During the Han Dynasty, a scholar named Wang Zhang went to the capital, Chang'an, to study. He was an excellent student, but his family was very poor.

To keep warm, he and his wife had to lie together in a coarse straw cloak used for oxen. One day, Wang Zhang fell ill and, fearing he might die, he and his wife wept together inside the coarse cover.

Later, when he became an official, he was displeased with Wang Feng, Emperor Cheng's maternal uncle, for monopolizing power. Despite his wife's advice not to, he submitted a memorial criticizing Wang Feng and was subsequently ordered to commit suicide.