A’jiao 阿嬌 [mistress]

Refers to Chen A’jiao 陳阿嬌, the first empress of Emperor Wu of Han 漢武帝 Liu Che 劉徹, who was also the daughter of Liu Che’s aunt Princess Guantao 館陶公主. It is recorded in Ban Gu’s 班固 Han Wu Gu Shi 漢武故事 [Old stories about Emperor Wu of Han] that Liu Che once said when he was a child, “If I can have Ajiao as my wife, I shall build a golden house for her to live” 若得阿嬌作婦，當作金屋貯之也. After Liu Che became the emperor, Chen Ajiao monopolized his favor for over ten years, but was finally deposed at the eleventh year of Liu Che’s reign due to complicated reasons. Despite her tragic ending, the term “Jinwu cangjiao” 金屋藏嬌 [building a golden house for Ajiao to live]” was used to describe the situation where a man settles his beloved wife, concubine or mistress in a plush house later on.