Fu Hao, also known as Houmuxing, was a key player in the rise of the fortunes of the Shang Dynasty.¹ She married King Wuding (r. 1250-1192 BCE), and with an army of 13,000 at her command, she was the Shang general with the largest number of troops during the reign of Wuding.² King Wuding fought many wars against the peoples on the borders of the Shang Empire. Fu Hao led the campaign against the Jiang tribes, taking many of the Jiang captive. She also directed the campaigns against the Tu, Ba and Yi peoples, with key Shang generals Zhi and Hou Gao reporting to her. Her victory against the Ba people was the earliest recorded instance of a large scale ambush in Chinese history.³

King Wuding gave Fu Hao a fiefdom on the borders of his empire, from which she could defend his borders and launch assaults against foreign peoples.⁴ In addition to crushing both domestic and foreign foes of King Wuding, Fu Hao served as a high priestess, conducting sacrifices to appease Heaven and honor the ancestors. She also held the office of oracle-reader.⁵ Fu Hao was apparently a very important public figure; the ancient Shang writings describe her military expeditions, religious rites, personal health, and other aspects of her life in detail. In Anyang, archeologists found caves that were repositories of Shang records. Fu Hao was mentioned more than 200 times in the contents of one cave alone.⁶

After Fu Hao's death, Wuding buried his beloved queen in a grand tomb filled with thousands of exquisite works of art.⁷ In 1976, Fu Hao's tomb was discovered untouched in Anyang, Henan Province.⁸ It contained many weapons and implements of war, including a large bronze battle axe - the symbol of her military authority.⁹ Fu Hao is certainly not the only female military leader of China's Bronze Age. Another tomb of a female military commander, dated to the Western Zhou era (which followed the Shang Dynasty) has been found in Changping County, Beijing. It contained a hoard of battle-ready weapons - such as long range bows, double-pointed lances, spears, pikes, battle-axes, long-bladed sabres, short swords, daggers, helmets and shields.¹⁰

X.T.

Notes

1. The vast scope of crane-themed artifacts (Chinese article)
2. The vast scope of crane-themed artifacts (Chinese article)
   Zhejiang National Defence Education Web (Chinese article)
3. Zhejiang National Defence Education Web - Fu Hao (Chinese article)
4. Zhejiang National Defence Education Web - Fu Hao (Chinese article)
5. Zhejiang National Defence Education Web - Fu Hao (Chinese article)
6. Happy Queens - Houmuxing (Fu Hao) (Chinese article)
7. A journey through 5000 years - the beginning of written history: the Shang Dynasty (Chinese article)
8. Horses, the Indo-European expansion, and the Zhou-Shang revolution (Chinese article)
   Zhejiang National Defence Education Web (Chinese article)
9. Horses, the Indo-European expansion, and the Zhou-Shang revolution (Chinese article)
10. Ancient Chinese Weapons (Chinese article)