Zheng Mao was the primary wife of King Cheng of the State of Chu (楚成王) during the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient China. She is one of 125 women of which biographies have been included in the Lienü zhuan

Lienü zhuan

The Lienü Zhuan is a ca. 18 BCE book compiled by the famous Han Dynasty scholar Liu Xiang. It includes 125 biographical accounts of women exemplars in early China, taken from Chinese histories like the Chun Qiu, Zuo Zhuan, and Shiji...

, written by Liu Xiang.

Life

Zheng Mao was born to the Ying clan from the state of Zheng

Zheng (state)

Zheng （) was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

, which had fallen into decline after the death of Duke Zhuang

Duke Zhuang of Zheng

Duke Zhuang of Zheng was the third ruler of the State of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China. His ancestral name is Ji,given name is Wusheng , which means "a difficult birth". In 743 BC, he became the duke of Zheng, and later defeated his brother Gongshu Duan, who had led a...

. She was sent with the primary wife as a concubine for King Cheng (ruled. 671 BC - 626 BC).

After she arrived at the Chu palace, the king looked down on the women's quarters and noticed her not looking up no matter what he offered her. He then made her his principal wife. Both she and his chief minister cautioned against the appointment of Xiong Shangchen as heir apparent. After the king ignored the advice, Shangchen caused the downfall of the minister. After this, the King wanted to appoint a younger son as heir apparent instead, but now Zheng Mao advised against this, predicting civil war.

Believing the king suspected her opposition against Shangchen was based on jealousy, she committed suicide. Not long after, Shangchen staged a coup d'etat

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 and forced the King Cheng to commit suicide. Shangchen then ascended the throne as King Mu of Chu.

Inclusion in the Lienü zhuan

The Han dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

scholar Liu Xiang included her biography in the Lienü zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Women). Zheng Mao's biography is part of Scroll 5, titled the Principled and Righteous (節義傳).

External links

• Lienu zhuan, University of Virginia E-text