Wednesday, August 2, 2023

174 - Bao Si

【褒似、houji】

The woman who, together with King You, is said to have been the main cause of the Zhou dynasty's downfall.

Originally born in the State of Bao, she was given the name of Si and offered to King You as compensation for the ruler of Bao's misdeeds to the Zhou.

Once Bao Ji became a concubine, she captivated King You, who then deposed his legal wife, the daughter of the Marquess of Shen, and the crown prince, her son Yijiu, and took Bao Si and her child as his new wife and crown prince, respectively.


Legend has it that Bao Si was a woman who rarely smiled.

King You held various banquets and events to see her smile, but she still did not even show the slightest hint of a smirk.

One day, however, the king mistakenly rose a warning beacon to warn the people of an imminent crisis.

The various sovereigns saw the beacon and rushed to the palace, believing that a great national crisis has occurred, but were stunned to learn that they were mistaken. The sight of the people was so funny that Bao Si, who had never smiled before, couldn't help but laugh.


King You was so delighted to see Bao Si's smile that, after that incident, he raised the warning beacon many times just to see her smile.

Later, however, an event occurred in which the Marquess of Shen, whose daughter was deposed, launched an attack against Zhou together with the neighboring nomadic tribe of Quanrong. King You hurriedly raised the warning beacon, but the other rulers thought it was a call for a smile and did not assemble. As a result, King You was slain and the capital of Zhou was relocated.

This event is also famous as the first time the warning beacon was mentioned in history.

It is also said that Bao Si was beheaded or captured after King You was killed, but it remains unclear what actually happened to her after that.

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