Han palace lady who in 33 BC married the 匈奴 ruler to seal a peace, one of the 四大美女. Her journey north, 昭君出塞, is a favourite theme of poems, paintings and opera.
Wang Zhaojun left the Han frontier to marry in peace-alliance.
Tips
history
Legend says the court chose palace ladies from painted portraits, and the painter 毛延寿 made her plain because she would not bribe him. Emperor Yuan first saw her real face on the day she left, too late, and had the painter executed.
culture
She is the 'alighting geese' of 沉鱼落雁: geese were said to forget to beat their wings and drop from the sky when they heard her pipa on the road north. 杜甫 wrote of her in the third of his 《咏怀古迹》 poems.
