Ban Jieyu

Ban Jieyu

Ban Jieyu (48 B.C. - 2 A.D.), whose name is unknown, is the concubine of Liu Ao, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. She is a female writer and famous talented woman of the Western Han Dynasty. She is one of the female writers who are good at Ci Fu in the history of Chinese literature. Good poetry, good virtue. At the beginning, she was a little envoy, and she was established as Jieyu. There is a biography of her in the book of Han Dynasty. She is also the granddaughter of Ban Gu, ban Chao and Ban Zhao. There are many of her works, but most of them have been lost. There are only three existing works, namely, Fu on self injury, Fu on daosu, and a five character poem "song of resentment" (also known as "Tuanshan song").

(< I > source of the portrait of ban Jieyu < / I >)

Life of the characters

Early experience

Ban Jieyu is the descendant of Yin Ziwen, the commander of Chu, and the daughter of ban Kuang, the commander of Zuo Caoyue. Ban Jieyu was born in a meritorious family. Her father ban Kuang fought against Xiongnu in the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. And she was smart, beautiful and intelligent since childhood, working in poetry, outstanding literary talent, read a lot.

Selected into the harem

In the first year of the Han Dynasty (32 BC), Liu Ao, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, ascended the throne. Ban's family was elected to the imperial palace. At the beginning, he was a junior envoy (a lower class female official), and soon won favor and was granted the title of "Jieyu". Emperor Cheng asked ban Jieyu to live in zengchengshe palace, the third area of the back palace. Jieyu also gave birth to a prince for the emperor, but she died a few months later. After that, ban Jieyu never gave birth again. Ban Jieyu often read the book of songs, Yaotiao, Dexiang and nvshi, and every time she met the emperor, she followed the ancient etiquette.

Emperor's favorite

Emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty was attracted by Ban Jieyu's beauty and literary talent and loved her very much. In order to stay with ban Jieyu all the time, he ordered someone to make a larger chariot to travel with her, but ban Jieyu refused. She said: "look at the pictures left by ancient times, the kings of sages and sages all have famous officials on their side. Only Xia Jie, Shang Zhou, and Zhou Youwang, the late masters of Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, had their concubines sitting in their seats. At last, they fell into the state's ruin. If I go out with you, it's very similar to them. Isn't it awe inspiring? " Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty thought her words were reasonable, so he had to give up the idea of traveling with the chariot for the time being.

At that time, the Empress Dowager heard that ban Jieyu did not travel with the emperor in the same car because of her reason. She appreciated it very much and said to the people close to her: "in ancient times, there was Fan Ji, but now there is ban Jieyu." Here, Empress Dowager Wang compared ban Jieyu with Fan Ji, the wife of Duke Zhuang of Chu in the spring and Autumn period, and gave her great encouragement and encouragement. Fan Ji was very virtuous and helped King Zhuang of Chu to become one of the "five tyrants of the spring and Autumn Period". Empress Dowager Wang compared ban Jieyu to Fan Ji, which made her position more prominent in the harem. At that time, ban Jieyu strengthened her training in women's morality, women's appearance, women's talents and women's workers, hoping to have a greater impact on emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty and make him a wise emperor. However, Emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty was not the king of Chu Zhuang. Since Zhao Feiyan's sisters entered the palace, ban Jieyu was left out in the cold.

Zhao's frame up

After entering the palace, the Zhao sisters were domineering. Empress Xu hated them very much. She had no choice but to come up with a bad plan. She set up an altar in the palace, chanted scriptures in the morning and dusk, prayed for the emperor's good fortune and longevity, and cursed the Zhao sisters for disaster. After the incident was revealed, the Zhao sisters deliberately said that empress Xu not only cursed herself, but also the emperor. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty was angry and abandoned empress Xu in Zhaotai palace. Zhao sisters also want to take advantage of this opportunity to crack down on their main rival, ban Jieyu, and falsely accuse ban Jieyu of participating in the "witchcraft" case. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty believed in slander. However, ban Jieyu calmly symmetrical: "I know that people's life span is predestined, and people's wealth is also predestined by heaven, which cannot be changed by human power. What hope is there for evil? If ghosts and gods know, how can they listen to the Prayer without faith? If the gods are ignorant, what good is curse! I dare not do it, and I disdain it Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty felt that what she said was reasonable. He also thought of her love not long ago. He felt pity for her and did not pursue her. He also gave her a generous reward to make up for her guilt.

Ban Jieyu is a virtuous and virtuous woman. She can't stand the toss of slander, jealousy, exclusion and framing. In order to avoid right and wrong in the future, she thinks it's better to retreat bravely and protect herself. So she wrote a memorial. Since you go to Changxin palace to serve the Empress Dowager and put yourself under the wings of the empress dowager, you won't be afraid of Zhao Feiyan's framing. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty agreed with her Please.

Please stay in the deep palace

Ban Jieyu went to Changxin palace to serve the Empress Dowager and stayed in Shengong from then on. Ban Jieyu pitied for her old age and wrote Tuan fan poem, also known as "song of resentment", by borrowing autumn fan to hurt herself. She knew that she was like Tuan fan after autumn, and she would never get the love of emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty. Before long, Zhao Feiyan was canonized as the queen, and Zhao Hede became Zhaoyi. However, all these had nothing to do with ban Jieyu. Besides accompanying the Empress Dowager Wang to burn incense and worship, she had no slang during the day. Besides playing Zheng and writing, she used painting to express her feelings, which left many poems for the literary world.

Lonely old age

Emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty collapsed in Weiyang palace in March of the second year of Suihe. After the death of emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, ban Jieyu asked to guard the tomb at emperor Cheng's mausoleum. So the Empress Dowager asked ban Jieyu to take the post of guarding the cemetery. From then on, ban Jieyu spent her lonely old age with stone man and stone horse every day. About a year later, ban Jieyu died of illness. She was in her forties. After his death, he was buried in the mausoleum of the Han Dynasty.

Main works

There are many works of ban Jieyu, but most of them have been lost. The only ones that have been handed down to this world are the song of Tuan fan, the Fu of self mourning and the Fu of daosu.

Character evaluation

General comments

Ban Jieyu is beautiful in appearance and highly literate. She is especially familiar with historical events. She often quotes classics and makes a statement. She often enlightens emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. Ban Jieyu is also good at music. She not only writes Ci, but also composes music. Her Ci and music express her feelings, which makes emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty benefit greatly from the sound of silk and bamboo. For emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty, ban Jieyu was not only her concubine, but also his mentor. Ban Jieyu's virtue is also well-known in the harem. Because she didn't interfere in the government, she was deeply respected by the people at that time, and was known as "Fan Ji in ancient times, and Jieyu today".

Ban Jieyu was an outstanding talented woman, but the role of palace women was to please the emperor. It didn't matter whether they were talented or not. Ban Jieyu, who can write poems, can't beat Zhao Feiyan, who can fly. Ban Jieyu can be regarded as a model of ancient women's morality, but in a sense, she was not harmed by it.

Ban Jieyu's life can be regarded as a specimen of the life course of ancient imperial concubines. Her life from prosperous to bleak is the common life situation of the imperial concubines in feudal society for thousands of years. They may win the emperor's love or favor by virtue of their talent and beauty, but they will be left behind and gradually forgotten because of their aging or other reasons. In other words, the life course of ban Jieyu is also the epitome of the tragic fate of women in the patriarchal society.

In Zhong Rong's Shi pin, ban Jieyu was listed among the top 18 poets. Bo Xuan's poems in the Western Jin Dynasty praised her: "Bin Bin, Jieyu, Xiuwen. In the same chariot, with courtesy minister king. It seems that the Tang Dynasty is right. Retreat to avoid harm, cloud Miao floating cloud

Historical evaluation

Cao Zhi: "if there is virtue and speech, it is only ban Jie. It is proud to be rich, but it is tired to be poor. In Yi Zhenjian, in Jin Zhengjie. Lin SA end dry, Chong frost vibration leaves

Fu Xuan: "Binbin Jieyu, who was in charge of Xiuwen, left the same chariot, helped the emperor with propriety, showed her virtue, and resolved the dispute with the Communist Party of China

Zuo Fen: "Xun Xun class female, respectful and modest, CI Nian Jin Xian, debate Zhu Li frame, shape picture Danqing, name Mou Fan Yu."

Anecdotes and allusions

Tuan fan, also known as silk palace fan and Hehuan fan, appeared in the Western Han Dynasty. It was the ornament of concubines and ladies at that time. Because of Zhao Feiyan's sister's framed persecution, ban Jieyu asked to live in Shengong for her own protection and wrote the song of Tuan fan. After that, Tuanshan almost became a symbol of beauty and loss of power. The association between Tuan fan and miserable life situation originated from ban Jieyu in Han Dynasty.

After moving to Changxin palace, ban Jieyu quietly retired in the deep palace. Every day when the door of Changxin palace was opened, she began to sweep the floor step by step. Her life was rigid and monotonous. She felt like a fan abandoned in autumn, lonely. He wrote poems to mourn himself, so as to spend time, often touching the scene. In the song of Tuan fan (also known as the song of resentment), she compared the autumn fan and sighed: "I often fear that the autumn festival will come, and the cool wind will take away the heat. "If you give up your donation box, you will lose your kindness." The Tuan fan, cut with pure white silk, accompanies the host in hot weather. In the cool autumn, it was put in the box. Later generations took "autumn cool Tuanshan" as the allusion of women's falling out of favor, also known as "ban NV fan".

member of family

Ban Jieyu's brothers include ban Bo, ban you, ban Zhi and so on. They are all famous for their study and practice.

Ban Zhi's son is ban Biao. Ban Biao gives birth to Ban Gu, ban Chao and Ban Zhao. Ban Biao, Ban Gu and Ban Zhao were all famous historians of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and ban Chao was a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Mausoleum cemetery

About 600 meters northeast of the Yan Mausoleum of emperor Cheng of Han Dynasty in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, there is a tomb of ban Jieyu, which is known by local people as "Tomb of worried women" or "Tomb of worried women". After her death, ban Jieyu was buried near Yanling. Ban Jieyu's tomb is shaped like a Fu Dou, with a perimeter of 320 meters at the bottom, a height of 14 meters and a top edge of 30 meters. Yunwen tiles and other Han Dynasty bricks and tiles were unearthed around the base of the mausoleum. There are seven funerary tombs on its east wing.

Historical records

Ban Gu's book of the Han Dynasty volume 97 part 67

Film and television image

In 1996, Li Jianqun acted as ban Jieyu in the TV series flying swallow in Han Palace

Weng Hong as ban Jieyu in 2007 TV series Wang Zhaojun

2008 TV series "mother's world" field decoration class Jieyu

Chinese PinYin : Ban Jie Yu