Beauty Yu

Not to be confused with Saint Yu Ji from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Beauty Yu (虞美人, pinyin: Yú Měirén, romanji: Gu Bijin) is a new playable character in Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce 2. She is best known as Xiang Yu's treasured lover who tragically followed him near the end of his struggles with the rising Han dynasty.

Role in Game
She co-stars in the Supremacy King chapter. When her lover was resurrected into the mortal realm, she was raised as well. Although she previously ended her life to avoid being a hindrance to him, she swears to always be near him in their second chance at life. Yearning for the ties they had in their past life, she arms herself and fights in the battlefield.

Personality
Beauty Yu rarely displays her emotions on her visage and acts passively to others, granting her a mysterious and noble sense of beauty. She openly expresses herself to her precious lover, reserving her gentle smiles for him.

Historical Information
Yu Ji was Xiang Yu's only known lover. While popularized in fiction and modern folklore, her actual name and origins are unclear. Her main mention in historical records is limited to Xiang Yu's famous Song of Gaixia, alternatively called the Song of Simian Chu, which was reportedly composed after his staggering defeat at the Battle of Gaixia. His poem is as follows (translation taken from Wikipedia):


 * 力拔山兮氣蓋世.
 * My strength plucked up the hills,
 * My might shadowed the world;


 * 時不利兮騅不逝.
 * But the times were against me,
 * And Dapple (war horse named Zhui) runs no more;


 * 騅不逝兮可奈何！
 * When Dapple runs no more,
 * What then can I do?


 * 虞兮虞兮奈若何！
 * Ah, Yu, my Yu,
 * What will your fate be?

After repeating his lines to his lover and men, they were moved to tears. She has no further appearances in the Book of Han or Records of the Grand Historian, but many novels, poetry, and other tales were written for her.

A tomb named after her stands at modern Lingbi County, Anhui province.

Popular Tales
During the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, she was named Consort Yu due to a composition writing about her grave by Su Shi. In his tale, he addressed her as "Yu Ji" and wrote about Xiang Yu's distress in the possibility of leaving her. From this time period, there is also the famous tale in which she performed a sword dance after hearing the Song of Gaixia. To avoid being a further hindrance to her lover, she committed suicide by impaling herself during her performance. Before doing so, she reportedly sang the following verse to counter her lover's poem (translation taken from Wikipedia):


 * 漢兵已略地，
 * The Han army has conquered our land;


 * 四面楚歌聲.
 * We are surrounded by Chu songs;


 * 大王義氣盡，
 * My lord's spirits are low;


 * 賤妾何聊生.
 * Why then should I live?

According to legend, the spot where she was buried after her suicide bloomed with red poppies. Thus, the field poppy is also commonly known to be named after her, either as Yu Meiren Cao or the simplified Yu Meiren, in China. Tales regarding her beauty began more recently during the Qing Dynasty, which state that her looks could cut through the chaos surrounding her lover. Her status as a tragic figure have many residents in China argue that she could be a liable candidate for the Four Great Beauties, sometimes replacing Diao Chan's spot.

Xiang Yu's devotion to her is also known in the Tales of the Heike. They were mentioned by Taira no Shigehira after he listened to a sorrowful biwa performance from the maiden Senju no Mae. He sympathized with her strife and the quoted the Song of Gaixia. Later, he refused to have her talents go to waste and offered her to become his maid.