Recorded by
孟棨 in 《
本事诗》, a Tang collection of the stories behind poems:
白居易 had a singer,
樊素, and a dancer,
小蛮, and wrote of them
樱桃樊素口，
杨柳小蛮腰, 'Fansu's mouth a cherry, Xiaoman's waist a willow'. The line gave Chinese
杨柳腰 and
小蛮腰 for a slender waist, and
小蛮腰 is now also the nickname of
广州塔 for its narrow, twisted middle.
