geographical Context

The story of the Yang Guifei is centered in the city of Chang’an. Although the geography itself is not a driving factor in her story, her position in Chang’an is appropriate and relevant considering the fact that it was the capital of the Tang dynasty and thus a center of government administration, and Yang Guifei herself is often portrayed as obtaining power over the dynasty and its government through her beauty and sex-appeal. Chang’an was the capital city of the Tang for most of the dynasty. At the time, it was the largest city in the world with two million people residing within (Benn 46). Located within the capital were the August Eceintes, which contained the bureaus of the central government. During the Tang dynasty all cities were seats of government administration, and the cities housed imperial palaces as well as compounds for bureaus of central government (Benn 45-46). Yang Guifei lived in one of these imperial palaces, the Palace of Great Light (also known as Daming Palace). There were also camps for training soldiers on using the crossbow in the August Eceintes, in addition to military camps just outside of the city, which adds to the common misunderstanding that Yang Guifei was able to manipulate the government partially due to her proximity to military power (Benn 59).

Natural resources helped to make the city an appropriate and pleasant home for the leaders and aristocrats of the empire to reside in. First, the rural areas surrounding the city provided wealth and resources, allowing the elites to live luxurious lifestyles (Benn 46). The city was located on a flatlands near the Yellow River, which functioned to form cheap transportation routes between the city and other areas (Benn 47). Five canals also delivered water to parks, lakes and the grounds of the imperial palace (Benn 49). Additionally, the government planted trees surrounding the city to provide shade and elegance, making lives more pleasant for city-dwellers (Benn 49). Despite comfortable living for the aristocracy, the area around Chang’an was overpopulated and suffered famine from lack of grain until the commissioner of the land and river transport constructed a canal from the junction of the Yellow and Wei rivers (Benn 49). However, this did not affect Yang Guifei’s happy and comfortable lifestyle within the palace. Even though Yang Guifei’s life was not dramatically affected by her position in Chang’an, the city’s relative prosperity and power is reflective of her own.

The map above shows Chang'an. As you can see the Daming Palace, where Yang Guifei lived, is in close proximity to the August Enceinte, from where the government was run (Benn xiii).

The story of Yang Guifei has two additional locations that also played interesting roles in the story. The first is the emperor’s palace on Mount Li, just East of the city (Mair 480). Here the pair are said to have escaped for romantic getaways. The emperor’s physical movement from the city and its government to spend time with Yang Guifei was seen by many as a movement away from his duties in favor of his obsession with her. The final setting of Yang Guifei’s life and story is the Mawei postal station (Mair 478). When the emperor and his family were forced to flee the capital during the An Lushan Rebellion, they set off for Shu (modern Sichuan). However, they barely made it out of the city before the troops mutinied and Yang Guifei was sentenced to death (Lewis 44). (See the map below for details).

The map above shows the planned escape route of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei. Xi'an is modern Chang'an, where Yang Guifei spent her life, and Xianyang is where the Mawei postal station was roughly located. The red dot marks Shu, or modern Sichuan (Google Maps).

Sources:

Benn, Charles D. China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

In China’s Golden Age Benn discusses day-to-day life for all in the Tang Dynasty. Included in his description are maps of the Tang Dynasty’s territory and Chang’an, the city in which Yang Guifei lived, in addition to specific details on cultural trends of the time. I found the maps and the details on culture useful for crafting the geographical context of Yang Guifei’s story.

Lewis, Mark Edward. China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012.

China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty gives a detailed account on the Tang Dynasty. The first chapter focuses on the geography of the empire, which I found useful for Geographical Context. The book also contains information on the the history of the Tang Dynasty as a whole, the An Lushan rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong’s reign and the story of Yang Guifei herself. This was useful in crafting a detailed Historical context as well as information on gender.

Mair, Victor H. The Shorter Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature. New York, NY: Columbia Univ. Press, 2000.

I used The Shorter Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, specifically “The Song of Lasting Regret” by Bai Juyi, to see how Yang Guifei was represented in poetry at the time. The source is helpful in demonstrating her representation in popular literature, and therefore how she was perceived by those who read the poetry of Bai Juyi. Additionally, Mair provides a summary of the Historical background and Yang Guifei’s background. Finally, I find this source helpful for the way its language demonstrates the levels of passivity and beauty that elite women like Yang Guifei were encouraged to uphold.

Image Sources:

Benn, Charles D. China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Google Maps