Liu Xijun

Liu Xijun (, 123?–101 BC), also known as Princess Xijun (細君公主), Princess of Jiangdu or the Princess of Wusun , was a princess of the Han dynasty sent to marry the King of Wusun as marriage alliance. A poem believed to be by her is one of the earliest known Chinese poems attributable to a named woman.

Life Liu Xijun was the daughter of the King of Jiangdu (in modern-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Liu Jian (劉建) and granddaughter of Liu Fei, brother of Emperor Wu of Han. Xijun was orphaned while still an infant. Her father was described as incestuous, cruel and depraved, and had to commit suicide after being implicated in a rebellion. Her mother was also executed the same year for practicing witchcraft. As daughter of disgraced parents, she would likely have a low status at the Han court. She duly married Cenzou, who became king after Liejiaomi died, and she had a daughter with him in 102 BC. She died the following year. A further princess named Princess Jieyou was sent to marry Cenzou after her death.

The Princess of Wusun has been linked to a story about the invention of pipa – the instrument was said to have been created on the order of the Han emperor so that music could be played on horseback to soothe her longings on the way to the Wusun. Pipa, however, is likely to be of non-Chinese origin. Her story is also often conflated with that of Wang Zhaojun after the Jin dynasty writer Shi Chong speculated that pipa might have also been played during Wang Zhaojun's journey as in the story for Xijun.

Poem A poem credited to Xijun is given in Hanshu:

悲愁歌 吾家嫁我兮天一方， 遠托異國兮烏孫王。 穹廬為室兮旃為牆， 以肉為食兮酪為漿。 居常土思兮心內傷， 願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。 Song of Sorrow My family married me off to the edge of the world Far away in the strange land of the Wusun king A domed hut is my chamber, the felt my walls Meat is my food, fermented milk my drink Living here, I long for my land, and my heart aches Wishing I could be a yellow swan, and return to my old home