Bo Ying Chu

Background

Bo Ying belonged to the Ying clan who flourished in the sixth century B.C. Bo Ying was the daughter of a duke, possibly Duke Ai (Ai Gong, r. 538-501 B.C.E.), of Qin (present-day Shaanxi Province).

Career

Bo Ying was married out to King Ping (Ping Wang, r. 528-516 B.C.E.) of Chu, a large state in what is now central China north of the Yangzi River. Her son became the ruler of Chu as King Zhao (Zhao Wang, r. 515-489 B.C.E.) upon the death of his father. When Wu (a state in the eastern region of present-day Jiangsu and Anhui provinces) captured the Chu capital of Ying (in present-day Hubei Province), King Zhao fled to his mother’s homeland of Qin in the northwest. Upon entering the capital, the victorious king of Wu took for himself all of King Zhao’s concubines. He was about to take King Zhao’s mother as well, but Bo Ying admonished the king of Wu for having cast aside his principles. She was ready to die in order to preserve her chastity. The shamed victor placed her under guard in the women’s quarters for a month, by which time her son had returned with reinforcements.

Achievements

• Bo Ying is known as one of the most prominent characters of Chinese folklore. She is praised and certainly admired for being constant in her devotion.
  
  

Personality

Bo Ying was a very brave woman with an unenslaved spirit.

Connections

Bo Ying was the wife of King Ping of Chu and bore him a son Zhao Wang who became the ruler of Chu as King Zhao.

husband:

Ping Wang

King Ping was a ruler of Chu from 528 B.C. to 516 B.C.

Son:

Zhao Wang

King Zhao was the king of the State of Chu from 515 to 489 B.C. during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China.

References

• The Position of Woman in Early China According to the Lieh Nu Chuan, The Biographies of Chinese Women.
  1971
• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998