Artwork: Wenji Returns to China

By Zhang Cuiying

When Caocao, Emperor of one of the Three Kingdoms, befriended South Xiongnu (an ancient minority in China), he remembered that Cai Wenji, the daughter of his deceased friend, lived in South Xiongnu. Caocao decided to bring her home. Cai Wenji, like her father, was a well-educated person. She had fled as a refugee to Xiongnu, together with the people in Chang An (now called Xi an, previously the capital of China), after her father was killed.

When she fled to Xiongnu, soldiers were ransacking and looting the city. One day Cai Wenji was kidnapped by the soldiers. Seeing that she was young and beautiful, they gave her to the King of Xiongnu as a gift. From then on she became the wife of the King, who loved her very much. She lived in Xiongnu for 12 years. Even though she became used to the ways of Xiongnu, she still missed her country deeply.

When Caocao remembered Cai Wenji, he ordered people to deliver presents to Xiongnu in order to bring her home. When Wenji arrived, Caocao asked her about her family’s collection of scrolls. She told him that the 4000 scrolls were lost during the wars, but she had memorized 400 of them. Caocao was surprised and very happy. He ordered her to write down everything she could remember. Thus, the return of Wenji made a great contribution to the preservation of ancient Chinese culture. So "Wenji Returns to China" is a celebrated page in Chinese history.