ZhaoFeiYen

ZHAO FEI YEN

Emperor Cheng (37-2BC) of the Western Han Dynasty was highly impressed by the grace of two dancing girls who performed in the home of his sister, Princess Yang'a. The elder sister was especially light and fragile. To the emperor, she seemed as if she could dance on the palm of his hand. He was enchanted. When the banquet was over, he took the two sisters to his palace. To the elder he gave the name Fei Yen, which means "Flying Swallow."

The girls' father was an impoverished music teacher named Feng Wanjin. His wife bore him two daughters, the elder named Yizhu and the younger, Hede. Following their father's death, they were destitute, and travelled with their mother to Chang'an, the capital, where they were taken in by Zhao Linsou, a servant in the house of Princess Yang'a. They adopted his family name, and grew up to be women of great beauty and grace. As their natural father had nurtured their musical and dancing skills, they were able to work as dancing girls in the princess' residence.
      Fei Yen and her sister made full use of their charm to gain the attention of Emperor Cheng and, before long, they were given the title Jieyu, meaning "Beautiful Companion," denoting that they were concubines of the second rank. After Cheng had cast aside his former favourite, Fei Yen became his Empress and Hede was given the title Zhaoyi, making her a concubine of the first rank. For the next decade, Cheng favoured only these two, but neither of them bore him an heir.
      When Cheng died rather suddenly--some said of a stroke or from an overdose of aphrodesiacs--his younger brother accended the throne and he, too, was smitten by the sisters. Throughout his reign, he was always at their side. When he also died rather suddenly, Fei Yen and her sister were stripped of their positions. Having received imperial favour for two reigns, the sisters were mortified by their sudden fall from grace. Ashamed to show their faces in public, it is said that they committed suicide, together.
      The common folk had little sympathy for the sisters, as it was widely believed that they had used their dancing to bewitch the emperors. Few realized that their deaths probably resulted from their own dissipated life styles.

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