When we think of women in the Han dynasty, we always think of Zhao Feiyan and Wang Zhaojun, the one a concubine who dazzled the emperor with her looks, the other a raving beauty whose happiness was sacrificed for the sake of the empire.
但她們兩個，一是迷惑帝王的豔姬，一是為了成全帝國而忍氣吞聲的美女，彷彿漢代女子不是靠美色在後宮爭權奪利，就只能被「物化」為國與國之間外交政策的犧牲品。