Lady Zhen

Lady Zhen (26 January 183 – 4 August 221), personal name unknown, was the first wife of Cao Pi, the first ruler of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. In 226, she was posthumously honoured as Empress Wenzhao when her son Cao Rui succeeded Cao Pi as the emperor of Wei.

Early life

Lady Zhen was from Wuji County (), Zhongshan Commandery (), which is in present-day Wuji County, Hebei. She was a descendant of Zhen Han (), who served as a Grand Protector () in the late Western Han dynasty and later the General-in-Chief () during the short-lived Xin dynasty. Her father, Zhen Yi (), served as the Prefect of Shangcai County in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He died when Lady Zhen was about three years old. Lady Zhen's mother, whose maiden family name was Zhang (), was from Changshan Commandery (常山郡; around present-day Zhengding County, Hebei). Lady Zhen's parents had three sons and five daughters: eldest son Zhen Yu (), who died early; second son Zhen Yan (), who became a ''xiaolian'' and later served as an assistant to the General-in-Chief and as the Chief of Quliang County; third son Zhen Yao (), who was also a ''xiaolian''; eldest daughter Zhen Jiang (); second daughter Zhen Tuo (); third daughter Zhen Dao (); fourth daughter Zhen Rong (). Lady Zhen was the youngest of the five daughters.

Zhen Yi once brought his children to meet Liu Liang (), a fortune teller, who commented on Lady Zhen, "This girl will become very noble in the future." Unlike many children of her age, the young Lady Zhen did not enjoy playing. Once, when she was eight years old, her sisters went to the balcony to watch a group of horse-riding performers outside their house but Lady Zhen did not join in. Her sisters were puzzled so they asked her, and she responded, "Is this something a girl should watch?" When she was nine years old, she became interested in scholarly arts and started reading books and using her brothers' writing materials. Her brothers told her, "You should be learning what women traditionally do (such as weaving). When you picked up reading, were you thinking of becoming a female academician?" Lady Zhen replied, "I heard that virtuous women in history learnt from the successes and failures of those who lived before them. If they didn't read, how did they learn all that?"

Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, after the death of Emperor Ling, China entered a chaotic period because the central government's authority weakened, and regional officials and warlords started fighting each other in a bid to gain supremacy. The common people suffered from poverty and hunger, and many wealthy households who owned expensive items such as jewellery offered to sell these valuables in return for food. Lady Zhen's family had large stockpiles of grain, and they planned to take advantage of the situation to sell their grain in exchange for valuable items. Lady Zhen, who about 10 years old at the time, said to her mother, "It's not wrong to own expensive items, but in this chaotic era, owning such items has become a wrongdoing. Our neighbours are suffering from hunger, so why don't we distribute our surplus grain to our fellow townsfolk? This is an act of graciousness and kindness." Her family praised her for her suggestion and heeded her advice.

When Lady Zhen was 14, her second brother Zhen Yan () died, and she was deeply grieved. She continued to show respect towards Zhen Yan's widow, and even helped to raise Zhen Yan's son. Lady Zhen's mother was particularly strict towards her daughters-in-law and treated them harshly. Lady Zhen told her mother, "It's unfortunate that Second Brother died early. Second Sister-in-Law became widowed at such a young age and she's now left with only her son. You should treat your daughters-in-law better and love them as you would love your own daughters." Lady Zhen's mother was so deeply touched that she cried, and she started treating her daughters-in-law better and allowed them to accompany and wait on her.

Marriages to Yuan Xi and Cao Pi

Sometime in the middle of the Jian'an era (196–220) of the reign of Emperor Xian, Lady Zhen married Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who controlled much of northern China. Yuan Shao later put Yuan Xi in charge of You Province, so Yuan Xi left to assume his appointment. Lady Zhen did not follow her husband and remained in Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei), the administrative centre of Yuan Shao's domain, to take care of her mother-in-law.

Yuan Shao lost to his rival, Cao Cao, at the Battle of Guandu in 200 CE and died two years later. After his death, his sons Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang became embroiled in internecine struggles over their father's vast domain. When the Yuan brothers were exhausted from their wars against each other, Cao Cao attacked and defeated them, swiftly conquering the territories that used to be controlled by the Yuans. In mid-September 204, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shang at the Battle of Ye and his forces occupied the city; the population was then massacred. Cao Cao's forces seized control of the women of the Yuan household, who were often raped. Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, entered Yuan Shao's residence and met Lady Liu (Yuan Shao's widow) and Lady Zhen. Lady Zhen was so terrified that she buried her face in her mother-in-law's lap. Cao Pi said, "What's going on, Madam Liu? Ask that lady to lift up her head!" Cao Pi was very impressed and entranced by Lady Zhen's beauty when he saw her. His father allowed him to marry her later.

Yuan Xi was still alive at the time. Yuan Shang came to join him after his defeat by Cao Cao. When Kong Rong heard of the marriage between Lady Zhen and Cao Pi, he wrote Cao Cao a letter, falsifying a parallel in ancient history, claiming King Wu of Zhou arranged marriage between his brother the Duke of Zhou and the beautiful consort Daji, lately the favourite of the defeated king Di Xin, and legendarily blamed for the downfall of the Shang dynasty. Thinking that Kong Rong was citing a classic text to praise him, Cao Cao asked about the source, but Kong merely said, "I saw what happened in our day and thought it must have been so."

In 207, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and their Wuhuan