Xi Shi was, according to legends, one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of the Spring and Autumn period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue.

Yue, also known as Yuyue (于越), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC – the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty – in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu. Its original capital was Kuaiji ; after its conquest of Wu, Yue relocated its court north to the city of Wu. Yue was conquered by Chu in 306 BC.