---
node: yang_guifei
type: person
slug: yang_guifei
title: "Yang Guifei"
lead: "Yang Guifei (719–756) was the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong and one of the legendary beauties of China. Forced to die at Mawei station during the An Lushan Rebellion, she became the heroine of China's great love tragedy."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: yang_guifei.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yang_Guifei_Leaving_the_Bath_-_Gu_Jianlong.jpg"
image_author: "顧見龍  Gu Jianlong  (Chinese, 1606–after 1689)"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

Born Yang Yuhuan, she held the rank of "Precious Consort" (guifei) from 745 under Emperor Xuanzong. She had first been married to one of the emperor's own sons before being taken into Xuanzong's palace.

## What they did

Her family rose with her: her cousin Yang Guozhong became chief minister and was widely blamed for misrule. When An Lushan rebelled in 755, removing Yang Guozhong was among his stated aims. As the court fled toward Sichuan in 756, the escort soldiers at Mawei station killed Yang Guozhong — then forced the emperor to order her death by strangling.

## Legacy

Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" (806) turned the tragedy into China's great love story, and it traveled to Japan as the Noh play Yōkihi. She remains a lasting emblem of beauty entangled with a dynasty's fall.