Yang Yuhuan, known by her religious appellation Taizhen, was assigned to the imperial Taoist nunnery within the palace precinct. She was thus within easy reach of the emperor. At the time, Yang Yuhuan was 22, and Emperor Xuanzong was 56. The resecularization of Yang Yuhuan’s life was subsequently made. It signaled the beginning of a new round of worldly life that sanctioned the emperor s taking her as his wife.
Despite the great disparity in their ages, Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan were a happy and loving couple, all the more closely bound by their common interest in dance and music, and admiration of one another's artistic talent. The Tune of Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Dress (Nishang Yuyi Qu), regarded as a masterpiece, was composed by Emperor Xuanzong and said to have been inspired by a dream he once had of beautiful fairies gracefully dancing. As legend would have it, when Yang Yuhuan heard the piece played in the imperial palace, she spontaneouosly began dancing to itand, to the amazement of the emperor, her steps were identical to those of the fairies in his dream.
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