Why was Yang Guifei Zhao Feiyan favored but infertile?

Zhao Feiyan was the second empress of Emperor Cheng of Han. She was charming and cold, with excellent dancing skills. She was favored by Emperor Cheng for nearly ten years and became the most important empress in the harem. Although Zhao Feiyan was favored, she never became pregnant.

According to the "Book of Han: Biography of Foreign Relatives", "After the empress was established, the queen was weak and her younger brother was unlucky, so he became Zhaoyi... The sister and brother were favored by Emperor Cheng for more than ten years, but they all had no children." (Zhao Feiyan became the empress and obtained the most prominent position as a woman, but Emperor Cheng's favor for her gradually declined. Emperor Cheng favored her younger sister Zhao Hede the most and made her Zhaoyi... Although the Zhao sisters were favored in the harem for more than ten years, they had no children.)

There are several speculations about the reasons for Zhao Feiyan's infertility:

1. Caused by the musk in Xiji Pills

According to historical records, in order to make her skin fair and tender, Zhao Feiyan stuffed a pill made with a secret recipe called Xiji Pills into her navel. This kind of pill is a honey pill made from precious medicines such as musk, Korean ginseng, and deer antler. Putting it into the navel and letting it melt can make the skin as smooth as cream and sweet and fragrant. However, the poison of the medicine will be retained and accumulated in the Ren and Du meridians for a long time, making women infertile for life.

2. Being underweight

In addition, some people suspect that being too thin is also one of the reasons for Zhao Feiyan's infertility. Data show that 6% of infertility patients are caused by being underweight. According to historical records, Zhao Feiyan was famous for her figure as light as a swallow. Because she was slender and beautiful, and leaning on the railing facing the wind, she had a beauty as if she was about to fly, so her neighbors often praised her as "Fei Yan". Over time, people gradually forgot her real name and called her Zhao Feiyan.

Records say that she had a slender figure and outstanding dancing skills, which made her stand out among the concubines in the harem. She performed a dance in which her hands trembled as if picking flowers and her body moved like the wind, which fascinated Emperor Cheng. The dance performance held by Emperor Cheng for her was held on the high pavilion of Yingzhou in the Taiye Lake in the harem. Emperor Cheng beat the rhythm with his jade ring, and Feng Wufang played the sheng to accompany him. Zhao Feiyan danced to the song "Returning Wind Sends Me Away". A gust of wind blew and she almost fell into the pool. Fortunately, Feng Wufang grabbed her thin skirt and escaped danger. After this singing and dancing, the emperor was afraid that she would be blown away by the wind, so he spent a huge amount of money to build a magnificent "Seven Treasures Shelter" for her to live in.

Emperor Cheng also ordered the palace maids to hold crystal plates in their hands and asked Feiyan to sing and dance on the plates to entertain the audience. Zhao Feiyan's superb dancing skills, unprecedented and unparalleled, brought a new visual enjoyment to Emperor Cheng of Han, and Emperor Cheng became even more infatuated with her. Just think about it, what a skinny beauty must be able to dance on a tray held in someone's hands.

There is no record in history books about whether Yang Guifei had any children. Taiwanese Tang historian Nangong Bo believes there are two. His basis was that historical records showed that Prince Shou had two children, and these two children were born during the period when Yang Guifei was Prince Shou's consort. He suspected that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang had someone change the records of the biological mothers of his two grandchildren after he took his daughter-in-law away in order to cover up the royal scandal. However, Prince Shou had not only one concubine, but also concubines and even palace maids, all of whom could have given birth to children for him. So this is just speculation.

The reason why Yang Guifei was favored:

The reasons why Li Longji was in love with Yang Yuhuan can be roughly divided into three types, among which beauty was the number one reason that Bai Juyi tried to prove. His testimony revolved around many aspects of beauty: beautiful face (face like lotus, eyebrows like willow leaves), beautiful skin (skin like cream), charming manner (a smile makes her look charming, all the beauties in the palace pale in comparison), gait (wind blows her sleeves fluttering like a fairy dancing in a colorful feathered dress), crying posture (her jade-like face is lonely and tearful, and the pear blossoms are wet with spring rain), etc. As a result, "the spring night is short and the day is early, and the king no longer holds court early in the morning" and "there are three thousand beauties in the harem, and all of them receive the emperor's love".

Was Yang Guifei favored simply because she was beautiful? Emperors of any dynasty had no shortage of beautiful women, not to mention that men tend to get tired of the old and love the new. So why did Li Longji favor her so much? This has to do with Yang Guifei's plump body. It was once recorded that Yang Guifei would gasp and sweat profusely after walking a few steps because she was fat. And this fatness is exactly one of the reasons why the emperor likes her.

At that time, Li Longji was already over 60 years old. During the day, he was engaged in the creation of singing and dancing aesthetics, and at night he warmed himself with the plump and round body of his beloved concubine. Although there is Huaqing Pool for warm bathing, Yuhuan's body is the best thing for an old man to keep warm. She was like a warm mattress, gently wrapping the old man's skinny body. She is the emperor's most personal hot spring.

And this may be the reason why Yang Guifei was infertile. Yang Guifei had been infertile since she was the Princess of Shou. At that time, she and her husband were young and had strong fertility, but she still could not get pregnant and have a child. From a medical point of view, for a woman who is too fat, the signal received by her body is equivalent to that she is taking contraceptive medication, and her ovaries will automatically stop ovulating.

Is the above speculation about the reasons for Zhao Feiyan and Yang Yuhuan's infertility scientific? Let's hear what the experts say.

1. Musk does have an anti-early pregnancy effect

According to unofficial history, the reason why Zhao Feiyan was unable to bear children was because she had been taking Xiji Pills for the sake of beauty. Just like chemotherapy kills cancer cells and causes hair loss, this pill can make your skin whiter than snow, but the side effect is infertility. Many palace fighting dramas and novels also claim that musk can cause miscarriage. So does musk really cause infertility?

After testing, musk does have anti-early pregnancy effects.

Natural musk has a significant stimulating effect on the isolated uterus of pregnant rats, rabbits or guinea pigs after abortion. It can promote the gradual strengthening of uterine contraction force and accelerate the rhythm, and its effect on the uterus of rabbits in the late pregnancy is more obvious. Synthetic musk ketone has similar effects. After mice were subcutaneously injected with 20 mg of musk ketone daily, it showed anti-implantation and anti-early pregnancy effects without affecting the normal life and health of pregnant mice and without any nervous system abnormalities. The anti-pregnancy effect became more significant as the pregnancy period prolonged.

Will musk cause miscarriage? Musk has the effects of opening the orifices and refreshing the mind, promoting blood circulation and dispersing nodules, relieving pain and swelling, and inducing labor. Large doses can also have an abortion effect. However, it is not as exaggerated as in TV dramas and novels. Smelling the sachet can cause miscarriage.

2. Being too thin does affect pregnancy

Women's body fat percentage must be at least 17% to maintain normal menstrual cycles and sexual desire levels. This is also the minimum fat standard for them to have a healthy pregnancy, childbirth and even breastfeeding in the future. When a woman is too thin and does not have the normal amount of fat, she will have endocrine disorders and will have difficulty getting pregnant. This is because it is difficult for a woman's ovaries to secrete normal levels of estrogen at this time, which causes menstrual cycle disorders or even amenorrhea. 6% of infertility patients are caused by being underweight due to this principle.

Nowadays, some women may suffer from amenorrhea and ovulation disorders if they lose weight excessively, so you should be moderate in your pursuit of beauty.

3. Obesity can affect the uterus, but don’t worry too much

When a woman becomes obese, it not only affects her body shape, but also poses a direct threat to the uterus, which can easily induce uterine cancer. This is because the incidence of uterine cancer is related to estrogen. The fat tissue of obese women can convert an androgen in the blood into an estrogen, which is more carcinogenic than other estrogens.

Studies have found that obese women often suffer from menstrual disorders. Once the menstrual cycle is disordered, normal ovulation is lacking, and there is no progesterone to inhibit excessive endometrial hyperplasia, the continued action of estrogen alone will form proliferative endometrium or excessive endometrial hyperplasia.

If the endometrium grows uncontrollably, it may lead to uterine cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome, which is a common pathological condition caused by endocrine and glucose metabolism abnormalities in women of childbearing age, characterized by excessive androgen and long-term anovulation.

But fat people don’t have to worry too much. We see that many fat people in life are pregnant and have children. Although fat people are more susceptible to polycystic ovary syndrome, even with this disease, about 50% of them can become pregnant after moxibustion. Therefore, fat people are not necessarily infertile. As long as the fallopian tubes and uterus are normal and the conditions for pregnancy are met, being fat is not a reason for infertility.