State of Yue in the context of Wu (city)

The Baiyue, Hundred Yue, or simply Yue, were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of southern China and northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, body tattoos, fine swords, and naval prowess.

During the Warring States period, the word "Yue" referred to the state of Yue in Zhejiang. The later kingdoms of Minyue in Fujian and Nanyue in Guangdong were both considered Yue states. During the Zhou and Han dynasties, the Yue lived in a vast territory from Jiangsu to Yunnan, while Barlow (1997:2) indicates that the Luoyue occupied the southwest Guangxi and northern Vietnam. The Book of Han describes the various Yue tribes and peoples can be found from the regions of Kuaiji to Jiaozhi.

Kuaiji Commandery (Chinese: t 會稽郡, s 会稽郡, p Kuàijī Jùn), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present-day Suzhou), which became known as "Kuaiji" from this role. The initial territory ran from the south bank of the Yangtze through most of modern Zhejiang to an indeterminate border among the free people of Minyue. Wu and Wuxing commanderies were later formed between the Yangtze and the north shore of Hangzhou Bay; the administration of the remainder of Kuaiji Commandery was then removed to the site of the former Yue capital in modern Shaoxing's Yuecheng District, which also became known as Kuaiji from this role. By the Tang, Hangzhou was also separated and Kuaiji ran from a little north of the Zhe River in the west to Ningbo in the east.

Xi Shi (Hsi Shih; Chinese: 西施; pinyin: Xī Shī; Wade–Giles: Hsi Shih, lit. '(Lady) Shi of the West'), also known by the nickname Xizi, was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived in a small Yue village (today part of Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, Zhejiang) during the end of the Spring and Autumn period. According to legend, Xi Shi was originally a girl who regularly washed gauze in the Huan Sha river.

In traditional stories, Xi Shi was named Shi Yiguang (施夷光). She was discovered by the Yue minister Fan Li and given to King Fuchai of Wu by King Goujian of Yue in a sexpionage operation which successfully brought down the State of Wu in 473 BC. This account first appeared in Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue published five centuries after the conquest, and is completely absent in earlier works such as Guoyu, Zuo zhuan, and Records of the Grand Historian.