Princess Hua Rong is most famous for her poem “Dancing Song.”[1] However, her husband, Prince Liu Dan, was ambitious and power-hungry.[2] He would make several unsuccessful attempts to become Emperor of China. Because of her husband’s grand ambitions, Princess Hua Rong met a tragic end.
In circa 116 B.C.E., Princess Hua Rong was born.[3] Her origins are unknown.[4] She married Liu Dan, the Prince of Yanla (the third son of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty).[5] When Emperor Wu’s two eldest sons died, Prince Liu Dan believed that he should be the next in line to inherit the Crown Prince title.[6] He asked Emperor Wu to make him a member of the palace guard, which angered his father.[7] It did not help Prince Liu Dan’s case when he harboured an escaped prisoner inside his palace.[8] Thus, Emperor Wu strongly disliked his eldest surviving son, and he reduced Prince Liu Dan’s land.[9] Emperor Wu also made his youngest son, Liu Fuling, the Crown Prince (who would later become Emperor Zhao).[10]
On 27 March 87 B.C.E., Emperor Wu died. Liu Fuling ascended the throne as Emperor Zhao of China. Prince Liu Dan plotted to depose Emperor Zhao and make himself the Emperor.[11] However, the plot was unsuccessful.[12] All of the conspirators were arrested, but Prince Liu Dan was not charged with the crime.[13]
In 80 B.C.E., Prince Liu Dan plotted with the Grand Princess of Gai (Prince Liu Dan’s sister), Shangguan Jie (the Left General), and Sang Hongyang (the Censor-in-Chief) in order to eliminate Huo Guang (the General-in-Chief) and depose Emperor Zhao.[14] If the plot succeeded, he would be enthroned as the next Emperor.[15] However, the plot was exposed.[16] Shangguan Jie was executed.[17] The Grand Princess of Gai was forced to commit suicide.[18] Prince Liu Dan realized that his end was near.[19] He hosted a banquet in Wancai Palace.[20] He invited his wife (Princess Hua Rong), his imperial concubines, and his supporters.[21]
During the banquet, Prince Liu Dan sang a song.[22] It went:
“In the end an empty city,
No dogs barking,
No chickens crowing.
Angling streets broad and bare—
How well I know there’s no one left
alive in my land.”[23]
After Prince Liu Dan finished his song, Princess Hua Rong rose to dance and sang a response to her husband’s song.[24] It has been titled by many chroniclers as the “Dancing Song.”[25] It went:
“Hair knotted and tangled, clotting the moat,
Bones heaped about , nowhere to law them—
The mother seeks her dead son,
The wife seeks her dead husband,
Wandering back and forth between the two moats.
Can you alone, my lord, find a place to rest?”[26]
Emperor Zhao first sent a letter to pardon his older half-brother, Prince Liu Dan.[27] However, he sent another letter shortly afterwards that said:
“You join with men of different surnames and other clans to plot injury to the altars of the soil and grain. You draw close to those who are most distant, and behave distantly to those who should be most close. You have a heart filled with treachery and betrayal, one in which there is no thought of loyalty or love.”[28]
Prince Liu Dan felt shame and guilt after he read Emperor Zhao’s letter.[29] He then hung himself.[30] Princess Hua Rong and over twenty of his other imperial concubines also committed suicide.[31] Princess Hua Rong’s tragedy showed that she was a powerless pawn in a bitter power struggle.[32] Her husband’s ambition to become Emperor forced Princess Hua Rong to lose her own life.[33] Because Prince Liu Dan led her to a tragic end, Princess Hua Rong’s poem has continued to stir the emotions of readers for thousands of years.[34]
Sources:
Ban, G. (1974). Courtier and Commoner in Ancient China. Selections from the “History of the Former Han” by Pan Ku. (B. Watson, Trans.). NY: Columbia University Press. pp. 54-65.
Shen, L. (2015). “Hua Rong, Consort of Prince of Yanla.” 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. 148-149.
Theobald, U. (2000). “Emperor Han Zhaodi 漢昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵”. ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopedia on Chinese History, Literature, and Art. Retrieved on 18 August 2024 from http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personshanzhaodi.html.
[1] Shen, 2015, p. 149
[2] Shen, 2015
[3] Shen, 2015
[4] Shen, 2015
[5] Shen, 2015
[6] Shen, 2015
[7] Shen, 2015
[8] Shen, 2015
[9] Shen, 2015
[10] Shen, 2015
[11] Shen, 2015
[12] Shen, 2015
[13] Shen, 2015
[14] Shen, 2015
[15] Theobald, 2000, “Emperor Han Zhaodi 漢昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵”
[16] Theobald, 2000, “Emperor Han Zhaodi 漢昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵”
[17] Theobald, 2000, “Emperor Han Zhaodi 漢昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵”
[18] Theobald, 2000, “Emperor Han Zhaodi 漢昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵”
[19] Shen, 2015
[20] Shen, 2015
[21] Shen, 2015
[22] Shen, 2015
[23] Watson, 1974, p. 63; Shen, 2015, p. 149
[24] Shen, 2015
[25] Shen, 2015, p. 149
[26] Watson, 1974, p. 63; Shen, 2015, p. 149
[27] Shen, 2015
[28] Watson, 1974, p. 64; Shen, 2015, p. 149
[29] Shen, 2015
[30] Shen, 2015
[31] Shen, 2015
[32] Shen, 2015
[33] Shen, 2015
[34] Shen, 2015
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