陳沛琳

Introduction

In the early spring of 33 BCE， followed by her female attendants， Wang Zhaojun rode on a small black horse， with her face covered by soft mask made of camel hair. As a concubine from Chinese imperial palace， Wang Zhaojun was selected as tribute： she was heading for Xiongnu as newly-granted bride for the Xiongnu leader， Huhanye to cement friendship between the two countries. The sun had sunken low in front of her， changing from glittering red to a rusty brown without heat. Wang Zhaojun then remembered her parents far away and the bustling street of Luoyang， but unfortunately， nothing was left for her here except for impenetrable coldness， featureless landscape， and endless route that seemed to lead to the uttermost end of the earth.

Despite the rise and fall of Chinese states， diplomatic marriages constantly happened and were often reported in official history. Reportedly， in 33 BCE， even though Wang Zhaojun was so elegant and beautiful that dazzled the eyes of emperor， regretfully， the emperor eventually decided that he would bestow Wang Zhaojun as gifts to Huhanye Shanyu， the Xiongnu leader， since he had already agreed to do so before. In 31 BCE， Huhanye died and Wang Zhaojun was passed on to Huanhanyes son， Fuzhulei shanyu as wife. Wang Zhaojun asked emperor Yuan for permission of leaving Xiongnu， but emperor Yuan refused. In 20 BCE， Fuzhulei shanyu died and Wang Zhaojun again， was married to Fuzhuleis son， Sounuoruoti shanyu①.

Sadness， homesickness， and loneliness had constituted the very fabric of Wang Zhaojuns exotic life in Xiongnu area far away from the royal Palace of LuoYang. However， Wang Zhaojuns experience with Xiongnu was only a small part of princesses experiences in diplomatic marriages throughout Chinese history from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty. Although that sadness and remoteness were appealing， and had been repeatedly delineated in poetry and literature， princesses （and on rare occasion， princes） subjective experiences were often overlooked in most part of the official history， and only on very few occasion， the official history engaged in an empathetic tone when describing diplomatic marriages. The official perspective towards diplomatic marriages as well as princesses themselves would be in turn， reflected in princesses own experiences， and reshaped princesses subjective experiences socially and politically.

In the following essay， I will examine how official perspective towards diplomatic marriages could be reflected in princesses subjective experiences， starting from what official perspective is and how it could relate to princesses experiences and using historical records from Han Shu， Hou Han Shu， and poems written by Wang Zhaojun and Liu Xijun， princesses sent to foreign regions.endprint

Official perspective towards diplomatic marriages

In order to understand on how official perspective reflects on princesses subjective experiences of diplomatic marriages in Han dynasty， we first have to examine what official perspective is， and how male historians viewed diplomatic marriage as a whole and individual experiences of princesses sent， using records from Han Shu and Hou Han Shu， official history of Han dynasty.

In general， there were two types of perspectives towards diplomatic princesses： while one talked about political marriages in cold terms， simply recording what had happened without much description or emphasis was there any political necessity， on rare occasion， the other engaged in a more empathetic tone and recorded anecdotes of princesses experiences in foreign regions. Despite sharing differences in tones when describing events of diplomatic marriages， the two perspectives possessed same political and social motives behind them； the coexistence of coldness and empathy was inevitable in the broader social context， and would further exert an influence on how princesses dispatched to Han dynasty considered their subjective experiences in exotic countries.

The first records of diplomatic marriages started in 200 BCE， as recorded in Han Shu Xiongnu Zhuan， biography describing relations between Xiongnu and Han dynasty. The written description about the diplomatic marriage between Han dynasty and Xiongnu was quite simple：

漢亦引兵罷，使劉敬結(jié)和親之約。②

Han also retreated and dispatched Liu Jing to reach agreement over diplomatic marriage and political alliances.

Since then， diplomatic marriages became frequent in Han dynasty， seen as a way for establishing political alliances between countries. In 192 BCE， after Mo-tun shanyu apologized for offending emperor Xiao Huis principle wife and sent horses to imperial court as gifts， Han then dispatched a princess to Xiongnu area. Subsequently， as a successor of the emperor Xiao Hui， emperor Xiao wen continued the practice of political marriage and sent princess to Xiongnu in 176 BCE， 174 BCE， 162 BCE， and 160 BCE. In total， from 200 BCE to 33 BCE， from the period of Gao-Tsu to that of Han-Wu-Di， the western Han dynasty， or say， the early Han dynasty had sent thirteen princesses to foreign regions including Xiongnu and Wu Sun.

As Han dynasty constantly married princesses to foreign countries， the system of diplomatic marriage matured， and official history related to foreign relations also， came to view diplomatic marriages as an effective， normal， and inevitable way for establishing political alliances between states， avoiding details when describing events of political marriage. The written depiction concerning about diplomatic marriages was usually simple and concise：endprint

漢亦引兵罷，使劉敬結(jié)和親之約。

Han also retreated and dispatched Liu Jing to reach agreement over diplomatic marriage and political alliances.

冒頓得書，復(fù)使使來(lái)謝曰：“未嘗聞中國(guó)禮義，陛下幸而赦之。”因獻(xiàn)馬，遂和親。

Mo-tun had received the letter and dispatched the envoy to acknowledge the Chinese emperor： “Ive never heard of Chinese etiquette， but fortunately you majesty can forgive us about that.” Subsequently， Xiongnu leader presented horses to Chinese imperial court and formed diplomatic marriages with Chinese state.

至孝文即位，復(fù)修和親。

After Xiaowen emperor came into power， he started diplomatic marriages with Xiongnu again.

漢許之。

Han agreed to form diplomatic marriages with Xiongnu.

老上稽粥單于初立，文帝復(fù)遣宗人女翁主為單于閼氏。

After Laoshangjizhou Shanyu became emperor， Emperor Wen dispatched princess as wife for Shanyu.

漢甚患之，乃使使遺匈奴書，單于亦使當(dāng)戶報(bào)謝，復(fù)言和親事。

Han was so worried that it sent envoy with letters to Xiongnu. Subsequently， Shanyu also acknowledged the gift and discussed matters concerning diplomatic marriage with Han.

漢復(fù)與匈奴和親。

Han started diplomatic marriage with Xiongnu again.

自是后，景帝復(fù)與匈奴和親，通關(guān)市，給遺單于，遣翁主如故約。③

Thereafter， Emperor Jing started diplomatic marriage with Xiongnu again...and sent princesses as usual.

Instead of elaborating on how imperial court decided to send princesses and which princess was sent， Han Shu Xiongnu Zhuan， the biography of Xiongnu relations in Han Shu， generally employed few words to describe diplomatic marriage， and most of the princesses sent remained anonymous. In stark contrast， Ban Gu， author of Han Shu， would elaborate on letters sent between Chinese state and Xiongnu， indicating a paucity of description of political marriage compared to other events：

其明年，單于遺漢書曰：“天所立匈奴大單于敬問(wèn)皇帝無(wú)恙。前時(shí)皇帝言和親事，稱書意合歡。漢邊吏侵侮右賢王，右賢王不請(qǐng)，聽(tīng)后義盧侯難支等計(jì)，與漢吏相恨，絕二主之約，離昆弟之親。皇帝讓書再至，發(fā)使以書報(bào)，不來(lái)，漢使不至。漢以其故不和，鄰國(guó)不附。今以少吏之?dāng)〖s，故罰右賢王，使至西方求月氏擊之。以天之福，吏卒良，馬力強(qiáng)，以滅夷月氏，盡斬殺降下定之。樓蘭、烏孫、呼揭及其旁二十六國(guó)皆已為匈奴。諸引弓之民并為一家，北州以定。愿寢兵休士養(yǎng)馬，除前事，復(fù)故約，以安邊民，以應(yīng)古始，使少者得成其長(zhǎng)，老者得安其處，世世平樂(lè)。未得皇帝之志，故使郎中系虖淺奉書請(qǐng)，獻(xiàn)橐佗一，騎馬二，駕二駟?；实奂床挥倥?，則且詔吏民遠(yuǎn)舍。使者至，即遣之?！雹?/p>

Rather than recording detailed description in biography of Xiongnu relations， historian came to describe diplomatic marriage between Han Dynasty and Xiongnu in Records of Grand Historian·Liu Jing Shu Tong Lie Zhuan， biography of important person：

劉敬曰：“天下初定，士卒罷於兵，未可以武服也。冒頓殺父代立，妻群母，以力為威，未可以仁義說(shuō)也。獨(dú)可以計(jì)久遠(yuǎn)子孫為臣耳，然恐陛下不能為?！鄙显唬骸罢\(chéng)可，何為不能！顧為柰何？”劉敬對(duì)曰：“陛下誠(chéng)能以適長(zhǎng)公主妻之，厚奉遺之，彼知漢適女送厚，蠻夷必慕以為閼氏，生子必為太子。代單于。何者？貪漢重幣。陛下以歲時(shí)漢所馀彼所鮮數(shù)問(wèn)遺，因使辯士風(fēng)諭以禮節(jié)。冒頓在，固為子婿；死，則外孫為單于。豈嘗聞外孫敢與大父抗禮者哉？兵可無(wú)戰(zhàn)以漸臣也。若陛下不能遣長(zhǎng)公主，而令宗室及後宮詐稱公主，彼亦知，不肯貴近，無(wú)益也?！备叩墼唬骸吧啤！庇查L(zhǎng)公主。呂后日夜泣，曰：“妾唯太子、一女，柰何棄之匈奴！”上竟不能遣長(zhǎng)公主，而取家人子名為長(zhǎng)公主，妻單于。使劉敬往結(jié)和親約。⑤endprint

However， recording diplomatic marriage in biography of Xiongnu relations or of important person served significantly different purposes： While the former one was to conclude diplomatic relationship with foreign state， the later was to describe life of specific person and to reflect his or her characteristics， and thus， the description of diplomatic marriage in the later served as affiliation of personal stories that demonstrated certain qualities of specific person.

The lack of description in biography about Xiongnu relations here， in turn， signified normalization of diplomatic marriage in Han Dynasty： the diplomatic marriage had become too frequent and normal for historians to use large amount of words to describe； similar to attacking， diplomatic marriage was a tactic strategy to deal with diplomatic relationship with other countries.

Accompanied with the normalization of diplomatic marriages was the weakening of individuals experiences： most of the princesses remained anonymous， and their feelings， emotions， and experiences were often ignored by historians. Thirteen princesses were dispatched to Xiongnu and Wu Sun， and only three of them were left with exact name in official history， specifically in Han Shu， Records of the Grand Historian， and Hou Han Shu. Usually， words such as “遂和親?！眂ould be the only records of princesses existences on the stage of history.

Though most of the official history related to biography of foreign relations recording diplomatic marriage did not include elaborate description and often ignored individuals experiences， there were few exceptions： when Ban Gu recorded diplomatic marriage between Han dynasty and Wusun in his book Han Shu Xiyu Zhuan， Hans official history of western regions， not only did he elaborate on personal anecdotes of princess Liu Xijun experiences in Wusun area， but he also described her sad feelings：

漢元封中，遣江都王建女細(xì)君為公主，以妻焉。賜乘輿服御物，為備官屬宦官侍御數(shù)百人，贈(zèng)送甚盛。烏孫昆莫以為右夫人。匈奴亦遣女妻昆莫，昆莫以為左夫人。

公主至其國(guó)，自治宮室居，歲時(shí)一再與昆莫會(huì)，置酒飲食，以幣、帛賜王左右貴人。昆莫年老，言語(yǔ)不通，公主悲愁，自為作歌曰：“吾家嫁我兮天一方，遠(yuǎn)托異國(guó)兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為墻，以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內(nèi)傷，愿為黃鵠兮歸故鄉(xiāng)?！碧熳勇劧鴳z之，間歲遣使者持帷帳錦繡給遺焉。⑥

Ban Gu detailed in how unfamiliar language， distinct customs， and an elder husband who did not understand anything Liu Xijun said had created a sad and homesick emotions for Liu Xijun； he even detailed in specific poem written by Liu Xijun. It seemed that Liu Xijuns experiences in Wusun area had become too sad that even Ban Gu abnormally engaged in a poetic， informal， and sympathetic tone when describing diplomatic marriage， compared to formal and official attitude that he often expressed in Han Shu. In addition， even the emperor himself was being empathetic towards Liu Xijun： after hearing Liu Xijuns experiences in Wusun area， he felt sympathetic for Liu Xijun and dispatched presents to her every year.endprint

But here comes the question： What was exactly official perspective being sympathetic about？ How did that happen？ Why would official history spare sympathy on Liu Xijun while ignoring most of the other princesses？ What can we infer about womens role in diplomatic marriages by examining this contrasting attitude？

Sure， the official history was being sympathetic about the princess as an individual， but more importantly， it was being sympathetic about princesss exotic experience in a foreign country that was considered to be disconnected from civilization， a barbarian country. Han officials had always been claiming cultural superiority over Xiongnu， and this attitude was in turn， reflected in their attitude towards diplomatic marriage. Although Han dynasty constantly participated in diplomatic marriage， they considered Xiongnu peoples nature to be innately barbarian， uncultivated， and aggressive， and they would even murder their own fathers and marry their mothers， as included in Han Shu Xiongnu Zhuan：

其俗，寬則隨畜田獵禽獸為生業(yè)，急則人習(xí)戰(zhàn)攻以侵伐，其天性也。

且夷狄璧如禽獸，得其善言不足喜，惡言不足怒也。

冒頓殺父代立，妻群母，以力為威，未可以仁義說(shuō)也。⑦

Therefore， when Liu Jing first came up with the idea of dispatching princesses through diplomatic marriage to Xiongnu， even Liu Jing himself was rejected， admitting that it was difficult for imperial court to embrace the idea of diplomatic marriage：

獨(dú)可以計(jì)久遠(yuǎn)子孫為臣耳，然恐陛下不能為。⑧

Later historian also， argued that Chinese state had always dominated barbarian Xiongnu morally and politically， and establishing marriage with Xiongnu was ever insulting：

蓋上世帝王之御夷狄也，服則懷之以德，叛則震之以威，未聞與為婚姻也。⑨

Then， under these circumstances， as princesses were dispatched to foreign regions， they were considered to be dispatched to barbarian regions where neither civilization nor humanity existed. Identifying Xiongnu as uncivilized and barren， officials， as well as emperors， came to sympathize with princesses who were unfortunately sent to Xiongnu area， and their attitude was subsequently expressed in official history.

However， although emperor and officials would spare sympathy on diplomatic princesses sometimes， it never helped too much. When Wang Zhaojun wrote letter to emperor after Huhanye died， requesting to return to Han， the emperor refused and asked her to stay and obey Xiongnus custom to be married to Huhanyes son， no matter how he was impressed by Wang Zhaojuns beauty. When Liu Xijun asked the emperor whether she could return， the emperor also refused and replied that he needed to ally with Wusun to attack Xiongnu， no matter whether he was sympathetic towards princesss experiences.endprint

The cold hard truth was that personal emotions and politics were separate： the princesses desolate experience in foreign regions did not affect the result of the normalization of diplomatic marriage. Also， on a national scale， Chinese may disparage the Xiongnu on a cultural level， but when it came to politics they would do whatever was necessary or useful.

Thus， princesses were objectified， as the containers of beauty that the emperor consumed and transferred to other states and political symbols without real political authority. When Huhanye shanyu arrived in imperial court to seek alliances with Han Dynasty in 33 BCE， Han Shu Xiongnu Zhuan recorded that：

竟寧元年春正月，匈奴呼韓邪單于來(lái)朝。詔曰：“匈奴郅支單于背叛禮義，既伏其辜，呼韓邪單于不忘恩德，鄉(xiāng)慕禮義，復(fù)修朝賀之禮，愿保塞傳之無(wú)窮，邊垂長(zhǎng)無(wú)兵革之事.其 改元為竟寧，賜單于待招掖庭王檣（墻）為闊氏。⑩

Instead of marrying Wang Zhaojun （Wang Qiang） to Huhanye Shanyu， the emperor granted Wang Zhaojun to Huhanye as gift to signify alliance between Han and Huhanye.

The same attitude objectifying princesses in diplomatic marriage as presents could be seen in Hou Han Shu：

時(shí)呼韓邪來(lái)朝，帝以宮女五人賜之。！

Also， Hou Han Shu Nan Xiongnu Zhuan recorded how the emperor was impressed by Wang Zhaojuns beauty and how he regretted sending Wang Zhaojun to Xiongnu area：

昭君豐容靚飾，光明漢宮，顧景裴回，竦動(dòng)左右。帝見(jiàn)大驚，意欲留之，而難于失信，遂與匈奴。@

Once the emperor saw how beautiful Wang Zhaojun was， he regretted sending Wang Zhaojun to Xiongnu area. Beauty was most valued by the emperor， and the women themselves， possessing no additional value attached to them other than their beautiful body， became the container of beauty for emperor to consume.

Imprints of official perspective on princesses subjective experiences

As we can see from the last section， princesses in diplomatic marriage often maintained sadness， loneness， and homesickness while staying at foreign country， as described in the official history. But what were they exactly sad and homesick about？ Were they sad about being harassed by politics or missing their country？ What was the connection between their attitudes towards diplomatic marriages and officials attitude towards diplomatic marriage？ In this connection， I would present poems written by Wang Zhaojun and Liu Xijun， trying to analyze their subjective experiences in Xiongnu and how it related to official attitude towards diplomatic marriages.

Princesses sent through diplomatic marriages often remained idle without real political position， and even though they were treated well materially， they were restricted by Xiongnu， unable to do what they wanted to do， as reflected in Wang Zhaojuns poem， Yuan Ci：endprint

志念抑沉，不得頡頏。雖得委食，心有回徨。

Even though they could enjoy various kinds of gourmet， they still suffered psychologically from staying at Xiongnu and started being nostalgic about previous life in imperial palace：

有鳥處山，集于苞桑。養(yǎng)育毛羽，形容生光。

Here Wang Zhaojun metaphorized herself as a bird that flourished in the imperial palace， and she continued expressing how not living in imperial palace made her melancholy and desolate that once she left the imperial palace， her body became corrupted and destroyed：

離宮絕曠，身體摧殘。

Expressing her clear emotional attachment to the imperial palace， Wang Zhaojun said that she was so fortunate to be able to serve for the emperor， and doing so could brand her name forever on history：

臣妾幸得備身禁臠，謂身依日月，死有余芳。

She also viewed serving for emperor as a way for upward mobility， praising the dazzling wind for bringing her upward to the beautiful palace of emperor：

既得開云，上游曲房。

Holding strong desires for serving the emperor， Wang Zhaojun herself， became to affiliate most of her value with satisfying the emperor.

However， even though being sent to Xiongnu through diplomatic marriage was also a way for serving the emperor， Wang Zhaojun was never content about her experiences in Xiongnu. As for Wang Zhaojun， there was a substantial difference between serving the emperor in the imperial palace and serving in Xiongnu area.

She started to embrace mens vision about politics and labeled Xiongnu as uncultivated barbarian， never feeling emotional attached to Xiongnu area， as reflected in part of her poem in which she described things in Xiongnu area were so changeable that she suffered and couldnt endure anymore：

我獨(dú)伊何，來(lái)往變常。

Also， after Huhanye shanyu died， according to Xiongnu custom， Wang Zhaojun should be passed on to Huhanyes son as wife. Unable to accept the “barbarian” custom in Xiongnu area， Wang Zhaojun wrote letter to Han emperor to request to return home：

呼韓邪死，其前閼氏子代立，欲妻之，昭君上書求歸，成帝赦令從胡俗，遂復(fù)為后單于閼氏焉。

Same things had happened on Liu Xijun： after Kunmo shanyu died， unable to endure Xiongnu custom to marry her own son， Liu Xijun requested the emperor to let her come back：

昆莫年老，欲使其孫岑陬尚公主。公主不聽(tīng)，上書言狀.

Similar to official perspective towards foreign regions， princesses started to identify against Xiongnu and Wusun， being sad and homesick about having to stay at Xiongnu or Wusun， the country where neither civilization nor humanity existed. Being sent to foreign countries， they remained idle without real political position， and felt difficult to find their sense of belonging： they did not identify with Xiongnu， since they understood neither the customs nor the languages there； in turn， they began to identify with Chinese states. Princesses came to associate their very own happiness with political strength of their country， forming a mix of their own identity and political identity. For instance， in Yuan Ci， Wang Zhaojun described that her heart was concerning about the rise and fall of Han， and everyday looking south to her country left her with extraordinary sadness：endprint

獨(dú)惜國(guó)家黜涉，移于賤工，南望漢關(guān)徒增愴結(jié)。

As a result， not only did princesses become to embrace official idea of materializing themselves， but they also started to embrace officials vision about politics， identifying against Xiongnu people.

Conclusion

We have examined two general perspectives towards diplomatic marriages in official history： while most of the official history talked about diplomatic marriage in short and cold term and often ignored individual princesses experiences， the other one elaborated on princesses feelings. We have then offered a political and social context in which the two perspectives coexisted. Further， we have analyzed princesses subjective experiences in foreign regions and how they gradually absorbed official perspective towards diplomatic marriage and princesses themselves.

Two aspects of official perspectives—objects that barely worth elaborate description； and objects of sympathy demonstrating horrors of exotic regions beyond Chinese civilization—are mirrored in the two dimensions of princesses subjective experiences as their desires to serve for the emperor and their inability to accept uncultivated customs of Xiongnu.

By looking at how official perspective could reflect in womens own subjective experiences in diplomatic marriages， we could get a sense of how womens views were shaped by male officials back in Han dynasty. Gender power relationship was involved in reshaping princesses experiences， and as for how it came to being， more research is to be done.

注釋：

① Fan Ye， Hou Han Shu·Nan Xiongnu Zhuan， http：//www.gushiwen.com/dianji/41.html

② Ban Gu， Han Shu·Xiongnu Zhuan， //www.gushiwen.com/dianji/40.html

③ Ban Gu， Han Shu.

④ Ban Gu， Han Shu.

⑤ Sima Qian， Records of the Grand Historian· Biography of Liu Jing， http：//so.gushiwen.org/guwen/bookv_186.aspx

⑥ Ban Gu， Han Shu.

⑦ Ban Gu， Han Shu.

⑧ Sima Qian， Records of the Grand Historian.

⑨ Sima Guang， Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in the Government， http：//www.gushiwen.org/guwen/zizhi.aspx

⑩ Ban Gu， Han Shu.

！ Fan Ye， Hou Han Shu.

@ Fan Ye， Hou Han Shu.

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[3]Wang， Z. （n.d.）. Yuan Ci.

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[6]Sima， Qian. （n.d.）. Records of Grand Historian. Retrieved from http：//so.gushiwen.org/guwen/bookv_186.aspxendprint