Writers › Writer / Poet
Ban Jieyu
Consort of Emperor Cheng of Han and great-aunt of Ban Gu and Ban Chao, who declined to ride in the emperor's carriage
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Lady Ban · Consort Ban
Ban Jieyu, from Loufan, was a daughter of Ban Kuang, an aunt of Ban Biao and a great-aunt of Ban Gu, Ban Chao and Ban Zhao; her personal name is not known. She entered the palace as a junior attendant, soon won favour and was made jieyu. The Book of Han records that when Emperor Cheng wished to ride with her in his carriage she declined, saying the wise rulers of old had worthy ministers beside them. Falsely accused of sorcery in 18 BCE, she cleared herself, asked to serve the empress dowager in the Changxin Palace, and after the emperor's death tended his tomb. Works ascribed to her are the Rhapsody of Self-lament, the Rhapsody on Pounding Silk and the Song of Resentment; scholars doubt the last two.
Life and times
Dates c. 48 BCE - c. 2 CE