Cai Wenji
Letting the Wushuang flow through us...
Lived for 25 years since March 19th to grow to be 5'5" tall.
Under the mandate of Heaven....
With a Harp at her side, becoming a great Warrior of the Wei.
Against the powers of destruction...
Harnessing the power of Ice to execute a flawless Wushuang Attack
Guiding us in balance of Yin and Yang....
From a young age she was exposed to music and poetry. Her father, Cai Yong was a well-known and loved musician, scholar and poet to Emperor Ling and later the politician Dong Zhuo. Out of the two other siblings, one sister and one brother, she showed the most promise of a budding musical genius. When her father had to leave the household to live in the royal court, he left behind his wife and two other children and brought Wenji with him. While her father worked under his employers she taught herself the harp, erhu and guqin with the occasional nudge in the right direction from her father. There she was exposed to the intricacies of the royal court, learning calligraphy, mathematics, and her manners there as well.
Scholarly by nature she payed close attention to her lessons so she could live up to the expectations everyone had for her. These expectations did not pressure her, in fact they motivated her even more because she simply enjoyed everything that she needed to do. From the very beginning Wenji showed signs of a gentle disposition and caring nature. Many of the young women of the court became great friends with her, and often sought her advice for situations they themselves could not come up with a solution to. Wenji listened well and gave even better advice, her patience and wisdom acquired from many long sessions of debates and discussions with her brilliant father. They lived a modest life, never becoming anything more than subjects of the emperor but both were quite popular.When Wenji turned 14 her father was enlisted into the service of the politician and Chancellor Dong Zhuo. At age 15 she married Wei Zhongdao by an arranged marriage. But in the chaos three years later, after Chancellor Dong Zhuo’s death, her father and husband were both killed by Sun Ce in battle. During this time she was taken captive and brought to the North. During her captivity she unwillingly became wife of the nomad chieftain. From him though she learned the murderer of her father and husband was Sun Ce. Immediately she memorized the name and etched it into her mind. Though not a violent person at all, she holds a grudge against the man for she got along well with her husband, and even started to fall in love. Love in an arranged marriage was extremely rare, so she valued the relationship that was budding. Cai Yong was the only living family member she was close to; her mother, and siblings might have still been alive, but after she and her father started to serve under Dong Zhuo, their connection with the other half of their family was severed.
LiuBao and composed many melodies of sorrow and longing for her homeland during her time in the North. In the beginning she was plagued with depression and anxiety from being forced to wed a brute and live amongst stangers. Along with meditation, her harp became her lifeline; the only way to ease her stress and express her emotions. Out of her father’s 4,000 poems composed during his lifetime she was only able to recite 400 of them from her memory after his death. She has the poems, his compositions, along with her own, all written down in a booklet that she brings everywhere.
Four years later, at the age of 22 Cai Wenji was ransomed in the name of her father by Cao Cao. Cao Cao’s reasons to free her from captivity were that she was the only surviving member of her clan and he needed her back to placate the restless spirits of her ancestors and because of the death of her father, he wanted Wenji to take his place as the poet of the Wei. Though she doesn’t believe that her ancestors speak to her, she trusts her intuition and has a strong spiritual connection because of her many hours of meditation. This also makes her quite vulnerable to the feelings of people surrounding her. She is extremely empathetic to the sufferings of others and will do anything in her power to ease their worries.
Since joining the Wei and becoming the figurehead of music and poetry, her melodies and rhymes have turned to a more hopeful route. They still retain an element of sadness that remind her of the hardships and losses that she has endured, but to contrast that the more dominant melody reminds one of courage and hope. Soft spoken, calm, and elegant, some might even think she is a spineless maiden, but this is the furthest from the truth. Her exposures to the cruelties of man have made her mentally strong and not one for unnecessary violence. Wenji’s personal motivations for joining the raging war is for those who are less fortunate than her, and those who have been wronged. Most of her attacks are more defensive than offensive, but if need be she can and will deliver.
With the harmony of Feng Shui....
Lady Meng Jiang - Erhu Lesson
Much Sorrow - Guzheng
And the guidance of the Divine....
Wenji is a bit emotional. Certain mentions of her father’s work or particularly familiar melodies can trigger and inspire past emotions to flood to the surface. If this happens she will most likely retreat to a quiet area and fiddle with the two strings on her erhu. These little bouts of inspiration are the usual cause for a new composition though. Her harp is her favorite instrument, but outside of battle she rarely ever uses it. When in a mood to play an instrument she will use her erhu or guqin. What she really loves is when someone asks her to play them a piece, or if they request a particular song. Wenji loves to spread peace of mind and healing through her music.
To where we ended our last journey...
Under a peach blossom tree near camp, tuning her erhu…
Lived for 25 years since March 19th to grow to be 5'5" tall.
Under the mandate of Heaven....
With a Harp at her side, becoming a great Warrior of the Wei.
Against the powers of destruction...
Harnessing the power of Ice to execute a flawless Wushuang Attack
Guiding us in balance of Yin and Yang....
From a young age she was exposed to music and poetry. Her father, Cai Yong was a well-known and loved musician, scholar and poet to Emperor Ling and later the politician Dong Zhuo. Out of the two other siblings, one sister and one brother, she showed the most promise of a budding musical genius. When her father had to leave the household to live in the royal court, he left behind his wife and two other children and brought Wenji with him. While her father worked under his employers she taught herself the harp, erhu and guqin with the occasional nudge in the right direction from her father. There she was exposed to the intricacies of the royal court, learning calligraphy, mathematics, and her manners there as well.
Scholarly by nature she payed close attention to her lessons so she could live up to the expectations everyone had for her. These expectations did not pressure her, in fact they motivated her even more because she simply enjoyed everything that she needed to do. From the very beginning Wenji showed signs of a gentle disposition and caring nature. Many of the young women of the court became great friends with her, and often sought her advice for situations they themselves could not come up with a solution to. Wenji listened well and gave even better advice, her patience and wisdom acquired from many long sessions of debates and discussions with her brilliant father. They lived a modest life, never becoming anything more than subjects of the emperor but both were quite popular.When Wenji turned 14 her father was enlisted into the service of the politician and Chancellor Dong Zhuo. At age 15 she married Wei Zhongdao by an arranged marriage. But in the chaos three years later, after Chancellor Dong Zhuo’s death, her father and husband were both killed by Sun Ce in battle. During this time she was taken captive and brought to the North. During her captivity she unwillingly became wife of the nomad chieftain. From him though she learned the murderer of her father and husband was Sun Ce. Immediately she memorized the name and etched it into her mind. Though not a violent person at all, she holds a grudge against the man for she got along well with her husband, and even started to fall in love. Love in an arranged marriage was extremely rare, so she valued the relationship that was budding. Cai Yong was the only living family member she was close to; her mother, and siblings might have still been alive, but after she and her father started to serve under Dong Zhuo, their connection with the other half of their family was severed.
LiuBao and composed many melodies of sorrow and longing for her homeland during her time in the North. In the beginning she was plagued with depression and anxiety from being forced to wed a brute and live amongst stangers. Along with meditation, her harp became her lifeline; the only way to ease her stress and express her emotions. Out of her father’s 4,000 poems composed during his lifetime she was only able to recite 400 of them from her memory after his death. She has the poems, his compositions, along with her own, all written down in a booklet that she brings everywhere.
Four years later, at the age of 22 Cai Wenji was ransomed in the name of her father by Cao Cao. Cao Cao’s reasons to free her from captivity were that she was the only surviving member of her clan and he needed her back to placate the restless spirits of her ancestors and because of the death of her father, he wanted Wenji to take his place as the poet of the Wei. Though she doesn’t believe that her ancestors speak to her, she trusts her intuition and has a strong spiritual connection because of her many hours of meditation. This also makes her quite vulnerable to the feelings of people surrounding her. She is extremely empathetic to the sufferings of others and will do anything in her power to ease their worries.
Since joining the Wei and becoming the figurehead of music and poetry, her melodies and rhymes have turned to a more hopeful route. They still retain an element of sadness that remind her of the hardships and losses that she has endured, but to contrast that the more dominant melody reminds one of courage and hope. Soft spoken, calm, and elegant, some might even think she is a spineless maiden, but this is the furthest from the truth. Her exposures to the cruelties of man have made her mentally strong and not one for unnecessary violence. Wenji’s personal motivations for joining the raging war is for those who are less fortunate than her, and those who have been wronged. Most of her attacks are more defensive than offensive, but if need be she can and will deliver.
With the harmony of Feng Shui....
Lady Meng Jiang - Erhu Lesson
Much Sorrow - Guzheng
And the guidance of the Divine....
Wenji is a bit emotional. Certain mentions of her father’s work or particularly familiar melodies can trigger and inspire past emotions to flood to the surface. If this happens she will most likely retreat to a quiet area and fiddle with the two strings on her erhu. These little bouts of inspiration are the usual cause for a new composition though. Her harp is her favorite instrument, but outside of battle she rarely ever uses it. When in a mood to play an instrument she will use her erhu or guqin. What she really loves is when someone asks her to play them a piece, or if they request a particular song. Wenji loves to spread peace of mind and healing through her music.
To where we ended our last journey...
Under a peach blossom tree near camp, tuning her erhu…