Kikyou was blessed with 邪恶力量 powers and therefore, could not live the life of a normal woman. She constantly held responsibility, taking care of everyone, and guarding the jewel. So, she and 犬夜叉 decided one 日 that he'd use the jewel to become human, and therefore the Shikon would disappear and Kikyou will be free of her powers, and could live the life of a normal woman, allowing she and InuYasha to finally be together.
But things did NOT go as planned. An evil, shape-shifting demon named Naraku took on the form of InuYasha. He approached Kikyou and struck her down. Of course Kikyou didn't know that it wasn't really InuYasha, so she died hating him for "betraying" her. Then Naraku convinced the REAL InuYasha to break into Kikyou's village and steal the Shikon Jewel. Kikyou, bloodied and bruised, caught up with InuYasha, and with her last ounce of strength, she used her 着魔 《绿箭侠》 to "kill" him, and she told her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the Shikon with her body.
Obviously, InuYasha was not killed. Rather, he was sealed to the 树 of Time with an 《绿箭侠》 which put him in a death-like state, while still preserving his body and soul.
Fifty years later, Kikyou's ashes were stolen from Kaede's shrine, and a witch resurrected her in order to steal the undead Miko's powers. Kikyou saw InuYasha and she tried to kill him, thinking he betrayed her fifty years ago. She eventually learns the truth about her death, and now she's after Naraku.
Note: When 犬夜叉 is released from the tree, Kaede tells him that he's been asleep for 50 years. 犬夜叉 then says "That must mean Kikyo's pushing 100", which would imply that Kikyo was over 50 years old when she died. Obviously this is meant as an insult, and not to be taken literally.
I'm told Kikyou's name means "Chinese Bellflower" in Japanese.
