
Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi is known to be one of China’s most wanton figures in history.[1] She was the favourite imperial concubine of Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty.[2] She is also known as Empress Zhao Feiyan’s notorious sister, whom she conspired with for her ruthless deeds.[3] She has been blamed by ancient chroniclers for killing Emperor Cheng because of her wantonness.[4] Did Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi deserve her negative reputation? It seems that her greatest sin was that she failed to give Emperor Cheng a son.[5]
The birthdate of Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi is unknown.[6] Her original name was Feng Hede.[7] Her father was Feng Wanli.[8] She had an older sister named Feng Yizhu (who would be known as Zhao Feiyan).[9] After her father’s death, she and her older sister were adopted by a man named Zhao Lin, and they changed their surnames to Zhao.[10] They grew up in Yang Anzhu’s mansion, where they learned to sing and dance.[11] Zhao Hede was said to be “fair-skinned and plump.”[12]
In 18 B.C.E., Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty visited Yang Anzhu’s mansion.[13] He watched Zhao Feiyan dance and was immediately smitten.[14] He also desired Zhao Hede.[15] Emperor Cheng brought both Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede to his palace.[16] He bestowed on the Zhao sisters the title of Jieyu (which was the second highest rank below the Empress position).[17]
The Zhao sisters created trouble in Emperor Cheng’s harem.[18] They accused Imperial Consort Ban Jieyu of witchcraft.[19] She quickly fell out of Emperor Cheng’s favour.[20] Then, they accused Empress Xu of witchcraft.[21] Emperor Cheng demoted Empress Xu.[22] In 16 B.C.E., Zhao Feiyan was invested as Empress. Imperial Consort Zhao Hede was given the title of Zhaoyi (the highest rank below the Empress position).[23] She was installed in Zhaoyang Palace, which was the most opulent residence in the imperial palace.[24]
The Zhao sisters did not have any children with Emperor Cheng.[25] Ancient chroniclers have accused them of killing all the Emperor’s children in order to secure their positions in the harem.[26] However, modern historians find this claim to be false.[27] This is because it seems to be a literary pattern for empresses with a negative reputation to kill their rivals’ children.[28] Ancient chroniclers have also claimed that both of the Zhao sisters had taken multiple lovers.[29] However, modern historians believe this claim to be false.[30] This was because they were cloistered in a strict imperial harem and would be watched constantly.[31]
On 17 April 7 B.C.E., Emperor Cheng suddenly died while he was sexually intimate with Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi.[32] Modern historians believe he died of a stroke.[33] However, Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi was accused of killing Emperor Cheng due to sexual indulgence.[34] Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun called for an open investigation into her son’s death.[35] Since Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi could not prove her innocence, she committed suicide that same day.[36]
Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi’s reputation continues to be blackened to this day. Therefore, it is hard to separate fact from fiction.[37] Imperial Consort Zhao Zhaoyi has been blamed by ancient chroniclers for monopolising Emperor Cheng’s affections and eliminating the line of imperial succession.[38] They also blamed her for murdering Emperor Cheng because she was too “greedy for sex.”[39] Yet, her greatest sin was that she remained childless.[40] Therefore, Imperial Consort Zhao Hede Zhaoyi is still considered one of China’s most reviled figures in history.[41]
Sources:
McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.
Milburn, O. (2021). The Empress in the Pepper Chamber: Zhao Feiyan in History and Fiction. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Shen, J. & Che, W. W.(trans.). (2015). “Zhao Hede, Concubine of Emperor Cheng”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. – 618 C.E..(L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge. pp. 249-251.
Xiaoming, Z. (2015). “Zhao Feiyan, later Empress Xiaocheng, Western Han Dynasty”. Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. (B. B. Peterson, Ed.; H. Yucheng, Trans.). London: Routledge. pp. 86-88.
[1] McMahon, 2013
[2] Shen and Che, 2015
[3] McMahon, 2013
[4] McMahon, 2013; Shen and Che, 2015
[5] Milburn, 2021
[6] Shen and Che, 2015
[7] Shen and Che, 2015
[8] Shen and Che, 2015
[9] Xiaoming, 2015
[10] Shen and Che, 2015
[11] Xiaoming, 2015
[12] Shen and Che, 2015, p. 250
[13] Xiaoming, 2015
[14] Xiaoming, 2015
[15] Xiaoming, 2015
[16] Shen and Che, 2015
[17] Shen and Che, 2015
[18] Shen and Che, 2015
[19] Shen and Che, 2015
[20] Shen and Che, 2015
[21] Shen and Che, 2015
[22] Shen and Che, 2015
[23] Shen and Che, 2015
[24] Shen and Che, 2015
[25] Shen and Che, 2015
[26] Xiaoming, 2015
[27] Milburn, 2021
[28] Milburn, 2021
[29] McMahon, 2013
[30] Milburn, 2021
[31] Milburn, 2021
[32] McMahon, 2013
[33] Milburn, 2021
[34] Shen and Che, 2015
[35] McMahon, 2013; Shen and Che, 2015
[36] McMahon, 2013; Shen and Che, 2015
[37] Milburn, 2013
[38] Shen and Che, 2015
[39] McMahon, 2013, p. 83
[40] Milburn, 2013
[41] Shen and Che, 2015
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