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Peaches are a Chinese symbol of longevity; birthday desserts are commonly decorated with or designed to look like peaches. In many of the folkloric and religious traditions that comprise Chinese mythology, the ''xian'' (humans who have ascended to godly status) consume Peaches of Immortality to extend their lives. The peach trees that bear this fruit are said to only do so every several thousand years (the exact number depends on the source). | Peaches are a Chinese symbol of longevity; birthday desserts are commonly decorated with or designed to look like peaches. In many of the folkloric and religious traditions that comprise Chinese mythology, the ''xian'' (humans who have ascended to godly status) consume Peaches of Immortality to extend their lives. The peach trees that bear this fruit are said to only do so every several thousand years (the exact number depends on the source). | ||
The Gracious Widow is inspired by Shirin, the daughter of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6ngke_Khan Möngke Khan] — the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. William of Rubruck recorded that her mother was a wife of the Khan, who was a Christian, led an ''ordu'' (settlement/clan/tribe), and died sometime before 1254. Möngke loved this particular wife dearly and thus favored Shirin, who had inherited her mother's ''ordu''.<ref>{{Citation|https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html|William of Rubruck's Account of the Mongols|University of Washington|}} ''"He [Möngke] [...] is a little man, of medium height, aged forty-five years, and a young wife sat beside him; and a very ugly, full-grown girl called Cirina, with other children sat on a couch after them. This dwelling had belonged to a certain Christian lady, whom he had much loved, and of whom he had had this girl. Afterwards he had taken this young wife, but the girl was the mistress of all this ordu [clan or tribe], which had been her mother's."''</ref> But according to Chinese sources on the Yuan Dynasty, as well as a translated account by a Persian historian of the time, Shirin was the daughter of Oghul-Qaimish, an Oirat noblewoman who was probably not a Christian and was previously a wife of Möngke's father Tolui; the Khan had inherited her as a wife according to Mongol custom.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|https://ia600505.us.archive.org/27/items/Boyle1971RashidAlDin/Boyle_1971_Rashid_al_Din.pdf|The Successors of Genghis Khan|The Internet Archive|}} ''"He had another senior wife, called Oghul Qoimish, of the Oirat [and a member of the ruling family of the Oirat] [...] She had first of all been betrothed to Tolui Khan [...] He had no sons by this wife but two daughters, the elder called Shirin and the younger Bichqa [...] He had given Shirin in marriage to [Chochimtai], the son of Taiju Kuregen. [...] When Shirin died, Bichqa too was given in marriage to the son of Taiju Kuregen."''</ref> Per these records, Shirin was given the title of Grand Princess of Chang State,<ref name=":4" /> and married a man from the Olkhunut tribe who seems to have risen to prominence because his father married a daughter of Genghis Khan.<ref>{{Citation|https://ia600505.us.archive.org/27/items/Boyle1971RashidAlDin/Boyle_1971_Rashid_al_Din.pdf|The Successors of Genghis Khan|The Internet Archive|}} ''"He had given Shirin in marriage to [Chochimtai], the son of Taiju Kuregen. Taiju had married [Altalun], the youngest daughter [of Chingiz-Khan]; he belonged to the Olqunut [...]"''</ref> Shirin had a younger sister named Bichige, who was married to Chochimtai Küregen after Shirin's death.<ref name=":4" /> | The Gracious Widow is inspired by Shirin, the daughter of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6ngke_Khan Möngke Khan] — the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. William of Rubruck recorded that her mother was a wife of the Khan, who was a Christian, led an ''ordu'' (settlement/clan/tribe), and died sometime before 1254. Möngke loved this particular wife dearly and thus favored Shirin, who had inherited her mother's ''ordu''.<ref>{{Citation|https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html|William of Rubruck's Account of the Mongols|University of Washington|}} ''"He [Möngke] [...] is a little man, of medium height, aged forty-five years, and a young wife sat beside him; and a very ugly, full-grown girl called Cirina, with other children sat on a couch after them. This dwelling had belonged to a certain Christian lady, whom he had much loved, and of whom he had had this girl. Afterwards he had taken this young wife, but the girl was the mistress of all this ordu [clan or tribe], which had been her mother's."''</ref> But according to Chinese sources on the Yuan Dynasty, as well as a translated account by a Persian historian of the time, Shirin was the daughter of Oghul-Qaimish, an Oirat noblewoman who was probably not a Christian and was previously a wife of Möngke's father Tolui; the Khan had inherited her as a wife according to Mongol custom.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|https://ia600505.us.archive.org/27/items/Boyle1971RashidAlDin/Boyle_1971_Rashid_al_Din.pdf.|The Successors of Genghis Khan|The Internet Archive|}} ''"He had another senior wife, called Oghul Qoimish, of the Oirat [and a member of the ruling family of the Oirat] [...] She had first of all been betrothed to Tolui Khan [...] He had no sons by this wife but two daughters, the elder called Shirin and the younger Bichqa [...] He had given Shirin in marriage to [Chochimtai], the son of Taiju Kuregen. [...] When Shirin died, Bichqa too was given in marriage to the son of Taiju Kuregen."''</ref> Per these records, Shirin was given the title of Grand Princess of Chang State,<ref name=":4" /> and married a man from the Olkhunut tribe who seems to have risen to prominence because his father married a daughter of Genghis Khan.<ref>{{Citation|https://ia600505.us.archive.org/27/items/Boyle1971RashidAlDin/Boyle_1971_Rashid_al_Din.pdf.|The Successors of Genghis Khan|The Internet Archive|}} ''"He had given Shirin in marriage to [Chochimtai], the son of Taiju Kuregen. Taiju had married [Altalun], the youngest daughter [of Chingiz-Khan]; he belonged to the Olqunut [...]"''</ref> Shirin had a younger sister named Bichige, who was married to Chochimtai Küregen after Shirin's death.<ref name=":4" /> | ||
Little is known about the specifics of Shirin’s life, including her personal undertakings and the date of her death, as historical records remain limited. The affair depicted in fiction between Shirin and the French artisan Guillaume Boucher is purely artistic license, as no historical evidence supports such a relationship, and Boucher is known to have had a wife and children in his homeland. | Little is known about the specifics of Shirin’s life, including her personal undertakings and the date of her death, as historical records remain limited. The affair depicted in fiction between Shirin and the French artisan Guillaume Boucher is purely artistic license, as no historical evidence supports such a relationship, and Boucher is known to have had a wife and children in his homeland. | ||
