the “official inscription” one was also stolen from him.

曾兴发老人还带领记者们到当年的墓坑原址。在成都火车东站的货场外，一个数条铁路并排延伸的地方，老人告诉记者这是铁路的编组线，他指着其中一段说：“这块地方就是当年挖出碑的地方，现在离地面也只不过有几米深。” 曾兴发老人所说的墓坑处，只是几条铁路线中的一条，不时有机头穿梭，对货物进行编组。
Zeng XingFa also brought correspondents to the former grave, which was near ChengDu’s train station. He pointed to a section and said this was the place where the two tablets were discovered, it was only several meters below the ground. The place where Zeng XingFa pointed at was one of the rail lines, train heads shuttling back and forth constantly, organizing goods into groups.

另据成都市38中学的退休历史教师林耀青称，他当年也曾亲眼目睹此碑。他认为此碑可能是貂蝉长女之碑。他记得碑文中写了墓葬地址为“华阳县集贤乡永宁里黄土坡……”。碑上刻着“夫人乃貂蝉之长女也，随先夫人入蜀”以及“貂蝉，王允歌伎也，是因董卓猖獗，为国捐躯……随炎帝入蜀”等字样。据林耀青介绍，当年古碑出土时，许多机务段的工人也都围着看，他还给在场的几十个人把碑文念了一遍。后来此碑被曾兴发老人弄回家收藏，也确有其事。
According to Lin YaoQing, a retired history teacher from 38th Secondary School, he also saw these tablets several years ago. He believed these tablets belong to Diao Chan’s eldest daughter. He recalled the address written in the inscription: “HuaYang country, JiXiian village, NingLi yellow hill……”, the tablet engraved “madame is DiaoChan’s eldest daughter, travels into Shu along with the former madame”, and “Diao Chan, Wang Yun’s dancer, because of Dong Zhuo’s rampancy, she lay down her life for the country……goes into Shu along with emperor Yian”. Ling YaoQing mentioned: When tablets were unearthed, many maintenance personnel were around looking, and he actually read out the inscriptions off the tablets. He also proved that one of the tablets was collected by Zeng XingFa afterwards.

这些曾经目睹和收藏貂蝉墓碑的成都市民都不相信“貂蝉虚构”说。
These ChengDu citizens who saw Diao Chan’s tablets do believe that she actual existed in history.

“貂蝉墓葬在成都”的消息传出，立即引起有关研究专家关注。
Spread of the news of “Diao Chan’s grave is in ChengDu” immediately caught related experts’ attention.

中国《三国演义》学会理事、中国《红楼梦》学会理事、四川省行政学院胡邦炜教授称这一消息是“石破天惊”。他表示，从考古学的观点出发，实物证据是标准，但从社会学与民俗学的角度去看，人证也是一种证据。貂蝉墓碑在成都出现过，显然不是捏造。他认为历史上应该有貂蝉其人的存在。对貂蝉是暮年入川，还是死后葬于蜀的说法，胡教授认为，两种可能性都存在。在有些稗官野史中称貂蝉乃关羽之妾，如果是这样，随关羽入蜀就有可能了。
Hu BangWei of the Sichuan Institute of Administration, who is a Director of the China "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Society and the China "Dream of Red Mansions" Society, considers this news as “heaven-shaking”. He indicats: As far as archaeology, material evidence is up to standard. If we examine this case from the viewpoint of sociology and the folklore, witnesses are also a type of evidence. It is doubtless that Diao Chan grave’s discovery in ChengDu is not fabricated. He believes Diao Chan’s existence in the history. According to some of the unofficial history records, Diao Chan is Guan Yu’s concubine, thus doctor Hu believes that there is a possibility that Diao Chan went along with Guan Yu into Shu, and buried there afterwards.

四川省文史馆研究员、《文史杂志》编审李殿元谈起貂蝉时说，“貂蝉既然作为历史人物可能存在，史料记载中又无确切下落，流落四川不是没有可能的。如果她是吕布之妻，吕布被杀后，她不可能在中原再呆下去，最大可能就是找个隐蔽的地方埋名隐姓，当时的四川应是最理想的地方。” （张晶晶）
Researcher Li DianYuan, a senior editor of “The Literature and History Magazine” in the Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History of Sichuan. He says that it is possible for Diao Chan to travel to SiChuan since there is no clear record of her existence in historical data. If she were Lv Bu’s wife, there was no way she could stay in the central plains after Lv Bu’s death. And SiChuan shuld be the most ideal place for her to conceal her identity.

《北京青年报》2002年11月26日
“Beijing Youth Journal” November 26, 2002

This post has been edited by 青文景武剑: 17 June 2005 - 07:02 PM

[青文景武剑]

my translation!

[tieu_yeu_nu]

is diao chan the 'oldest' in the four beauties? why were the others recorded and she wasn't?

[青文景武剑]

XiShi(Spring and Autumn period) was the oldest,
then comes WangZhaoJun(Western Han empire),
and DiaoChan(Three Kingdom period) only goes in front of YangYuHuan(Tang dynasty).

[Yun]

The earliest is Xishi, who lived during the Spring and Autumn period. However, she has also been so surrounded by myth, but the advantage is that her myths are much older compared to that of Diaochan, which originated only in the Ming.

I personally find the Four Beauties to have been overhyped. The reason for their fame is not so much their beauty (there have been many other extremely beautiful women in Chinese history), but rather their prominent romanticised place in popular literature and art:

Xishi - the Eastern Han novel "Wu-Yue Chunqiu"

Wang Zhaojun - numerous Yuan, Ming and Qing plays based on a fictionalised account in Ge Hong's "Xijing Zaji" (from the Eastern Jin)

Diaochan - the Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Yang Yuhuan - Bai Juyi's Tang poem "Changhen Ge"