Historical Record
As for Dong Zhuo's mother, the official history Records of the Three Kingdoms and its related materials contain no clear record. Her name, dates of birth and death, family background, and life deeds are all unmentioned by the historians. Therefore, in the verifiable historical record, the figure of Dong Zhuo's mother is absent, and no description of her based on historical material is possible.
In the Novel
In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo's mother is shaped as a kinswoman of Dong Zhuo; though she appears very few times, her presence plays an auxiliary role in advancing the plot and depicting Dong Zhuo's character. She first appears in Chapter 9 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms c:13294, by which time she is already over ninety years of age. As Dong Zhuo was about to go to the Weiyang Hall to receive the "abdication," she showed concern over his undertaking, saying, "These past days my flesh has trembled and my heart been startled; I fear it is no good omen." c:13294 These words not only foreshadow the doom Dong Zhuo is about to face but also display a mother's instinctive premonition of her son's safety. Dong Zhuo, however, paid it no heed, and instead comforted his mother with the words, "You are about to become the Mother of the State; how could there not be some startling portent beforehand!" c:13294 showing his arrogant and self-conceited character. After Dong Zhuo was killed, his mother's end followed. After Li Jue, Guo Si, and others fled from the Mei fortress, Lü Bu led troops to arrive and carried out a reckoning against Dong Zhuo's kin. According to the account of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "all of Dong Zhuo's relatives, old and young alike, were put to death without exception. Dong Zhuo's mother was also killed." c:3148 This episode clearly sets out the ultimate fate of Dong Zhuo's mother, namely, being executed by Lü Bu's order. The novel's depiction of Dong Zhuo's mother, though brief, indirectly reinforces, through her words and final fate, Dong Zhuo's tyrannical image and the tragic downfall of his family, while also creating for the reader an atmosphere of fatalistic tragedy. The histories have no clear record of the life of Dong Zhuo's mother; her appearance in the novel is entirely a need of literary creation.
Key Relationships
Between Dong Zhuo's mother and Dong Zhuo there exists the most central of kinship relations, namely the mother-son relationship. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo's mother is Dong Zhuo's birth mother c:13294. This relationship is used in the novel to display a rare tender side of Dong Zhuo's humanity, though this tenderness is overshadowed by his craving for power. Before Dong Zhuo was to "receive the abdication," he specially "entered to take leave of his mother" c:13294, showing that even a man of overweening ambition like Dong Zhuo would, at an important moment, bid farewell to his mother. However, the mother's worry for her son forms a sharp contrast with Dong Zhuo's arrogant self-conceit, foreshadowing Dong Zhuo's eventual failure. The fate of Dong Zhuo's mother is also closely bound to Dong Zhuo's: after Dong Zhuo was killed, his mother could not escape disaster either, and was finally killed by Lü Bu's order c:3148 (unique to the novel).
Iconic Scenes
The iconic scene of Dong Zhuo's mother is concentrated mainly in Chapter 9 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Dong Zhuo was preparing to return to the capital to receive the "abdication" and specially took his leave of his mother. At this time, Dong Zhuo's mother was already over ninety years of age c:13294. She showed unease at the undertaking Dong Zhuo was about to carry out, saying to her son, "These past days my flesh has trembled and my heart been startled; I fear it is no good omen." c:13294 This line is the most important utterance of Dong Zhuo's mother in the novel, embodying not only a mother's deep care and premonition for her son but also foreshadowing the tragic fate about to befall Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's reply, "You are about to become the Mother of the State; how could there not be some startling portent beforehand!" c:13294 further highlights his blind confidence and obsession with power. This scene, through the dialogue between mother and son, deftly displays the characters' natures and the direction of the plot. After Dong Zhuo was killed, his mother too was put to death c:3148—this is another iconic scene of Dong Zhuo's mother in the novel, marking the complete destruction of Dong Zhuo's family (unique to the novel).
Relationships
1 relationships
Family1
Lines
- 演 ch.9 §9→ Dong Zhuo
「吾兒何往？」
- 演 ch.9 §9→ Dong Zhuo
「吾近日肉顫心驚，恐非吉兆。」
Chapters1 回 ▸
- 演ch.9
Relationship timeline1 条 ▸
演 ch.9
- Dong Zhuo§16
kin_of
母，被杀
Inner monologues · AI-generated1 段 ▸
- I am more than ninety years old. After living through so many years, I had thought that the honors and humiliations of t