Cai Wenji Biography | Poet

Cai Yan (birth and death dates unknown), style name Wenji, was a Han Dynasty poet and musician. She was the daughter of Cai Yong. Her style name was originally Zhaoji, but was changed to Wenji during the Jin Dynasty to avoid a naming conflict with Sima Zhao, the father of the Jin Dynasty's founding emperor Sima Yan. Cai spent part of her life as a prisoner of the Xiongnu until the warlord Cao Cao paid a heavy ransom to bring her back to the Han Dynasty's domain in 207.