「昭君出塞」（B.C. 33）、「婕妤秋扇」（B.C. 17）兩個漢宮故事，前後相隔十六年。都因西漢皇帝而起，前者起因於漢元帝的「無知」；後者起因於漢成帝的「變心」。昭君的出塞，不但為自己創造更有意義的人生，也為中國、匈奴之間帶來六十年的和平。班婕妤不與趙飛燕爭寵，自請退居長信宮，幽怨以終。兩人的真實人生有著截然不同的命運遭遇。在歷來詩歌中却將兩位女主角，同樣塑造成以「哀怨」為主的生命情調。西晉石崇〈王明君辭〉中的昭君故事，在石崇筆下的「泣淚行遠，哀鬱五內」，可謂東漢蔡邕《琴操》之〈怨曠思惟歌〉所述昭君故事，以「哀怨」為主旋律的繼承與發揚。此與石崇所處的六朝時代，崇尚以悲為美的美學觀念，不無關聯。後世文學對王昭君、班婕妤兩故事各有不同的接受，概括而言，以敘事為主的昭君故事之俗文學，要比以抒情為主的婕妤怨歌之雅文學要熱鬧許多。
＂Lady Zhaojun to the Frontier＂ (B.C. 33) and ＂The Autumn Fan of Jie Yu＂ (B.C. 17) are two stories, sixteen years apart, that belonged to the Han Imperial Palace. Both came to fruition because of the emperors of Western Han-the former due to Emperor Yuan's ＂ignorance＂ and the latter due to Emperor Cheng's ＂change of heart.＂ Lady Zhaojun's journey to the frontier had not only created a more meaningful and fulfilling life for her, but also brought sixty years of peace between the Chinese and the Huns. Ban Jie Yu chose not to be a rival of Zhao Fei Yan and voluntarily relegated to Chang Shin Palace, living out the rest of her days in bitterness and resentment. The two women had drastically different fates. However, poetry has historically given the two characters similar treatments-with sadness and suffering as the focal point. Shi Tsong of Western Jin Dynasty wrote in his ＂Wang Ming Jun Tsi＂ about Lady Zhaojun and her story with the legacy of beauty and suffering as the main theme. His writing as well his time (i.e. the Era of Six Dynasties) reflect the aesthetics of seeing beauty in tragedies. Literature in later generations accepted the stories of Lady Zhaojun and Jie Yu in different ways; generally speaking, the narrative-focused story of Lady Zhaojun is considered popular literature and is livelier than the lyric-focused story of Jie Yu, which is seen as classic literature.
