Zhang Chunhua

Zhang Chunhua (張春華, rōmaji: Chō Shunka) is Sima Yi's wife and the mother of Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. She was said to have been a virtuous and resourceful woman who was not loved by her husband throughout their marriage. Depending on the many interpretations of historical records, she intimidated her husband by either outwitting him with her scholarly knowledge or by unnerving him with her cold and violent nature.

Prior to her playable Dynasty Warriors appearance, she was the top fan voted name for the female model in Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires's first edit character contest.

Dynasty Warriors
She supports her husband during his rise to power.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
In her debut in the eleventh title, her in-game biography and portrait are modeled after stories regarding her charming wit and maternal love. The twelfth title instead focuses on the alternate perception of her in popular culture, in which Zhang Chunhua is infamously regarded as one of the few female murderers of the era. In either title, she excels with strategies and domestic affairs. However, she virtually has no ability for war like most of the non-combatant women in the series.

Personality
Always seen with a soft smile on her face, Zhang Chunhua is a wise and capable mother who harbors a frightening temper that causes even her own family to fear offending her in any way possible.

Voice Actors

 * Masumi Asano - Shin Sangoku Musou 7 (Japanese)

Historical Information
Zhang Chunhua was born in Henei Commandery, Pinghao District. Her father was the Prefect of Suyi, Zhang Wang, and her mother was a daughter of the Shan family sharing the same roots as Shan Tao. It's unknown when she was married to her husband. During their marriage, she personally gave birth to Sima Shi, Sima Zhao, Sima Gan, and Princess Nanyang.

In 201, when Zhang Chunhua was thirteen, Sima Yi feigned illness to initially avoid serving Cao Cao. According to the Book of Jin, she helped maintain his charade by killing one of their maids who saw him trying to dry his books under the sun. She allegedly feared her family's future was jeopardized if Cao Cao were to learn the truth. Once Sima Yi learned of his wife's deeds, he apparently became weary of her. Since this story only appears in the Book of Jin, however, skeptics reason that it may have been a fictional story devised by Fang Xuanling rather than truth. Other records mention instead that she lost her husband's favor soon after he swore fealty to Cao Cao and eloped with one of his concubines, Lady Bai.

One day, Sima Yi fell ill and Zhang Chunhua paid him a visit. When Sima Yi heard his wife came to see him, he flew into a blind rage, "What a foolish woman! Her visit means nothing to me!" Zhang Chunhua was upset and humiliated when she learned of his outburst and starved herself in protest to her husband's tantrum. Her sons learned of her acts and sought to save her, eventually pleading to their father to apologize. After he did, he insisted to her from outside her room, "I didn't do it for you, you old hag. I did it so my adorable sons would no longer need to suffer on your behalf." She resumed her normal eating habits after the incident.

Zhang Chunhua died due to illness when she was 59 years old. After her death, Sima Yi pretended to mourn her –claiming to have been "consumed with misery and grief"– in order to hide his plot to seize power from Cao Shuang. She was buried in Luoyang, and her posthumous title as empress was bestowed in her memory by Sima Yan. Her posthumous title literally states that she was a "calm, gentle, and modest person".