Consort Ban (), or Ban Jieyu (), also known as Lady Ban (Pan), was a imperial consort, Chinese scholar and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

during the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring in ...

(206 BCE – 23 CE). '' Jieyu'' (婕妤) was a title for a third-rank palace lady, one rank below ''Zhaoyi'' and two ranks below the Empress.

Life

Consort Ban started as a junior maid, became a concubine of

Emperor Cheng of Han Emperor Cheng of Han, personal name Liu Ao (劉驁; 51 BC – 17 April 7 BC), was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty ruling from 33 until 7 BC. He succeeded his father, Emperor Yuan. Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its growing ...

, and quickly rose to prominence at court. She had two sons with him, but both died in infancy. Once she declined an invitation to ride in a

palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

because she feared to distract him from matters of state. She was also renowned as a great scholar, able to recite poems from the ''

Shi Jing The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...

'' and a lot of other texts. Because neither the Empress Xu nor Consort Ban produced Emperor Cheng an heir, the Empress Dowager

Wang Zhengjun Wang Zhengjun (; 71 BC – 3 February 13 AD), officially Empress Xiaoyuan (孝元皇后), later and more commonly known as Grand Empress Dowager Wang, born in Yuancheng (modern Handan, Hebei), was an empress during the Western Han dynasty of C ...

encouraged him to take more concubines. Around 19 BCE, however, the emperor took a liking to the dancing girl Zhao Feiyan and her sister

Zhao Hede Zhao Hede (; died April 7 BC) was an imperial consort of the rank ''zhaoyi'' (昭儀) during the Han dynasty. She was a consort to Emperor Cheng of Han, Emperor Cheng and younger sister of the empress Zhao Feiyan. Background It is not known when ...

. They were both made concubines and he favored them over Empress Xu and Consort Ban. In 18 BCE both the Empress and Consort Ban were accused of witchcraft. Empress Xu was put under house arrest away from court, but Consort Ban pleaded her case. She used citations of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

and made a speech that impressed the emperor and he allowed her to stay at court. She then chose to become a lady in waiting to the Empress Dowager, instead of remaining consort to the Emperor. Consort Ban became part of the emperor's funeral park after his death on April 7 BCE and died a year later.

Family

Consort Ban once saved her brother Ban Zhi from a charge of treason. Ban Zhi was to become the father of the historian

Ban Biao Ban Biao (, 3–54 CE), courtesy name (), was a Chinese historian and politician born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng. Ban Biao's mother w ...

. He, in turn, had a son and a daughter,

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

and

Ban Zhao Ban Zhao (; 45 or 49 – c. 117/120 CE), courtesy name Huiban (), was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician. She was the first known female Chinese historian and, along with Pamphile of Epidaurus, one of the first known female h ...

, who would complete their father's historic work, ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

''.

Poems

She "is accredited with two fu poems" but is best known for the famous poem attributed to her ("Yuan Ge Xing" or "Song of Resentment"), in which she compares herself to a discarded autumn fan. It deals with her sorrow at having been abandoned by the Emperor and is written in the ''

yuefu ''Yuefu'' are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term originally literally meant " Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization(s) originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the ...

'' style of poetry. However, there is a certain historical doubt about the attribution of this song to her, especially since it is not mentioned in her grand-nephew Ban Gu's biography of her. The poems attributed to her, or written in her persona, have remained in circulation in the many centuries after her death.

Inclusion in the Lienü zhuan

Her biography was included in the

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

classic ''

Biographies of Exemplary Women The ''Biographies of Exemplary Women'' () is a book compiled by the Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang . It includes 125 biographical accounts of exemplary women in ancient China, taken from early Chinese histories including '' Chunqiu'', '' Zuozhu ...

'' (''Lienü Zhuan'') compiled by the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

scholar Liu Xiang in 18 BCE. Consort Ban's biography is part of Scroll 9, titled ''Supplemental Biographies '' (新刊續列女傳).

Notes

References

* * * *
"Autumn in the Han Palace ", Silkqin.com, last accessed June 7, 2007

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ban, Consort 40s BC births 0s BC deaths Chinese women poets 1st-century BC Chinese poets Han dynasty imperial consorts 1st-century BC Chinese women writers 1st-century BC writers People from Shuozhou Poets from Shanxi Chinese concubines