[Sephodwyrm]

Pan An, from the western Jin dynasty, was quoted as being one of the best looking men in Chinese History. When someone exclaims about a man's good looks, he or she would say that the person is as good looking as Pan An. Pan An served as a district governor and was popular with the women, and traveled around in an open carriage and allowed people to touch him and hold his hands (which is rather not fitting of a governor who sits in a closed carriage away from public eyes).

He also like to grow flowers. Thus his nickname is the Flower Governor. Although flirtatious, he didn't receive a bad name for his easy going behavior because he wasn't extremely sexual.

[Yun]

Sephodwyrm, the man's name was actually Pan Yue 潘岳, but his personal name was Anren 安仁, so that may be the source of the term "Pan An". He was also a great poet, and quite a romantic figure who wrote a famous poem of mourning for his dearly departed wife. As Sephodwyrm mentioned, in his younger days he would ride around Luoyang and all the women in the streets would link their arms and form a ring around him, throwing fruits into his horse carriage to show their admiration (Western Jin groupies!!). Pan Yue would always return home with a carriage bursting with fruits.

Another famous poet of the time, Zhang Zai 张载, was incredibly ugly, and whenever he went out he would be pelted with stones and bits of clay by the children. Poor guy. :unsure:

Other famous pretty boys of the Three Kingdoms and Age of Fragmentation:

Zhou Yu 周瑜, known as "Pretty Boy Zhou" 美周郎.

Gao Changgong 高长恭, Prince of Lanling 兰陵王 in the Northern Qi. Nearly all the men of the Gao imperial house were known for their looks (athough many of them were also mentally unsound and plain evil), but Gao Changgong was the most handsome of them all. He distinguished himself as a general in several key battles against the Northern Zhou, and always wore a grotesque iron mask in battle because his pretty face would never strike fear in the enemy. Unfortunately, the last emperor of the Northern Qi, Gao Wei 高玮, was extremely jealous of him and wanted him dead. To keep a low profile and avoid commanding troops again, Gao Changgong went to the extent of declining treatment for his illnesses. But Gao Wei still had him murdered with poison in 573 AD. [Gao Changgong is the subject of a famous Noh play in Japan, entitled The Prince of Lanling - which is why he is much more famous among Japanese than among Chinese.]

[Tyler]

The part of Zhou Yu being called "pretty boy Zhou" was only a folk tale when about when he got his wife Dia Qiao right?

[thirdgumi]

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always wore a grotesque iron mask in battle because his pretty face would never strike fear in the enemy.

It was said that Di Qing (狄青) from Song dynasty also used a mask for the same reason.

[Yun]

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The part of Zhou Yu being called "pretty boy Zhou" was only a folk tale when about when he got his wife Dia Qiao right?

Liu Ce, thanks for pointing that out. I went and checked the Sanguo Zhi, and it does seem that the phrase "Mei Zhoulang" is not there at all. It only states that Zhou Yu was muscular and good-looking (长壮有姿貌). Can anyone verify this?

Incidentally, the Sanguo Zhi states that Sun Ce was also a handsome man (美姿颜). In an annotation to the Sanguo Zhi's biography for Zhou Yu, taken from the Jiangbiao Zhuan 《江表传》 (a local history book of the time), Sun Ce is said to have once jokingly told Zhou Yu in the early days of their campaigns in the south, "Master Qiao's two daughters may be leading a wandering life, but he can at least be happy that he's got two such sons-in-law!"

[Moping4U]

thirdgumi, on Jul 13 2004, 08:15 AM, said:

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always wore a grotesque iron mask in battle because his pretty face would never strike fear in the enemy.

It was said that Di Qing (狄青) from Song dynasty also used a mask for the same reason.

No, Di Qing wore a silver mask becoz he was branded in the face.

[Tyler]

I think that was just a folk tale but I cannot find proof of that or him being called "pretty boy Zhou" I'll have to try hard but what was Sun Ce's wife called again Dia Qiao or Dio Qiao I always get the wifes mixed up between Zhou Yu and Sun Ce?

[Han Chinese]

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Title: Good looking men in Chinese History
Sub-title: Don't be shy

LOL

The subtitle was enough to crack me up.

[Sephodwyrm]

:D I was thinking at that time that some forumites might be putting their own names in this thread... :D

[Yun]

That's only if we misread the heading as "Good-looking men in China History Forum" :P

[Tyler]

So true :rolleyes: ....

[tmwang16]

Great, we're tlaking about guys now...

[thirdgumi]

Yes, isnt' that wierd? :D

[Bryan]

Well, then lets alter it slightly, by replying to a previous question...

Liu Ce said:

I think that was just a folk tale but I cannot find proof of that or him being called "pretty boy Zhou" I'll have to try hard but what was Sun Ce's wife called again Dia Qiao or Dio Qiao I always get the wifes mixed up between Zhou Yu and Sun Ce?

Actually, the one that I hear mostly is Da (for big, I think) Qiao for Sun Ce's wife and Xiao (for little, I think) Qiao for Zhou Yu's wife. I don't think these names are anywhere except in some of Koei's games, but I could be mistaken.

[Yun]

These two women are indeed mentioned as wives of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in Zhou's biography in the Sanguo Zhi. It is not specified who their father Master Qiao was, only that Sun and Zhou "acquired" them (possibly as captives or refugees) during their conquest of the south.