Wang Zhaojun
杜甫：群山萬壑赴荊門，生長明妃尚有村；一去紫台連朔漠，獨留青塚向黃昏。畫圖省識春風面，環佩空歸夜月魂。千載琵琶作胡語，分明怨恨曲中論。
Wang Zhaojun was born in 52 BC during the Western Han Dynasty. She was intelligent and scholarly. And she was musically talented, making beautiful melody with her pipa 琵琶. She was endowed with exquisite beauty, regarded as one of the Greatest Four Beauties of ancient China 昭君落雁. She was chosen to be a palace lady 宫女.
Emperor Yuan 漢元帝 selected his favorite consorts from among his harem in the palace based on their portraits. The palace ladies bribed the court painter, Mao Yanshou 毛延壽, to create a prettier likeness of them to win the emperor’s favor. Zhaojun refused to bribe the artist. Mao, enraged, painted an unattractive portrait of her and an inauspicious mole on her face. 毛延壽畫欲通神，忍為黃金不顧人。 Consequently, she endured years of residing in the palace lacking the opportunity of having access to the emperor.
Centuries ago, the Xiongnu 匈奴, a nomadic tribe from Central Asia based in the present day Inner Mongolia, frequently invaded the northern border of Han Dynasty. In 33 B.C. the ruler of Xiongnu, Huhanye Chanyu 呼韓邪單于 paid a visit to Emperor Yuan, conveying his desire to forge an alliance with the Han. And he requested to marry the Emperor’s daughter to accomplish peace by marriage 和親. Reluctant to honor the leader with his princess, Emperor Yuan resolved to pick a palace lady instead. Zhaojun volunteered to go to the Frontier 昭君出塞.
On Zhaojun’s departure, the emperor was profoundly captivated by her beauty. But it was too late to retract his decision. Escorted by Han officials, Zhaojun departed her country and embarked on a long journey, braving freezing cold and fierce snow storms, to the north on horseback. 絕豔驚人出漢宮。冰河牽馬渡，雪路抱鞍行。胡風入骨冷，夜月照心明。方調琴上曲，變入胡笳聲。昭君拂玉鞍，上馬啼紅頰。今日漢宮人，明朝胡地妾。漢月還從東方出，明妃西嫁無來自。馬上琵琶行萬里，漢宮長有隔生春。漢家秦地月，流影送明妃。一上玉關道，天涯去不歸。燕支長寒雪作花，蛾眉憔悴沒胡沙。
In Xiongnu, Zhaojun and Khukhenye were head over heels in love with each other. She assimilated into the local culture, custom and living. People zealously received her, loving and respecting her. They had two sons and one daughter together. Unfortunately, their happy matrimony lasted only three years when Huhange passed away. According to Xiongnu tradition, Zhaojun had to marry the new leader, the eldest son of Huhange, Fujulei Chanyu 复株絫若鞮单于, her step-son. This was categorically against the Chinese moral norms. She petitioned the emperor to return to China. 漢地草應綠，胡庭沙正飛。願逐三秋雁，年年一度歸。However, the emperor rejected her plea and ordered her to abide by the Xiongnu custom.
For the sake of peace between the two empires, she complied and married Fujulei Chanyu and bore him two daughters. It, indeed, took Zhaojun’s greatest courage and political vision to act so. Through her self-sacrifice, friendly ties and peace between the Han and Xiongnu were established for over half a century. Sadly, Zhaojun died at the age of 33. 紅顏命薄古今同。She was buried at a tomb in Inner Mongolia called 青塚 ‘The Green Tomb’. 生乏黃金枉圖畫，死留青塚使人嗟。漢恩自淺胡恩深，人生樂在相知心。至今青塚愁雲起，疑是佳人恨未銷。可憐青塚已蕪沒，尚有哀弦留至今。
Zhaojun’s life story and legends have been celebrated by many famed poets through dynasties. Numerous plays, movies, dramas, TV series, paintings and songs have been made about her. Zhaojun is not only the embodiment of beauty, but also altruism, self-sacrifice and courage as well as a spirit of goodwill to bring about peace between the Han and Xiongnu. Thus she has been honored as one of the great heroines in the history of China.
王昭君《怨詞》: 秋木萋萋，其葉萎黃，有鳥處山，集於苞桑。 養育毛羽，形容生光，既得行雲，上游曲房。離宮絕曠，身體摧藏，志念沒沉，不得颉絶生。 雖得委禽，心有徊惶，我獨伊何，來往變常。翩翩之燕，遠集西羌，高山峨峨，河水泱泱。 父兮母兮，進阻且長，嗚呼哀哉！ 憂心惻傷。
About the author:
Dr. Patrick Lau was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the U.S. after high school. He retired from the VA Northern Indiana Heath Care System where he served as Chief Radiologist and moved to Florida with his wife in 2011. He was an active member & contributor of IACA and ICMA while in Indiana. Dr. Lau is also a scholar of art and literature and a prolific writer, he has been a dedicated columnist for Indy Asian American Times since 2010.
