Wang Zhaojun - The Political Bride
In the popular mind Wang Zhaojun has always been a tragic figure: a Han dynasty court lady married off to a Chanyu(Khan) of the Xiongnu(Huns) who left her home and died in far north. She is perhaps the best known of China's "political brides". Many tales have been told about her life and despite the persistence of the counter legend, was the exception: she chose her life.

Wang Zhaojun was a real person, who was born in Wang Qiang in Zigui county, Hubei province. Her name was Jiang, her style Zhaojun but during the Jin Dynasty, she was referred to as Minghou as the name Zhao could not be used by ordinary folks since the king, Sima Zhao had the same surname. Later generations, however, addressed her as Mingfei. She entered the imperial harem during the reign of Emperor Yuan of Western Han (48-33 BC) and the Eastern Han dynasty poet Cai Yong pictured her as a daring and determined young woman who entered the court willingly to save her father, a scholar official, from persecution. At that time, the emperor chose companions from his vast harem of maidens by looking at their portraits. As a result of this practice, it had become the custom for palace ladies to offer large bribes to court artists to ensure that they painted a flattering likeness. Wang Zhaojun, however, was confident of her natural beauty and refused to pay the court painter, Mao Yanshou, his customary bribe. As a result, from her finished portrait, she seemed to be the ugliest of all the palace ladies and thus, never received the emperor's favour.

In the year 33 B.C., the Xiongnu chieftain wanted to establish friendship with the Han dynasty. Huhanxie became a subject of the Han empire, he requested a Han princess as a bride, a way of cementing relations frequently used in those days. Instead, Emperor Yuan Di said he would send one of his imperial concubine candidates, and give her away like his own daughter. Unwilling to pick out a real beauty, the emperor ordered that the plainest girl in the harem be selected for the marriage. When the lady-in-charge of the harem sent the unflattering portrait of Wang Zhaojun to the emperor, he merely glanced at it and nodded his approval. While many dislike the idea of leaving their homeland and comfortable life at the court for the grasslands of the far and unknown north, Wang Zhaojun saw it as a chance to leave the empty palace life and possibly play an important role than she ever would in Chang'an.

Only when she was on the point of departure did Emperor Yuan set eyes on her. Much to his dismay, he realized that she was in fact the loveliest woman in his harem. Emperor Yuan was intent on finding out how such an error could have arisen. He discovered that the blame lay with the fraudulent behaviour of the court artist Mao Yanshou so Emperor Yuan ordered that he be put to death.

This re-dress, however, came too late for Wang Zhaojun. Dressed in the regalia of the Han court, clutching her Pipa to her bosom, she traveled beyond the Great Wall. Wang Zhaojun never returned and died in a distant barbarous land. There is a rich and poignant poem entitled Song of Mingfei, which recognized the tragic departure of one beauty who sacrificed herself for her country. (The poem is posted above).

      "The beauty leaves Chang'an
      When will she return?
      Grass obscures the horse's hooves,
      The north wind tousles her hair."

Today, the tomb of Wang Zhaojun is located in the southern suburb of Hohhot. It is said that this tomb of Wang Zhaojun -- a maid of the imperial palace of the Emperor Yuan Di of the Han Dynasty -- volunteered to marry the chief Huhanye of Xiongnu Horde as a peace envoy. The tomb is an artificial earthen mound with a height of 33 meters. According to the legend, the green grass on the huge mound never turned yellow even when late autumn came.