🔰Chinese Traditional Story: The Story of Wang Zhaojun

Hello everyone, the story I'm going to share today is the story of Wang Zhaojun. Wang Zhaojun is one of the four beauties in ancient China, and she was also an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the safety of the Western Han dynasty. Wang Zhaojun, also named Wang Qian, was born in the Western Han dynasty, in what is today Hubei province. In 35 BC, He Hanyang unified the Hans and became their leader, Chang Yun. He said that in order to form an alliance with the Han dynasty, he would like to be related to the Han royal family by marrying one of the emperor's daughters. Emperor Yuan of the Han deeply believed that all loyal officials could be helpful, facing the fact that no man would dare to fight the Hans. Upon hearing this request, all the royal officials said, we hope your majesty will have grace and save the people of our nation. Thus, Emperor Yuan promised to fulfill Her Highness' request and determined to select one maiden from all the maidens in the royal palace. He gave an order to his ministers, go to the harem and ask who is willing to go to the Hans. She will be named a princess. All of the palace's maidens were chosen from all across the country. As soon as they had entered the palace, they were like birds in a cage. Indeed, they all hoped that someday they would be released from the palace. But when they heard they would leave their civilized nation and go to a barbaric nation, they all refused and preferred to stay in the palace despite having no freedom. At this time, only Zhao Jun freely volunteered to go to the Hans. The ministers worried that no one would volunteer. When they learned that Zhao Jun was willing to go, they immediately presented Zhao Jun's portrait to Emperor Yuan. Emperor Yuan had so many maidens that he could not look at them one by one. When looking at Zhao Jun's portrait, although he thought she was indeed beautiful, he suddenly found that she had a little hood more on her beautiful face. So Emperor Yuan did not hesitate to give her to Her Highness. Soon Emperor Yuan arranged a wedding ceremony for them. Before going away, at the farewell meeting, Zhao Jun walked into the main palace hall. Her young and beautiful appearance immediately commanded the attention of Emperor Yuan and all the officials in the palace. But as an emperor, he could not break his promise. He named Zhao Jun Yong'an Princess. When Zhao Jun and Her Highness approached Emperor Yuan to express their thanks, Emperor Yuan had a close look and found that Zhao Jun was actually of a rare beauty he had never seen before. Furthermore, Emperor Yuan felt even more unpleasant when he didn't see any more on her face. As an emperor, he was deeply moved to see Zhao Jun standing up voluntarily going to the far wild lands to ensure the peace of the nation. Wang Zhaojun had already been staying in the royal palace for five years, so why didn't she had a chance to see Emperor earlier? It turned out that there was a painter named Yang Xiongmao at the palace. He often used the opportunity of painting palace maids to ask for money. If they refused to give him the money, he would paint them ugly. Due to her noble character, Zhao Jun had refused to give any money to him. Thus, Yang Xiong deliberately put a mole on her face. It is said that the mole painted on her face was called widow's tears. Therefore, the emperor had shied away upon seeing it, so how could he had summoned her? After Emperor Yuan had been seeing He Hanya and Zhao Jun off, he returned to the harem and asked a maid to take out Zhao Jun's portrait to look at it again. He then found out that the painter Yang Xiongmao had intentionally made a mark on her face. Emperor Yuan became so angry that he had Yang Xiongmao executed for cheating the emperor and for being greedy. Zhao Jun went all the way to the Hans and became He Hanya's wife. From then on, she lived with the Hans far away from her home. She advised He Hanya not to fight with the other nations and to rule his own nation virtuously. She passed on the culture of the central plains bit by bit to the Hans. She brought advanced agricultural techniques to them, which helped the Han people grow crops and make farm tools. She also brought Chinese culture to the Han people, and under her guidance and influence, the Han population prospered. He Hanya was more than 70 years old when he married Zhao Jun, and he died two years later. According to the custom of the Hans, Zhao Jun had to marry Chang Yun's son. Zhao Jun, however, having grown up in the Han dynasty, was deeply influenced by Han culture. Although this custom was common for the Hans, to Zhao Jun it would have been nothing short of humiliation. Zhao Jun asked to return to the Han dynasty, but Emperor Cheng of the Hans ordered her to follow the customs of the Hans and to marry the son of Chang Yun. For the sake of the safety of the nation, Zhao Jun endured humiliation, excepted Fuzhou Lenuo Di Chang Yun. Eleven years later, Fuzhou Lenuo Di Chang Yun also died, and according to the custom of the Hans, she had to marry Chang Yun's successor, Fuzhou Lenuo Di Chang Yun's brother, Xiu Xie Nuo Di Chang Yun. At that time, Zhao Jun was only 32 years old, and such humiliation was unbearable to her. Eventually, after having been married to Xiu Xie Nuo Di Chang Yun for a year, she died in depression. Zhao Jun lived with the Hans for 18 years, and was deeply loved by the Hans. During those 18 years, the Han dynasty and the Hans lived in harmony without war. Zhao Jun made a major contribution to both the Hans dynasty and the Hans. Although the Chinese culture she had brought with her was greatly impeded by cultural differences, she adapted, as they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans. And soon, it was a case of the guest becoming the master. She was a woman with a broad mind and great sense of learning, as well as high morality. For these reasons, she has been respected generation after generation. Thank you very much for listening to the story. More touching stories will be ready for you if you just subscribe it. Thank you.