This is a novel adapted from the poetic drama Autumn in the Han Palace by Ma Zhiyuan of the Yuan Dynasty,relating the tragic story of the love between Emperor Yuan of Han and his concubine,Wang Zhaojun.The love story is set against a "historical" background which emphasizes the weakness of the House of Han and the strength of the Huns,thus giving the work a strange tinge of inter-nationality conflict and marking it with the stamp of the period when the Jin Dynasty was replaced by that of the Yuan.But the root of the tragedy as unveiled by the plot was in the last analysis the degeneracy of the feudal ruling class. The episode in which Zhaojun volunteers to marry the Khan of the Huns is a breakaway from the traditional account.It illustrates the girl's selfless devotion to the emperor and her people which makes the theme of the drama more meaningful.Although in the novel there is some discrepancy between the relations between the protagonists and historical authenticity,yet they are historical figures,and the plot is sourced entirely from history.
