A Comparative Study of the Two Versions of Wenji’s Return to Han by Juzhong Chen and Yu Zhang

Abstract

The story of the return of Wenji to the Han Empire originated from The Book of Later Han: A Biography of Si Dong’s Wife, which is about the eventful life of Wenji Cai, the daughter of Yong Cai (a high-ranking official and renowned intellectual) in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Wenji Cai was an accomplished lady but was unfortunately captured by the Xiongnu invaders in the turmoil of war. Cao Cao paid a colossal sum of money to the Xiongnu to have her return to Han after he unified northern China. Inspired by this story, later artists created a series of paintings on the subject. This subject matter was particularly popular at the junction of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, when the Emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were kidnapped by the Jin regime (a regime north of the Song Empire), who are deemed somewhat comparable victims to Wenji Cai. Artists of the Southern Song Dynasty created many paintings based on the story of the return of Wenji to Han to represent the popular expectations for the emperors’ release. Juzhong Chen was a court painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Yu Zhang was an official of the Jin Dynasty. This article is a comparative study of two versions of Wenji’s Return to Han, respectively by Juzhong Chen and Yu Zhang, focusing on analyzing the similarities and differences of the two works regarding composition, the portrayal of figures, and painter’ motives, using the methods of iconological and literature research in a bid to explore the impacts of the painters’ times on their artistic efforts.