Yu said that, as everyone knows, Fan Li, the Grand Master of the State of Yue, proposed the "Beauty Trap" to King Goujian of Yue. He sent people to select beautiful women from among the common folk—Xi Shi, Zheng Dan, and others—and presented them to King Fuchai of the State of Wu, with the aim of causing the King of Wu to indulge in pleasure and neglect the affairs of state.
Their strategy succeeded. King Goujian of Yue restored his kingdom, and Fan Li retired at the height of his power, taking Xi Shi with him as he returned to the ordinary world. The official histories do not record what happened afterward, and many folk tales speculate that in the end the two became lovers, drifting in a boat and living in seclusion on Lake Tai.
But in fact, this was not the case. After King Goujian of Yue restored his kingdom, Shi Yiguang was around thirty-some years old, while Fan Li was already a man of sixty—the age difference between the two was like that of father and daughter.
In ancient times, when moral concepts were highly valued, the age gap between husband and wife was not permitted to exceed ten years. Couples with an age gap of more than ten years, or obviously mismatched in age, would all face disapproval from their neighbors.
This was a form of legal protection for women in ancient times. Only after a girl had reached the age of "hairpin ceremony" (the coming-of-age ceremony) would her family seek a husband for her and discuss marriage matters. This ensured that before her coming of age, she would not be subjected to any improper gender exploitation.
Even in poor households, when a young daughter was sold to a brothel or wine house, only after she had passed her coming-of-age ceremony would she be made to entertain customers with her arts. Even if these establishments employed child laborers, they could only have them perform simple tasks, and they had to rest after every two shichen (four hours) of work.
Therefore, Fan Li and Xi Shi could at most refer to each other as father and daughter—they could not have been in a romantic relationship.
The story begins from when Fan Li first laid eyes on Xi Shi.
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