Vermilion would make her look too red.
Her eyebrows are like the lightest feathers;
Her skin is like the purest snow;
Her waist is small as a piece of silk;
And her teeth resemble a row of pearls.
When she condescends to smile, the most reasonable man is troubled.”
It is a matter of great regret in China that the poet did not even mention the name of this beauty, who, according to his account, must have been as desirable a person as she was desired by him.
When the famous Fi-Yen—The Flying Swallow—was presented to Emperor Yang-Ti, he was transported with joy. Not only was she beautiful, but her body was so light, that the king used often to take her up on one hand to play with her. In a moment of effusion the Emperor said that he had only one ambition in life, and that was to live and die by the side of her whom he loved, and that, unlike his ancestors, he should not commit the folly of seeking for the land of clouds, by which he meant Paradise.
There have been so many celebrated beauties in China, that it is quite impossible to mention all their names here. Let us be satisfied by saying, that some, when they wash their hands in the streams, scent the water; that others found their beauty improved by a little wound on their faces; that some shamed the flowers themselves; and that one of them compelled the moon to hide her face. All those who deserved the name of beautiful woman, owed all their charms to Nature; those that tried to imitate them, only rendered themselves ridiculous. History relates apropos of this, that the beautiful Si-Si used to have the habit of laying her hand to her heart, which gave her an additional charm. Another woman, who lived in her village—thinking that it was this gesture alone that caused her neighbour to be so much admired—imitated it, and got laughed at for her trouble; for, as it was pointed out to her, she had overlooked the fact that what is natural is beautiful, whilst what is forced is often absurd.
Men used to be magnificently gallant towards these beautiful women. Some housed them in golden palaces, others sheltered every step that they took with tents of gauze, so as to protect them against the sun and the wind. Others had screens of pearls carried before their lady-loves, more beautiful than the pearls which were intended for their adornment. It will be seen that our writers did not lack in metaphors for the celebration of charming women. They were in the right. The flowers of rhetoric are never better employed than when applied to those women which the gallantry of our language has baptized with the name of flowers.