In real-life Empress Chen of Wu, was empress of the Han dynasty and the first wife of Emperor Wu of Han. She was also known as Chen Jiao or as her milk name Chen A'Jiao. She was born to Chen Wu and Liu Piao, also making her Liu Che's older cousin. Princess Guantao Liu Piao once held a young Liu Che in her arms and asked him whether he wanted to marry her daughter Chen Jiao. The young prince boasted that he would "build a golden house for her" if they were married. Thus, there was an arranged marriage between Liu Che and Chen Jiao, and Chen Jiao became the first empress of China during Liu Che's reign. Empress Chen's story inspired the Chinese idiom "Putting Jiao in a golden house" (金屋藏嬌), recorded in Ban Gu's Hanwu Stories (汉武故事).
The poet Sima Xiangru wrote a song The Ode of Long Gate (長門賦 Changmenfu) describing the love between Empress Chen Jiao and Emperor Liu Che.
Early life and marriage[edit][]
Empress Chen was the daughter of Chen Wu (陳午), the Marquess of Tangyi (堂邑侯), and Liu Piao (劉嫖), the Grand Princess Guantao (館陶長公主, the older sister of Emperor Jing of Han). Empress Chen also had two brothers, Chen Xu (陳須) and Chen Jiao (陳蟜 different hanzi). There were no authentic historical records of her real name, and the well-known name "A'Jiao" came from Ban Gu's Hanwu Stories (漢武故事 / 汉武故事 also called Stories of Han Wudi), thought to be written during the Wei-Jin period.
Princess Guantao initially proposed to marry her teenage daughter to Liu Rong (劉榮), Emperor Jing's eldest son and crown prince at the time, as well as son of his favourite concubine, Lady Li (栗姬). However, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal as she was upset that Princess Guantao often procured new concubines for Emperor Jing (therefore gaining his favour at the expense of Lady Li). A greatly humiliated and frustrated Princess Guantao then approached Consort Wang Zhi, another concubine favoured by Emperor Jing, and offered to marry her daughter to Consort Wang's 5-year-old son Liu Che, Emperor Jing's tenth (and arguably favourite) son and then the Prince of Jiaodong (膠東王). Consort Wang, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, saw her opportunity and welcomed the proposal immediately. This political marriage secured an alliance between them. They then plotted together to ensure that Emperor Jing became increasingly annoyed at Lady Li. Coupled with Lady Li's own foolishness, it eventually resulted in the deposition of Liu Rong, who was demoted from crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (臨江王) in 150 BC and exiled out of the capital Chang'an. Lady Li died soon after, and Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegally seizing imperial shrine lands and committed suicide in custody. But Emperor Jing initially did not approve of the union between Liu Che and Chen Jiao due to their age difference (Chen was at least 8–9 years older than Liu Che).
However, according to the Wei-Jin era Hanwu Stories (漢武故事 / 汉武故事), during a royal gathering, Princess Guantao held the young prince in her arms and asked him whether he wanted to marry a girl. After rejecting the choice of dozens of palace maids, Princess Guantao eventually showed her daughter Chen Jiao to Liu Che, who bragged that he would "build a golden house for her" if they were married. This inspired the Chinese idiom "Putting Jiao in a golden house" (金屋藏嬌), first recorded in Ban Gu's Hanwu Stories. Princess Guantao then used the tale as proof that the marriage was destined to happen to convince Emperor Jing, who finally agreed to the arranged marriage.
Liu Che was later created crown prince at the age of 7, and formally married Chen as the empress-designate some years later. When Emperor Jing died in early 141 BC, the 16-year-old heir apparent Liu Che ascended to the throne as Emperor Wu, and formally made his newly-wed wife Empress not long after.