Xun Cai
| Xun Cai 荀采 | |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Yin Yu |
| Father | Xun Shuang |
Xun Cai (荀采; fl.2nd century),[a] courtesy name Nüxun (女荀), was a Chinese noblewoman and poet from the late Eastern Han dynasty to the early Three Kingdoms period.
Early life
She was the daughter of Xun Shuang, a writer turned politician at the court of Han empire. She was first the wife of Yin Yu. Later, she was matchmade with Guo Yi. She was the cousin of Xun Yu, an adviser to the warlord Cao Cao. The Xun family was a scholarly and skilled clan. Among Xun Cai's other relatives was Xun You, adviser to Cao Cao. Through marriage, Xun Cai was linked to the Yin family.[1]
She was described as skilled in poetry and intelligent woman, but best known for her devotion to Yin Yu and maintaining ties with the Yin clan even after Yin Yu's death.[2] Due to her convictions, her biography was recorded in Book of the Later Han in volume 84, Biographies of Exemplary Women (卷八十四 列女傳 第七十四).
Adulthood
She married Yin Yu from Nanyang at seventeen (by East Asian reckoning), and at nineteen (by East Asian reckoning) gave birth to a daughter. Shortly after their daughter's birth, Yin Yu died.
According to tradition, if a husband dies, the wife can remarry. She knew that her family wanted her to remarry, but her sense she remained in the Yin clan for a while and refused any request to join another clan through marriage. Xun Shuang asked Xun Cai to marry Guo Yi.[b] Guo Yi was an official who became known at an early age. He was a widower and wanted to remarry.
After Xun Cai declined the marriage proposal, Xun Shuang feigned illness and asked her to visit him. She prepared a knife to protect herself and traveled to her father's house. Xun Shuang's plan was to bring her home and force her to marry Guo Yi. When she learned that her father had tricked, Xun Cai refused to remarry and took up a knife threatening to take her own life. Xun Shuang ordered the servants to take the knife and send Xun Cai to Guo's house. During the trip, Xun Shuang was worried that Xun Cai was too angry and might cause trouble.[3]
After arriving at Guo's house, Xun Cai pretended to be happy Some time later she said to the others, "At first, I expected to die in the same tomb as Yin Yu, but I was forced by my family to come here and I couldn't fulfill my wish. I was helpless!". During the wedding night she ordered people to light oil lamps everywhere and got dressed. Upon meeting Guo Yi, she spoke seriously about ideas and life with him all night. Guo Yi was shocked by Xun Cai's feelings, so he did not force her to marry him.[4] Guo Yi was a gentleman who greatly admired Xun Cai, so he said that he would leave at dawn. When Guo Yi left, Xun Cai ordered the people around her to get ready for a stone cold bath. After entering the bathroom, she asked the servants to leave and locked the door, then wrote on the bathroom door with incense powder: "The corpse is for (the) Yin (clan)." to express loyalty to the Yin family and her ex-husband. She hanged herself with her belt. The servants waiting outside weren't watching her, and when they found out, Xun Cai had already died.[5][6]
Further reading
- Hou Han Shu/Volume 84 - Wikisource, the free online library
Notes
- ^ While Xun Cai's death date and age when she died were not recorded, her biography implied that she died before her father, who died in c.July 190. Her biography also implied that she died within a few years after her daughter was born. Thus, she was likely in her early 20s when she died. As her father was born in c.128, her own birth year should be in or after c.140.
- ^ Sources differ on Guo Yi's origins. Xun Cai's biography in Houhanshu indicated that Guo Yi was from the same commandery, i.e. Yingchuan, thus implying that he was Guo Jia's son of the same name. Vol.870 of Taiping Yulan, citing Xun Cai Zhuan, recorded that Guo Yi was from Taiyuan (《荀釆传》曰：釆，荀爽女，为阴瑜妻，而夫早亡，爽逼嫁与太原郭弈。); Guo Huai's clan was also from Taiyuan.
References
- ^ (《後漢書·列女傳》：聰敏有才藝。年十七，適陰氏。十九產一女，而瑜卒。)
- ^ 《後漢書·列女傳》：南陽陰瑜妻者，潁川荀爽之女也，名采，字女荀。
- ^ 《後漢書·列女傳》：采時尚豐少，常慮為家所逼，自防禦甚固。後同郡郭奕喪妻，爽以采許之，因詐稱病篤，召采。既不得已而歸，懷刃自誓。爽令傅婢執奪其刃，扶抱載之，猶憂致憤激，敕衛甚嚴。
- ^ (采入郭氏室，暮乃去帷帳，建四燈，斂衽正坐，郭氏不敢逼。) Taiping Yulan, vol.870 (citing Xun Cai Zhuan)
- ^ 《後漢書·列女傳》：女既到郭氏，乃偽為歡悅之色，謂左右曰：「我本立志與陰氏同穴，而不免逼迫，遂至於此，素情不遂，奈何？」乃命使建四燈，盛裝飾，請奕入相見，共談，言辭不輟。奕敬憚之，遂不敢逼，至曙而出。采因敕令左右辦浴。既入室而掩戶，權令侍人避之，以粉書扉上曰：「屍還陰。」「陰」字未及成，懼有來者，遂以衣帶自縊。左右玩之不為意，比視，已絕，時人傷焉。
- ^ (《獨異志》：爽以女才高氣逸，愍其少寡，欲奪志再嫁郭奕，遣所親人問之。女私挾刃至，爽奪之。其後廣集親族，設大宴，方合，令奕突出見之。女令四角備燭，與奕相見。奕但危坐。即令備浴，女遣二侍者出家以取他物，乃刺臂血書扇曰：「以屍還陰氏。」自縊而死。) Du Yi Zhi is a Tang-era book by Li Yin (李冘).
Sources
- Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
- Fan, Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu).