Xishi (西施) — "Lady from the West." The first of the Four Beauties of ancient China (5th c. BCE) — a peasant girl whose beauty was so great that, when she washed silk in the river, the fish forgot to swim and sank to the bottom. King Goujian of Yue used her to overthrow the rival King Fuchai of Wu — sending her as a tribute concubine, where she distracted the king from governance until Wu fell.
Featured in countless Chinese paintings and operas.
Xishi reduces to three — the number of Chinese Four Beauties.