An empress throws herself into the flames

An empress throws herself into the flames

Ming dynasty Illustrated Biographies of Exemplary Women

In a famous scene illustrated in the Ming dynasty Illustrated Biographies of Exemplary Women, the daughter of the Han dynasty usurper, Wang Mang, throws herself into the flames. Before he usurped the throne, Wang Mang married his daughter to the Han emperor, who soon died. The daughter remained loyal to the Han even after her father’s usurpation. Her dramatic death occurred when rebels toppled her father in 23 A.D. The ancient historians wrote:
In temperament she was tactful, moderate, and morally resolute. After the house of Han had been deposed, she pleaded illness and refused to attend court. Her father held her in fear and respect and was deeply grieved. He wanted her to remarry, […. but when he sent her a suitor] she flew into a rage and whipped her attendants. Her illness grew worse and she refused to get out of bed. Her father stopped insisting. When the Han army came after Wang Mang and set fire to the Weiyang Palace, she said, “How can I ever face the house of Han again?,” and burned to death by throwing herself into the fire.

See Hanshu, 97b.4010-4011.

Illustrated Biographies of Exemplary Women