Huo Qubing
| Huo Qubing | |
|---|---|
| General of the Western Han dynasty | |
| Born | 140 BC Linfen, Shanxi |
| Died | 117 BC (aged 22-23) |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 霍去病 |
| Simplified Chinese | 霍去病 |
| Pinyin | Huò Qùbìng |
| Wade–Giles | Huo Ch'ü-ping |
| Posthumous name | Marquis Huan of Jing (Chinese: 景桓侯; pinyin: Jǐng Huán Hóu; Wade–Giles: Ching Huan-hou |
Huo Qubing (140 BC – 117 BC), was a distinguished military general of the Western Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. He was the nephew of the general Wei Qing and Empress Wei Zifu (Emperor Wu's wife), and the half-brother of the statesman Huo Guang.
Huo Qubing was an illegitimate son from the premarital affair between Wei Shaoer (衛少兒), daughter of a lowly maid from the household of Princess Pingyang, and Huo Zhongru (霍仲孺), a low-class civil servant who were employed there also at the time. However, Huo Zhongru did not want to marry a girl from serf background, so he dumped Wei Shaoer and went back to his hometown to marry a local woman instead. Wei Shaoer insisted keeping the child, raising him with help of her siblings.
When Huo Qubing was around two years old, his younger aunt Wei Zifu, who was serving as an in-house singer/dancer for Princess Pingyang, caught the eyes of a visiting young Emperor Wu, who took her and her half-brother Wei Qing back to his palace in the capital Chang'an. More than a year later, the newly favored concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with Emperor Wu's first child, earning her the jealousy and hatred of Emperor Wu's then formal wife, Empress Chen. Empress Chen's mother, Eldest Princess Guantao (館陶長公主), then attempted to retaliate at Wei Zifu by kidnapping and attempting to murder Wei Qing, who was then serving as a horseman at the Jianzhang Camp (建章營, Emperor Wu's royal guards). After Wei Qing was rescued by his fellow palace guards led by his close friend Gongsun Ao (公孫敖), Emperor Wu took the opportunity to humiliate Empress Chen and Princess Guantao, by promoting Wei Zifu to a consort (夫人, a concubine position lower only to the Empress) and Wei Qing to the triple role of Chief of Jianzhang Camp (建章監), Chief of Staff (侍中) and Chief Councillor (太中大夫), effectively making him one of Emperor Wu's closest lieutenants. The rest of the Wei family were also well rewarded, including the decreed marriage of Wei Shaoer's older sister Wei Junru (衛君孺) to Emperor Wu's personal assistant Gongsun He (公孫賀). At the time, Wei Shaoer was romantically enagaged with Chen Zhang (陳掌), a great-grandson of Emperor Gaozu's adviser Chen Ping. their relationship was also legitimized by Emperor Wu through the form of decreed marriage. Through the rise of the Wei family, the young Huo Qubing grew up in prosperity and prestige.
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