In ancient feudal society, men were responsible for cultivating the fields and women were responsible for weaving, and women played an important role in social production. However, women's contributions in other areas are often underdocumented and therefore our understanding of them is limited. However, in historical records, we can see women in the Han and Han dynasties, including concubines, princesses, rebel leaders, and academic talents. Among them, the phenomenon of the queen mother's intervention in politics was triggered by Empress Lu in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. Empress Lu dared to kill the founding heroes, showing her means of power. Although Empress Lü went against Emperor Hui's wishes, killed Madame Qi and King Ruyi of Zhao, and shook the rule of the Han Dynasty during the eight years of her reign, the stability of the social order was not affected. Sima Qian once praised: "If you don't go out of the house, the world is peaceful." Penalties are rarely used, and offenders are few. The people are diligent in planting and have abundant food and clothing. "Empress Lu can be described as a female leader with political talent and ruthless methods. During the reign of Emperor Jing, Empress Dowager Dou believed in the way of Huang Lao, which hindered the path of some Confucian scholars. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Empress Yuan trusted her relatives, causing Wang Mang to usurp the Han Dynasty.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the phenomenon of the queen mother interfering in politics was more significant, and there were six empress dowagers in a row, namely Dou, Deng, Yan, Liang, Dou and He. Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty once recorded the deeds of these empress dowagers, among which Empress Dou was favored and raised Emperor He, but framed nobles and caused her death. After the death of Emperor He, she continued to reign in the dynasty until Empress Deng became the empress dowager and Emperor Yan was appointed as the heir to the throne. However, with the death of Emperor Yan, Yan became the empress dowager, and she was in charge of the dynasty until the eunuch Sun Cheng and others launched an uprising and elected Emperor Shun to the throne, after which the empress dowager returned to Emperor Shun. Since then, the Liang family, the Dou family and the He family have also become the queen mother and have mastered the government for a long time. This series of events shows that under the patriarchal system of feudal society, women can also have the highest power under certain conditions, which is an important issue that historical researchers need to pay attention to. For example, in the case of the princess and her relatives, Princess Xie Wei was the granddaughter of Liu Wu, the king of Chu in the Western Han Dynasty, who went out of the fortress in the early years of Emperor Wu and married Wusun. At that time, Wusun was an ally of the Xiongnu, and later formed a Kundi state with the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty once sent Princess Xijun, the daughter of Jiangdu Wang Jian, to marry Wusun in order to achieve the goal of harmony. Wang Zhaojun is a native of Southern County of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because of the language barrier, she missed her hometown very much in a foreign land, and once asked Emperor Wu to return to her homeland. Emperor Wu asked her to follow the customs of Wusun and eliminate the Xiongnu. After the death of King Wusun, she married Wang Sun. Soon, the Han Dynasty sent a princess to marry and continue to maintain relations with Wusun. During the reign of Emperor Zhao, the Xiongnu and the Cheshi jointly invaded Wusun, and the princess wrote to ask the Han Dynasty to send troops to help. Emperor Zhao died, Emperor Xuan succeeded to the throne, and the princess wrote again, asking the Han Dynasty to send troops to resist the Xiongnu. As a result, the Han Dynasty cooperated with Wusun and captured the heads of more than 40,000 enemies and more than 700,000 heads of various livestock, dealing a heavy blow to the Xiongnu. Xie changed their customs during the Wusun period and married the son of the king's uncle and ex-wife, and gave birth to four sons and two daughters. When she was in the third year of Ganlu, she asked to take her grandson back to Chang'an, and Emperor Xuan gave her a farm house and slaves, and treated her very politely. In the fifth year of Ganlu, Princess Xie Wei died. During the fifty years she lived, the Han Dynasty and Wusun maintained good relations.
When Wang Zhaojun entered the palace, Emperor Yuan gave the Southern Xiongnu Huhan Evil Shan to five women, and Zhaojun asked to go to the Xiongnu after knowing it. Emperor Yuan regretted it and let Zhaojun get out of the plug. After Zhaojun arrived in the Xiongnu, he gave birth to two sons with Huhan Evil. After Hu Hanxie died, his ex-wife set up a substitute and wanted to marry Zhaojun as his wife. Zhaojun wrote a letter requesting to return to the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Cheng ordered her to become the Houshan Yu Yan clan. Zhaojun later died in the Xiongnu, the Tang Dynasty Du You mentioned the "tomb of Wang Zhaojun" in the "Tongdian Prefecture County", and now there is a tomb of Zhaojun in the south of the Dahei River in the southern suburbs of Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia. Her exit had a positive impact on the friendly relations between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. Lü Mu Uprising: Exploring the heroine Lü Mu, who unveiled the prelude to the peasant uprising in the last years of Wang Mang, was born in Langxihaiqu (now Rizhao, Shandong), and came from a wealthy family with millions of family assets. In 14 A.D., her son was brutally executed by the county governor for a misdemeanor. In order to avenge her son, Lu's mother silently organized like-minded people, used the family wealth to brew fine wine, and bought swords and clothing.
Not only did she give the young warriors and the poor the opportunity to borrow money for the sake of the wine, but she also generously gave warmth to those who wore meager clothing, regardless of the amount they lent. A few years later, Lu's mother's wealth was almost exhausted, and everyone was ready to pay off their debts. Lu Mu said sadly: "I have a deep affection for you, not for personal gain, just because the county magistrate unjustly killed my son, I want to seek justice for him." Everyone was sympathetic. So, Lu Mu gathered a few thousand people, proclaimed herself a general, conquered the county seat of Haiqu, and captured the county governor. When the other county officials came to ask for surrender, she replied flatly: "My son has committed a misdemeanor and should not have died, but the county magistrate killed him coldly." Whoever kills deserves to pay with his life, what more can he ask for?With that, she beheaded the magistrate and sacrificed his head to her son's grave. Subsequently, the size of Lu Mu's team expanded to more than 10,000 people, and at this time, her actions went beyond the scope of revenge.
In 17 A.D., Wang Kuang, Wang Feng and others launched an uprising in Lvlin (now Dangyang, Hubei), and in 18 A.D., Fan Chong and others raised the banner of rebellion in Ju County (now Ju County, Shandong), and the strength of the rebel army began to show a mighty situation. Around 22 AD, Lü's mother died of illness, and most of her followers switched to Fan Chong's ranks. By this time, Fan Chong's team had become the famous Red Eyebrow Army. Shortly after the Lümu uprising, in 21 AD, Chi Zhaoping, a woman from the plains (now in the Shandong Plain), was proficient in scriptures and gathered thousands of people to set off a wave of uprisings in the plains, but due to limited information, we do not know much about this event. Xun Yue, the author of the Han Dynasty, recorded in Volume 30: "The evil woman Lu Mu, in order to seek justice for her son, gathered many supporters, as many as tens of thousands, and was known as the Red Eyebrow Army. It can be seen that Lu Mu's team has a close relationship with the Red Eyebrow Army, so it is regarded as a force in it. Next, Ban Zhao began to write a book. Ban Zhao, the word Huiban, also known as Ji, is the wife of Uncle Cao Shishu of Fufeng. Her husband died young, so Ban Zhao was known as a disciplined woman.
She was erudite, and after the death of her brother Ban Gu, she continued to write, including the Eight Tables in the Book of Han and the Astronomical Chronicles. Ban Zhao was summoned by Emperor He many times and was appointed as the master of the empress and nobles, so he was honored as "everyone". Emperor He also specially ordered her to create poems with foreign objects. Later, Empress Dowager Deng took control of the government, and she had to seek Ban Zhao's opinion on everything, and also named her son as the Marquis of Guannei, and the official was Qi Xiang. At that time, the Book of Han had just been completed, and there were still some things that needed to complement each other. Ban Zhao took the "Book of Han" as the topic, and Ma Rong from the same county listened downstairs and took notes at the same time. After Ban Zhao's death, her position was inherited by Ma Xu. In the early years of Yong, Deng Qiu wrote a letter requesting to return to his hometown, but the Empress Dowager Deng refused to agree at first. So she consulted Ban Zhao, who wrote: "I have heard that humility is the most noble, as the Analects says: 'What is the use of courtesy in politics to serve the country?' Therefore, we should promote the sincerity of concessions. Deng Qiu is so committed to the path of loyalty and filial piety, and retreats from himself, we should not refuse his legitimate demands. Otherwise, even if it is a matter of hair, it will be difficult to regain the name of concession.
Ban Zhao's advice made Empress Dowager Deng decide to accede to Deng Qiu's request. Ban Zhao wrote seven articles of the "Female Commandments", in which he wrote: "I am a foolish person with a dull character. However, after receiving the favor of his ancestors and the teaching of his mother, at the age of fourteen, he held a broom in Cao's family, and now more than forty years have passed. I have always been terrified, worried about being humiliated and burdened by China and abroad. I was unknown, but now I realize relief. I am slow by nature and inexperienced in education, and I am often worried about my daughters and daughters-in-law, who do not know enough about etiquette and women's morals, and that they will lose their dignity and bring shame to the family. I'm dying right now, and I don't know if I'll be alive tomorrow. Therefore, I have written these seven "female commandments", hoping that every woman will write a letter to make up for my shortcomings and help yourselves. Go for it, come on!The Female Commandments later spread very widely and became a guide for teaching women in feudal times. Ma Rong liked these articles very much and let his wife and daughter learn Xi. Ban Zhao's husband, Cao Shishu's sister, disagreed with Ban Zhao and wrote a letter to question her, but the letter did not survive.
Ban Zhao died in her seventies, and wrote a total of 16 articles, including Fu, Ode, Ming, Edict, Question, Note, Lamentation, Book, Treatise, Shangshu, and Testament, compiled by her daughter-in-law Ding, and also wrote "Everyone's Praise". Ban Zhao's aunt was also a talented woman, and when Emperor Xiaocheng ascended the throne, she was elected to the harem and became a young envoy. Soon after, she won the favor of Emperor Cheng and was made a servant. He is good at reciting poetry and is proficient in ancient proverbs. She would greet the emperor every day according to ancient etiquette. However, Ban Ling later fell out of favor. In the third year of Hongjia in 18 BC, she was framed by Zhao Feiyan along with Empress Xu, and Empress Xu was deposed. Ban Qian said to the emperor: "I heard that life and death have a fate, wealth is in the sky, and some people cannot get the blessing of God even if they cultivate themselves, so why do you favor the best people?If the demons were aware, they would not accept such infidelity. Even if they don't know, our complaint is meaningless. So I'm not going to ask for your help for this. Emperor Cheng was very sympathetic and gave her a hundred catties. Fearing to be hurt by the Zhao clan again, Ban Qian retreated to the East Palace, and after Emperor Cheng's death, she was sent to Chongfeng Yuanling.
In the funeral garden, the hand-me-down of Ban Qian was left. "The Biography of Relatives in Hanshu" includes a poem about self-injury written by her, and "Zhaoming Anthology" includes her "Song of Resentment". Ban Ling's works have survived to this day, which makes people marvel at her talent. She once lamented her fate in the funeral garden, and expressed her inner anguish and unwillingness in beautiful language. Her self-injury and resentful songs are full of affection and grievance, which is heartbreaking. Ban Qianling's works are not only of literary value, but also of historical witness. Through her brushstrokes, we can see the fate and suffering of the people of that era, and we can also understand the vicissitudes of history more deeply.