The emperor owned thousands of beautiful momen in his huge and sacred palace. There were thousands of beauties in the huge hareem of imperial palace and Zhaojun was just a common one amongst of them. As he had had So many beauties, he that the Emperor felt that it was extremely inefficient to choose of them physically for his evening delight. difficult for him to choose which one to be with him at nights for looking at them in person. He then came up with got a farcical 1 idea that he ordered his imperial artists to paint the beauties's faces on papers and to choose women through their pictures. He believed that it would perfectly solve his problem to choose his women by looking at their potraits instead. However, the fact was not so. Because of However, this stupid idea of his made his court , the arists had the powerful in deciding which woman will be painted in more flattering terms to decide which women was the lucky one. Here I have to genuinely say sorry to women readers that this was the truth in ancient China. For the indignation of modern feminists, this was what happened in ancient China. Women who could produce to imperial heirs would elevate themselves and their families to unprecended glory and power. However in reality, like most coming to Hollywood for stardom would find their dreams unfulfilled. For the women in palace who had the opportunities to give birth with emperors could thoroughly change her and her families' fate and this was the only way. Most of them even had no chance to meet their host until they died. Now back to the topic.
On the other hand, it was great for the court artists to enrich themselves. More money means more flattery painted! Thus more chance to have the Emperor bedded them. side, it was also a opportunities for those artists to change their fate. For many of the women hoped to be painted much better than others, they had to pay large sums of money to the artists. The women who paid much more money to the artists would have had the much more possibilities to sleep with the emperor. On the contrary, if someone who did not bribe the artists, she would be deliberately painted ugly. All of the women did heir best to flatter the artists except Zhaojun. So she, of course, was the ugliest woman in paintings. All except Zhaojun who herself was also an accomplished artist and would not stoop herself to this level. The chief court painter was not pleased at her own submission. So he added an extra mole on her face. When the Emperor saw the painting, he was smitten by her. However the chief artist told the Emperor that though she is beautiful, she brings ill fortune to her husband because of the mole! So the superstitious Emperor did not summon her. For three years she was languished in the palace.
One day, a ruler of minority nationalities the Shanyu, chief of the northern barbaric tribes visited the emperor and requested presenting a woman to him for his wife came to pay tributes to the Chinese Court. He requested an imperial princess for marriage to cement the friendly relations of the two countries. The Emperor did not was not willing to send any of his daughters imperial family members 2 to the distant and desolate northern-frontier.
In a moment of brilliance, the Emperor remembered Zhaojun whose mole would definitely bring ill fortune to any husband and was gladly to give his "adopted" daughter to him. Imperial protocol dictates that the Emperor must bid his daughter farewell on her marriage. Imagine the consternation on the Emperor's face when he saw her for the first time that there was no mole on her face! He tried to renege his promise but was strongly urged not to do so. In the end he had no choice but to acquiesce to his counsellors. The day of reckoning for the court artists came swiftly.
To make the story interesting, write about the different versions of her aftermath. You don't need to write about the obvious. This would be considered as long winded. Cantonese expression, "No need to draw a picture of a man with his intestines showing".
This time, he was clever again. He told the ruler that Zhaojun was his most favorite adopted daughter and she would be his wife since then. Zhaojun at last met the emperor in person in this way. At the first sight of their meeting, the emperor immediately felt that he was cheated by his artists and deeply regreted for his words but it was too late. He wanted not to perform his order but his officials strongly opposed. A little later, he knew the reason that why Zhaojun was painted so ugly. On Zhaojun and the ruler leaving the palace, the emperor was promptly giving an order to kill those greedy artists.
1. Good word to use but not many people know the meaning. Ludicrous or ridiculous is more common.
2. Han Emperor Yuan did not have any daugther or at least not recorded. He had 3 sons.
Wang Zhaojun（王昭君）, One of The Four Beauties of Ancient China
In China Chinese history, there were are four well known beauties, collectively called known as "The Four Greatest Beauties of Ancient China" (四大美人). Wang Zhaojun or simply Zhaojun, was one of them - . We generally call her "Zhaojun. The other three were Xi Shi (西施), Diao Chan (貂嬋) , who was considered to be a fictional character according to research, and Yang Yuhuan (楊玉澴). However Diao Chan is considered as a fictional character by some historians.
Zhaojun went down in history not only for her good-looking was not only famous for her great beauty but also for she was as the representative figure of the so called "Peace Marriage" Policy (和親) This imperial policy was first instituted in the Han Dynasty to placate maruding border barbarians by marrying off imperial princesses to their kings. By having marriage ties, silken chords were used instead of iron chains to keep peace. , Heqin". "Heqin policy" was the emperors of Han to ease the ethnic conflicts and cement the relations with rulers of minority nationalities by marrying their daughters to them. The great "Heqin policy" diplomatic practice lasted for over 2,000 years in China history until the last feudal dynasty, Qing, was ruined Imperial Age is over when the Ch'ing Dynasty cease to exist.". Zhaojun was the first such person in the history of "Heqin policy" sacrificed in such a marriage policy. and this was the main reason why she was so significant. 1 Actually, Zhaojun was not an imperial princess. emperor's daughter. So if you are a careful reader, you would wondering An astute reader may wonder why such a famous great beauty was married to someone else by the emperor himself not kept by the Chinese Emperor himself. Alas her sad tale is life mimicking art. There was a true story which might be make you to sigh: This is history!
Great ideas to use. When introducing Chinese culture, history etc, you must also include Chinese characters to all romanization terms you use. This is for references for those who are interested and wanted to research more. At the same time, try to provide a translation for the target language. Then you can use these translations instead of the original. This makes easier for readers who are not familiar with the source language. Remember your essays are read by people all over the world. These essays are not intended for native speakers of the source language since most of them probably know what you are writing about.
1. This is implied. Hence redundant.
On the other side, it was also a opportunities for those artists to change their fate. For many of the women hoped to be painted much better than others, they had to pay large sums of money to the artists. The women who paid much more money to the artists would have had the much more possibilities to sleep with the emperor. On the contrary, if someone who did not bribe the artists, she would be deliberately painted ugly. All of the women did their best to flatter the artists except Zhaojun. So she, of course, was the ugliest woman in paintings. One day, a ruler of minority nationalities visited the emperor and requested presenting a woman to him for his wife. The emperor did not willing to send any of his daughters to the distant and desolate northern-frontier.
This time, he was clever again. He told the ruler that Zhaojun was his most favorite adopted daughter and she would be his wife since then. Zhaojun at last met the emperor in person in this way. At the first sight of their meeting, the emperor immediately felt that he was cheated by his artists and deeply regreted for his words but it was too late. He wanted not to perform his order but his officials strongly opposed. A little later, he knew the reason that why Zhaojun was painted so ugly. On Zhaojun and the ruler leaving the palace, the emperor was promptly giving an order to kill those greedy artists.
The emperor owned thousands of beautiful momen in his huge and sacred palace. Zhaojun was just a common one of them. As he had had so many beauties, he felt that it was extremely difficult for him to choose which one to be with him at nights for looking at them in person. He got a farcical idea that he ordered his imperial artists to paint the beauties's faces on papers and to choose women through their pictures. He believed that it would perfectly solve his problem. However, the fact was not so. Because of this stupid idea, the arists had the power to decide which women was the lucky one. Here I have to genuinely say sorry to women readers that this was the truth in ancient China. For the women in palace who had the opportunities to give birth with emperors could thoroughly change her and her families' fate and this was the only way. Most of them even had no chance to meet their host until they died. Now back to the topic.
