Consort Mei (), born Jiang Caipin (), is a fictional imperial consort of

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was an Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Throu ...

. Her name is not found in any official history book and only in "Biography of Consort Mei" (), preserved in a

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

anthology and attributed to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

writer Cao Ye (). In 1927, Lu Xun determined that the work was a

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

forgery and should be considered no more than fiction. Later researchers have pointed out that her purported hometown, in the present-day coastal city of

Putian Putian ( zh, s= , Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Hinghwa/Hinghua ( zh, s=兴化, t=興化), is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. I ...

, was actually under water during Emperor Xuanzong's time.

Story

She was one of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

, often known as Mei fei (with ''fei'' being a standard rank for imperial consorts during her lifetime). As her actual name was Jiang Caipin, she was originally called Consort Jiang. After being told by her that she greatly favored Plum-Blossom flowers (the flower is pronounced as ''mei'' in Chinese), Emperor Xuanzong began to fondly address her as Consort Mei. Consort Mei was initially selected by Gao Lishi, a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

official of Emperor Xuanzong, to become one of Emperor Xuanzong's concubines in his harem. As Consort Mei was the most literate and talented concubines, she soon obtained Xuanzong's favors. To express the favors towards Consort Mei, Xuanzong commanded servants to plant Plum-Blossom trees all around her palace to please her interest. Xuanzong even lovingly complimented her beauty as more adorable than Zhao Feiyan, and swore that he would never change his heart for her. However, in 737, after the death of Consort Wu, another favorite concubine of Xuanzong, Xuanzong was deeply depressed until Gao Lishi convinced him to try looking at Yang Yuhuan - the wife of prince Li Mao, Xuanzong's son with Consort Wu since her beauty was described as the most "irresistible". Being curious, Xuanzong ordered Yang Yuhuan to come and subsequently fell in love with her beauty. Since Yuhuan was still literally his daughter-in-law (as she was Li Mao's wife), emperor Xuanzong then stealthily arranged Yuhuan to become a Taoist nun, after a brief moment, Xuanzong eventually offered Yuhuan honorable title as

Yang Guifei Yang Yuhuan (; 719 – 15 July 756Volume 218 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Yang was killed on the ''bing'shen'' day of the 6th month of the 1st year of the ''Zhi'de'' era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 15 Jul 756 on the ...

(with ''Guifei'' being the highest rank for imperial consorts) after bestowing his son Li Mao a new wife. Yuhuan became Xuanzong's most beloved consort as Xuanzong soon forgot about Consort Wu's death. His favors towards Consort Mei also waned. In 755, An Lushan began to create a rebellion (known as An Lushan Rebellion) in the palace. Emperor Xuanzong decided to bring Yang Guifei and his cortege along to flee from the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

. Consort Mei was left behind then murdered during the rebellion.

In popular culture

* ''Portrayed in The Legend of Lady Yang by Melissa Ng. ''(2000) * ''Portrayed in The Legend of Yang Guifei by Chi Huaqiong.''(2010)

References

{{reflist Fictional characters from Fujian Fictional characters introduced in the 12th century