5 Zhaojun the Peace Ambassador

Wang Zhaojun (50 BC - ? ) is one of the four most beautiful women ever in the history of China. Since she had such a pretty face, she was naturally chosen to work in the imperial palace as a maid. One day, the emperor ordered a painter to draw portraits of the maids in the palace, so that he could use them to pick his wives. As everybody knew, it would be the turning point of a girl's life, or even her family's reputation, if she was chosen to be the queen. Therefore many maids bribed the painter, hoping that he would paint them more beautifully to catch the emperor's attention. Zhaojun saw all this and she thought that it was wrong, so she went to see the painter to tell him that he should not do so. This enraged the painter so when he painted her portrait, he intentionally added a mole on her face. Inevitably, this led to the result of her being overlooked in the selection.

Shortly after that, there was a tribe, the Huns (also known as Xiongnu), who had challenged the sovereignty and authority of the Han Court for quite some time. They came with a request of Heqin (marriage in exchange for peace). The Han emperor agreed instantly, so he decided to pick the bride from among the maids in the palace. He put up a notice declaring: “Whoever is willing to marry the Huns' leader will be treated as a princess of mine.”Zhaojun saw this and thought, “If I couldn't attract the attention of the emperor, I might have to spend my entire life in the palace as a maid. On the other hand, I could choose to marry the tribal leader in order to solve the emperor's dilemma, and at the same time preserve the peaceful state of the country.” After some thought, she went to the emperor and asked him to send her over to the Huns to fulfil the requested marriage. She adapted to tribal life and because of the marriage, the Huns and the Han people lived together peacefully for the next sixty years or so. Interestingly, the Han emperor only realised how beautiful Zhaojun was after seeing her leave for the Huns, by which time, of course, it was too late to change his mind.

Zhaojun

The image of Zhaojun holding a Pipa (a kind of Chinese musical instrument) as she set off for the Huns all alone is legendary and stays in everybody's heart. She has long been praised for her bravery in leaving her hometown and her contribution to promoting peace between the Huns and the Han. Her heroic act has touched many people so she became the subject of many literary works and the muse of numerous poets. Some wrote with a sad tone, some praised her achievements, while some, like Li Shangyin (812- 858), wrote a poem criticising the painter in the palace. However, the majority of the works were on the issue of grievances. This is because many writers and poets saw the similarity between Zhaojun's failure to win the emperor's recognition for her pretty face, and their own failure to advance in their own careers due to their talents not being spotted. Through depicting her life in their works, writers and poets could show their feeling towards Zhaojun and also mourn the frustration of not having their talents appreciated.

The practice of Heqin made it possible for two tribes and nations to live together peacefully. Many conflicts were minimised, while the free flow of information and knowledge between the two places was beneficial to economic and cultural development. Nowadays, we are living under an unstoppable trend of globalisation. There are more and more chances for countries to co-operate and there is also an increase in the frequency of interaction between different groups and parties. Let us hope that in the future, we will all be able to live together peacefully in the world.