Baoping Village- Zhaojun's Hometown
Baoping Village in Zigui County is known as the home of the Western-Han-Dynasty (206 BC-AD220) beauty Wang Zhaojun, one of the four famous ancient beauties.
In the ruling period of Emperor Yuan, the Han Dynasty, she was sent to the court as an imperial concubine. For some reason, she failed to get into His Majesty's good favor. In the Western Han Dynasty, Han Nationality and Hu Nationality had wars very often. In 33 B.C., Huhanye, chief of the Southern Xiongnu went to Chang'an (Han's Capital) to ask for a marriage to an imperial woman to achieve peace. Zhaojun asked for imperial permission to become Huhenye's wife. When she came to bid His Majesty farewell, however for the first time, the Emperor realized how beautiful she was. After she got to Xiongnu, she had a son named Yituzhiyashi who was regarded as King Gurisui. She became an empress. Zhaojun married away from her own country for the unity of various nationalities, so she is regarded as a great woman. People sing high praise for her as the envoy of peace, because of her marriage Hu and Han nationalities got along well with each other for hundred years.
Premier Zhou Enlai once praised her as 'a figure that played the greatest role in developing the unity of the great one family of the Chinese nationalities. ‘Mr. Dong Biwu also wrote a poem to praise her, saying 'her marriage to Huhanye should be praised forever.' Since more than two thousand years ago, poems, stories, pictures, novels, plays about Wang Zhaojun have been widely spread.
Among those moving stories and legends about this beautiful lady, the most famous one is about 'Peach Fish'. In this crystal stream there is a rare kind of creature like a small jellyfish. It has a pink finger-sized crystal body with an umbrella. In March, they swim onto the water, and with peach blossoms on each bank it is very beautiful phenomenon to watch. Legend has it that once, during Zhaojun's visiting her hometown, she wept so sadly that her tears fell into the stream and became the Peach Fish.
In Zhaojun's hometown there are many places commemorating her including a Zhaojun Pavilion, Zhaojun Temple, Zhaojun's Former Residence, Nanmu Well and Dressing Table.
