Zhuo Wenjun 卓文君 (175 BCE—121 BCE)

Zhuo Wenjun 卓文君 (175 BCE—121 BCE) was a Chinese poet of the Western Han dynasty. Growing up, she received good education, highlighting music and poetry. Married at sixteen, she was soon widowed and returned to her parents. Sima Xiangru 司馬相如 (179 BCE—117 BCE), a famous poet, musician and politician, during a stay in Chengdu of Sichuan, was invited to the Zhuos’ and secretly expressed his admiration to the widowed Zhuo Wenjun through zither playing. In the following year, Sima and Zhuo later eloped together. Sima’s biography states that the couple supported themselves by running an ale shop until Zhuo’s father was forced by public shame into recognizing their marriage, giving the couple tons of copper cash, 100 servants, and valuables from the dowry of Zhuo’s first marriage.