In ancient China, the dynasties in Central China had often had skirmishes with the nomadic people in the north. Some dynasties chose to achieve peace in the borders through wars, others through political marriage. The story of Wang Zhaojun tells of such a marriage.

 In the one century B.C., the ancient Hun court in northern China had broken up, with five Khans fighting for power. When there were just two Khans left, one Khan, Huhanye went to the Han court, seeking to establish friendly relations with Han. He requested a Han princess as a bride, a way of cementing relations frequently used in those days. Han Emperor chose one of his court ladies, and married her off like his own daughter. The Khan united the Hun court at the support of Han Dynasty.

The court lady married to the Khan was Wang Zhaojun. She was a real person, born Wang Qiang in Zigui county, Hubei province. In her teens she entered the palace as one of the numerous candidates from whom Emperor Yuan Di chose his concubines, said to number in the thousands.

Zhao Jun was beautiful, intelligent and well read. She was so upright that she refused to bribe the court painter Mao Yanshou as the others did when he did portraits of the candidates for the emperor to choose from. As a result he painted an unflattering picture and she was passed over by the emperor.

When the emperor asked for volunteers to be married to the Hun Khan, she volunteered, though the idea of leaving their homeland and comfortable life at the court for the grasslands of the far and unknown north was abhorrent to most of the young women.
But Wang Zhaojun saw it as a chance to leave the empty palace life and possibly play a more important role in the friendship ties between Han and ancient Huns.

The Han emperor gave a grand wedding ceremony to Wang Zhaojun and Khan. When he saw her for the first time, the emperor was astonished by her shining beauty. Regret as he was, he married her off like a princess with the escort of both Han and Hun officials.

Wang Zhaojun spent her life in the Hun court. She got on very well with the Huns then. She and her sons had made their contributions in spreading Han culture to Huns and building up the friendship between the two nations.

Wang made contributions to further develop and strengthen friendly ties between the Han and the ancient Huns. She was favored by various nations and her name will be remembered forever. Therefore, Zhaojun Coming out of the North Frontier has become a story of national unity and the common development of various nations. It is said that when Zhaojun died, farmers and herdsmen from the pass and beyond attended her funeral. They carried earth with their clothes and thus built the tomb of Zhaojun.