Lady Zhen
| Lady Zhen | |
|---|---|
A Qing dynasty illustration of Lady Zhen
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| Noble lady of Cao Wei | |
| Born | 26 January 183 |
| Died | 4 August 221 (aged 38) |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 甄夫人 / 甄氏 |
| Simplified Chinese | 甄夫人 / 甄氏 |
| Pinyin | Zhēn Fūrén / Zhēn Shì |
| Wade–Giles | Chen Fu-jen / Chen Shih |
| Posthumous name | Empress Wenzhao (Chinese: 文昭皇后; pinyin: Wénzhāo Huánghòu; Wade–Giles: Wen-chao Huang-hou) |
| Other names |
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Lady Zhen (26 January 183 – 4 August 221), personal name unknown, was the first wife of Cao Pi, the first ruler of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. In 226, she was posthumously honoured as Empress Wenzhao when her son, Cao Rui, succeeded Cao Pi as the emperor of Wei.
Lady Zhen was from Wuji County (無極縣), Zhongshan Commandery (中山郡), which is in present-day Wuji County, Hebei. She was a descendant of Zhen Han (), who served as a Grand Protector (太保) in the late Western Han dynasty and later the General-in-Chief (大將軍) during the short-lived Xin dynasty. Her father, Zhen Yi (甄逸), served as the Prefect (令) of Shangcai County (上蔡縣) in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He died when Lady Zhen was about three years old. Lady Zhen's mother, whose maiden family name was Zhang (張), was from Changshan Commandery (常山郡; around present-day Zhengding County, Hebei). Lady Zhen's parents had three sons and five daughters: eldest son Zhen Yu (甄豫), who died early; second son Zhen Yan (甄儼), who became a xiaolian and later served as an Assistant (掾) to the General-in-Chief (大將軍) and as the Chief (長) of Quliang County (曲梁縣); third son Zhen Yao (甄堯), who was also a xiaolian; eldest daughter Zhen Jiang (甄姜); second daughter Zhen Tuo (甄脫); third daughter Zhen Dao (甄道); fourth daughter Zhen Rong (甄榮). Lady Zhen was the youngest of the five daughters.
Zhen Yi once brought his children to meet Liu Liang (劉良), a fortune teller, who commented on Lady Zhen, "This girl will become very noble in the future." Unlike many children of her age, the young Lady Zhen did not enjoy playing. Once, when she was eight years old, her sisters went to the balcony to watch a group of horse-riding performers outside their house but Lady Zhen did not join in. Her sisters were puzzled so they asked her, and she responded, "Is this something a girl should watch?" When she was nine years old, she became interested in scholarly arts and started reading books and using her brothers' writing materials. Her brothers told her, "You should be learning what women traditionally do (such as weaving). When you picked up reading, were you thinking of becoming a female academician?" Lady Zhen replied, "I heard that virtuous women in history learnt from the successes and failures of those who lived before them. If they didn't read, how did they learn all that?"
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