University of Virginia Library

The Emperor's favorite women and their relatives

Perhaps the most interesting features of Emperor Wu's government
are connected with the women of his harem. As a child, Emperor Wu
was married to the girl who became his Empress née Ch'en, and he was

made Heir-apparent through the influence wielded by this Empress's
mother. This Empress had his sole favor and was highly honored. But
she had no son, even though she spent millions of cash on practitioners
of various sorts. In a court where power depended upon who it was that
had the Emperor's ear, intrigues against the influence of the Empress's
mother naturally arose. A sister or half-sister of Emperor Wu, the
Princess of P'ing-yang, gathered some ten girls of good families, and,
when Emperor Wu visited her, she introduced them to him. He did not
care for any of these girls, but liked an attractive singer and dancer,
Wei Tzu-fu, the daughter of a slave in the Princess's household. This
girl attended upon the Emperor while adjusting his clothes and he favored
her. The Princess then sent her to the imperial harem. For more than
a year after, she was not summoned, but at last she managed to see the
Emperor, excite his pity, and revive her former relation with him. When
the Empress heard of it, she was very jealous and fearful. She tried to
have the new favorite's brother killed; when that fact became known,
Emperor Wu became furious with his Empress. She had tried to obtain
sons by magical practises; her daughter was now charged with using
witchcraft and black magic upon the Emperor. Some three hundred
persons, including the daughter, were executed; the Empress née Ch'en
was dismissed and sent to live in a separate palace. The fear of witchcraft
and black magic, which defaced Emperor Wu's reign, leading to
the death of his first Heir-apparent, the Empress née Wei, and ten-thousands
of others, and which became epidemic several times in later
reigns, thus began its influence early in Emperor Wu's reign.

Emperor Wu began the practise of entrusting power to the relatives of
his favorite women, which practise in the end brought about the downfall
of the dynasty. Wei Tzu-fu bore Emperor Wu three daughters and
finally a son, whereupon she was made Empress. Her younger half-brother,
Wei Ch'ing, was made a General; when he was successful against
the Huns, he was made General-in-chief. Her sister's illegitimate son,
Ho Ch'ü-ping, distinguished himself even more as a general. Ho
Ch'ü-ping's half-brother, Ho Kuang, became the Emperor's intimate
attendant and the actual ruler of the country after the Emperor's death.
One sister of Tzu-fu was married to the Chief of the Stud, Kung-sun
Ho, who was likewise made a general; another sister's lover, Ch'en
Chang, who came of a noble family, was highly honored. Thus the
imperial favor for one woman called into being the clique which was
influential through much of the reign and after the Emperor's death.

He seems however to have later realized the danger of female influence
in the government; before he appointed the future Emperor Chao as his
Heir-apparent, Emperor Wu thoughtfully saw to it that the young boy's

mother died, in order to avoid female influence during a long regency.
Then he appointed his three most intimate attendants to control the
government during the minority. Ho Kuang proved loyal and capable,
so that this arrangement preserved the dynasty, but later emperors were
too humane to follow Emperor Wu's example.