Green Pearl (d. AD 300), whose surname was Liang, was a native of Bobai and the favourite concubine of a wealthy man, Shi Chong who lived during the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-316). Green Pearl was originally a singing girl skilled at playing the flute and dancing. Her charm and skills won many hearts. Shi Chong was captivated by her; each day he went to the theatre to watch her perform and to show his adulation. Finally he decided to redeem her from her procuress. Although Green Pearl's procuress asked for an exorbitant price, Shi Chong was unperturbed and bought her with three pearls of great value.

Shi Chong came from Nanpi. He rose through the military ranks to become colonel of the guards, but later became a merchant. Soon, he became a very rich man. Having acquired Green Pearl, he ordered that a lavish villa be constructed in Jingu, Henan. There, the two of them sang, danced and feasted their days away. The mighty King of Zhao heard about Green Pearl and his base lusts were aroused. He sent Sun Xiu to the villa at Jingu to bring Green Pearl back to the imperial palace.

Shi Chong gathered many of his maids and concubines, all exquisitely dressed, and presented them to Sun Xiu, saying: "Please choose the beauty whom you like."

Sun Xiu replied adamantly : "I am here to bring Green Pearl back! You can keep the rest!" Shi Chong was incensed: "No!" he bellowed a flat refusal. "Green Pearl is my favourite! I shall not give her to the King of Zhao!" With that, he ordered his men to throw Sun Xiu out of the villa, cursing him for his impudence.

Seething under the insult of such high-handed treatment, Sun Xiu loathed Shi Chong greatly. Hence, he told the king an exaggerated version of events to incur the king's wrath. To Sun Xiu's delight, the king immediately ordered troops to surround the villa at Jingu to capture Shi Chong.

With tears in his eyes, Shi Chong took Green Pearl's hand and told her: "Because of you, I have become a criminal but I have no regrets!" Then Green Pearl spoke:

"It is only proper that I should present to you the gift of my life! " Freeing herself from his grasp, she jumped to her death from the upper storey of the tower where they had been feasting. King Zhao's troops stormed the villa, beheaded Shi Chong and burnt down his villa. In later times, his actions were criticized in this poem:

"The bones of a courtesan settle nothing,
That day, Shi Chong was too enamoured of his love.
Refusing to make a gift of his bright pearl;
Shaken from his tranquil tower-top dream.
Taking seven steps, she was shattered like coral,
Her body soft as a fallen flower.
Where were the dancers and singers that year;
The gardens of Jingu lay empty beneath the full moon."

This poem draws the dubious conclusion that Shi Chong should have complied with the king's wish.