Emperor Wen of Chen was the eldest son of Chen Daotan, the elder brother of Emperor Gaozuwu of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Emperor Gaozuwu, and was the second emperor of the Chen Dynasty, ruling for seven years with the era name "Tianjia". During his reign, he became angry and tried to be strong, straightened out the program, paid attention to agricultural development, and built water conservancy facilities, and finally, the economy of the Jiangnan region achieved certain development.
Emperor Wen of Chen, named Chen Xuan, lived from 522 to 566 and ascended the throne in 559 AD. He was the nephew of Emperor Wu of Chen and the eldest son of Chen Daotan, the king of Shixing Zhaolie at the time. This man was very intelligent since he was a child, with a dignified appearance, studying history books, acting generously, and behaving in a manner, so Gaozu liked him very much and often praised him as the pride of the clan.
This person initially held the post of Wuxing Taishou, and then in 555 AD put down the rebellion of Du Gong and Zhang Biao, and was appointed as the Taishou of Huiji. Later, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Chen, he was given the title of King of Linchuan and led an army stationed in the southern Anhui region. After the death of Emperor Wu in 559, Empress Xuan and her courtiers chose to block the news for the sake of political stability, and recalled him to the capital to support his ascension to the throne.
Shen Miaorong, who was made empress during her reign, was a native of Wuxing Wukang (wukang district, deqing county, Zhejiang), and was the daughter of Shen Fashen, who had joined the army of Liang Anqian during the reign of Liang An. After she was made empress, her father was given the title of Guanglu Dafu and her mother was given the title of Sui'an County Jun. In fact, there were many concubines in Emperor Chen Wen's harem.
Han Zigao was a member of the Chen Guoren clan during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, who used the name "Barbarian", who was born in a cold door, but became a famous beautiful man in history with his handsome appearance. So how beautiful is he? Wang Shizhen said in "Yan Yi Editor, Male Favorite Department, Chen Zigao": "The face is gorgeous, delicate and white, like a beautiful woman." The head of the mantis is creamy, the eyebrows are natural, and the person who sees it is not sighing. That is, the pawn wielded a white blade, and the longitudinal wave was silenced, and even more elicited a number. ”
"The pawn wielded a white blade, and he couldn't bear to go down with a wave of it..." It was unimaginable that even the soldiers could not bear to kill him. Han Zigao was also favored by Emperor Wen of Chen because of his appearance, so it was rumored in later generations that Han Zigao was the only male empress in Chinese history. But is that really the case?
Born in 538 AD, Han Zigao met Emperor Wen of Chen, who was then wuxing taishou, at the age of sixteen, and was recruited as a personal bodyguard, responsible for passing wine during banquets. Emperor Wendi Chen thought that the name of his "barbarian" was too vulgar, so he gave the name "Zigao". During several conquests, Han Zigao made countless military achievements, and after Emperor Wen of Chen ascended the throne, he promoted Han Zigao to the rank of general of the Right Army.
Later, because of his merits in quelling the rebellion, he was given the title of TongzhiShan Riding Changshi (通直散) and given the title of Wenzhao County Bo (文zhao County), and later, he was again promoted to the rank of Right Guard General and put him in charge of the imperial capital. In the Book of Chen, it is recorded: "Zi Gao Wen Tao Wu Strategy, the machine is unparalleled." It can be seen that he does have merit. In 567, during the reign of Emperor Chen, Han Zigao was given death for framing him as a traitor, and he died at the age of thirty.
According to historical records, when Han Zigao was sixteen years old and served as a personal bodyguard, he was trusted because he could guess Emperor Wen's wishes. Later, after getting older, he learned to ride and shoot, and led troops to quell rebellions in many places. Emperor Wen once had a dream: "In the dream, he climbed on horseback on a mountain, and the horse lost its hoof and almost fell into the cliff, and the factor pushed high to avoid falling off the cliff." ”
Emperor Chen Wendi's burial had a pair of qilin (qi is male, Lin is female), but he did not succeed after the establishment, as for the final how, according to the current historical data, it is difficult to say...
During the reign of Emperor Chen, Han Zigao was deeply disturbed by the heavy army, so he frequently visited the Tai Cabinet and voluntarily left the capital to go to Heng and Guangzhu as an official in order to gain the trust of the new emperor. However, in August of the first year of the Guangda Dynasty, Lu Fang, the former county magistrate of Shangyu County, framed Zigao in front of the emperor for rebellion.
Emperor Gaozong was in Shangshu Province at this time, and took the opportunity to order the generals to go to Beijing to discuss the matter of crown prince, and Han Zigao was also invited. Han Zigao arrived in Shangshu Province one morning, but was immediately detained and sent to Tingwei, where he was executed that evening. Li Yanshou's "History of the South" said: "The high power of the son is to kill, and it is also appropriate to do so." ”
Through various historical records, people speculate that the relationship between Han Zigao and Chen Wendi is most likely homosexual. For example: "Sexually respectful, diligent in serving", "Emperor Wen is very fond of it, and has not tried to leave the left and right", but in fact, Han Zigao is not a "male empress" of Emperor Wen of Chen.
More than a thousand years after Han Zigao's death, Wang Shizhen (born 1526, died in 1590) who lived in the Ming Dynasty wrote a novel called "Yan Yi Bian", in which there is a volume of "Male Favorite Department", which includes a description of Chen Zigao. It can be said that it is precisely because this person portrays Han Zigao as an image of a "male queen" through this novel.
Although Wang Shizhen was the first to portray Han Zigao as a "male empress", it was the opera composer Wang Jide who came after him. Wang Jide lived in the Ming Dynasty, the year of birth is unknown, died in 1623, under the study of the literary master Xu Wenchang.
During Wang Jide's creative career, he wrote a total of five kinds of miscellaneous dramas and four kinds of operas. Today, the only ones that have survived are the "Male Empress" and the "Inscription Red Record" depicting Chen Wendi and Han Zigao. Although this person's writing ability is not very strong, but he relies on his ability to disseminate literary works to make the image of the male queen widely known to the public, so that the public widely believes that there is really such a male empress in Chinese history, and Han Zigao has also borne such a bad reputation.
Resources:
"The Male Favorite of Emperor Wen of Chen in the Southern Chen Period - Han Zigao", Wang Shizhen's "Yan YiBian , Male Pet Department • Chen Zigao "Male Empress", "Inscription Red", Feng Menglong's "Love History • Extraordinarily Alien Category • Chen Zigao""