Around 780 BC, King You of Zhou — ruler of the Western Zhou Dynasty, one of ancient China’s most powerful — became obsessed with a woman named Bao Si. She was his concubine, and she was beautiful. But she had one trait that drove the king completely insane: she never smiled. Not once. No matter what anyone did — gifts, feasts, performances — her face stayed cold and still as jade.
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Lost & Found·1/3·1′
The place
Great Wall of China
The Beacon Fires That Ended a Dynasty
A king burned his kingdom to make a concubine smile
8th century BC — Western Zhou DynastyGreat Wall of China
Moral of the Story
“Trust is the wall that truly protects a nation. Once broken, no amount of stone can save you.”
Characters
K
King You of Zhou — the foolish kingB
Bao Si — the concubine who never smiledG
Guo Shifu — the reckless ministerT
The Quanrong — barbarian invadersSource
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji, ~100 BC); Bamboo Annals; Lü Buwei's Spring and Autumn Annals