Zhao E 趙娥 | |
|---|---|
 Zhao E chopped off the head of Li Shou with his sword. | |
| Era | Later Han dynasty |
| Children | Pang Yu (龐淯) |
| Father | Zhao An (趙安) |
| Relatives | at least three brothers |
Pang E (Chinese: 龐娥) born Zhao E (Chinese: 趙娥) was a Chinese noblewoman of the late Eastern Han period, mother of Cao Wei politician Pang Yu (龐淯). She killed the man who killed her father, in full public view in front of a government office, but after turning herself in and requesting execution under the law, she not only escaped punishment but was later commended for her virtue.
Her case was recorded in Huangfu Mi's six-chapter updated continuation of Liu Xiang's earlier classic Biographies of Exemplary Women (列女傳), traditionally considered an instructional text for Confucian women. Due to her act of extreme bravery, she was immortalized as one of the exemplars of courage and virtue performed by a woman in Chinese history.[1] Zhao E is one of the heroines depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜; Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.