Fu Hao, the wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty, was the first female military commander documented in Chinese history (oracle bones), and was also an outstanding female politician.

Fu Hao was a famous military strategist in Chinese history and a female general who was good at fighting. The oracle bone inscriptions in the Yin Ruins record that she conquered many surrounding countries, which is rare in history. She is one of the more than 60 wives of Shang King Wuding, and is the mother of Zu Jiyin. After her death, her temple name was "Xin". She lived in the first half of the 12th century BC when Wu Ding reorganized the Shang Dynasty. She was the earliest female politician and military strategist in our country's historical records, and the first well-documented heroine in Chinese history. . From the excavation of her tomb, it is inferred that her name should be "Hao", and "Wo" is a kinship title. In the bronze inscriptions, she is also called "Stepmother Xin".

Fu Hao was the wife of Shang King Wu Ding. A large number of oracle bone inscriptions unearthed show that Fu Hao was ordered to fight on the battlefield many times and made great contributions to the expansion of the Shang Dynasty's territory. She is often ordered to preside over various rituals such as offering sacrifices to heaven, offering sacrifices to ancestors, and offering sacrifices to sacred springs. She also serves as a divination official. However, Fu Hao unfortunately passed away in her thirties, which could not be considered a premature death during the Shang Dynasty. However, compared to Wu Ding who lived for 59 years, it was indeed a premature death. Wu Ding was very sad and Fu Hao had They were buried alone in huge tombs, and there were rituals to worship them. This was very rare during the Shang Dynasty.

In 1976, her complete tomb was discovered in the northwest of Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan. Her name appears frequently in the existing oracle bone documents. Her name is mentioned only in the more than 10,000 oracle bones unearthed from Yin Ruins in Anyang. There were more than 200 times. She was the concubine of Shang King Wuding more than 3,000 years ago.

2.1 Interesting Facts and Legends

The martial arts of the Shang Dynasty was at its peak during the era of Shang Gaozong and Wu Ding. Wu Ding expanded the territory of the Shang Dynasty several times through a series of wars, and Wu Ding led troops to the Eastern Expedition. The general of Xituo is his queen Fuhao. Oracle records say that one summer, a war broke out on the northern border. The two sides were at a stalemate. Fu Hao volunteered and asked to lead troops there. Wu Ding was hesitant. After divination, he decided to send Fu Hao to raise troops, and the result was a great victory. After that, Wu Ding made her the commander-in-chief. From then on, she conquered the east and west, defeating more than 20 surrounding Fang Kingdoms (small independent countries). At that time, the number of people dispatched in the battle was not large, usually only thousands, which was similar to a large-scale battle. However, according to records, women When Hao attacked the Qiang side, he led more than 13,000 troops at a time. In other words, one-tenth of the army in the capital was given to her.

2.2 Divination Officer

Fuhao is not only able to lead troops in battles, but is also the main priest of the country. She is often ordered to preside over various rituals such as offering sacrifices to heaven, ancestors, and sacred springs. He was appointed as the official of divination. The Shang Dynasty was a country that believed in ghosts and gods. It was said that "the major affairs of the country were sacrifices and military affairs." Fu Hao is good at fighting, and has the power of sacrifice and divination. Even Wu Ding may be afraid of her.

2.3 Other historical materials

Wuding, Emperor Gaozong of Shang Dynasty, had three queens, and Fuhao was his first wife. However, Wu Ding had more than sixty wives, and Fu Hao was just one of them. It is worth noting that Fu Hao did not live with Wu Ding, but often stayed in his own fief. This phenomenon never appeared again in subsequent Chinese history. But it seemed to be a common phenomenon at the time. Wu Ding had at least several wives, concubines and female generals besides Fu Hao. There is also a woman Xing whose name is recorded (her name is Zuojing Youquan. This character cannot be found in the lexicon, but it is related to Xing, so Xing is used instead. ), whose status was second only to Fu Hao. She also led many expeditions and managed agriculture and internal affairs for Wu Ding. She was sealed in the well, which is today's Xingtai, Hebei.

2.4 Related information

Fu Hao’s tomb was excavated in Anyang, Henan, one of the capitals of the ancient Shang Dynasty. There are various information about Fu Hao’s birth and death dates and causes of death. The words are unclear. There is one source of information saying that Fu Hao died in 1248 BC, but the cause of death is unknown. Because fighting at that time was similar to large-scale armed fighting, even though Fu Hao was a high-ranking general, he probably had to fight in battle. It is not known whether he was killed in battle, or whether he returned to Anyang after being injured and died. Among the several weapons unearthed from Fuhao's tomb are a large copper ax with dragon patterns and a copper ax with tiger patterns. Because it has the words "女好" engraved on it, it is concluded that it was a weapon that he had used during his lifetime. One of the two weapons weighs 8.5 kilograms and the other 9 kilograms. The fact that Fu Hao uses such heavy weapons shows that she has superb martial arts skills and great strength. After their marriage, the Chinese female generals no longer used axes. Some scholars have even researched that the standard weapon of the Amazon female warriors in ancient Greek mythology is also a big axe. Therefore, the legend of the Amazon female warriors actually originated from the female warrior tribes in Asia. Maybe these female warriors are related to the Shang Dynasty. related to people’s descendants.

3 Edit this paragraph from the historical records of Fu Hao

3.1 The great affairs of the country lie in the sacrifice and the army

The ancestors have a famous saying: "The great affairs of the country lie in the sacrifice and the army. "In other words, apart from sacrifices and divination, major national affairs include defending the border, expanding territory, and capturing slaves. Wu Ding was a famous hero in the history of the Shang Dynasty. During his 59 years in power, Wu Ding frequently went to war and conquered the surrounding tribes in the northwest and southeast, greatly expanding the territory of the dynasty. History is called his rule. The period was called "Wu Ding Zhong Xing". In this process, Fuhao is of course a very important figure. There are quite detailed records of the military activities she participated in in the documents at that time.

It is 13.6 centimeters in height and 0.7 centimeters in wall thickness. It was unearthed from the Fuhao Tomb in Yinxu, Anyang, Henan Province in 1976 and is now in the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Many jade dragons were unearthed from Fuhao's tomb, but only one jade phoenix was found, which shows that Fuhao attached great importance to the phoenix. This vessel is very similar to the word "phoenix" in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty. It is an excellent object for studying the image of the phoenix in the minds of the people of the Shang Dynasty. The jade phoenix has a high crown and hooked beak, short wings and long tail. It stands upright and looks back as if it is about to fly. It is elegant and free. The long and stretched tail is naturally curved. The tail feathers are combined and divided, and they are pure and without lines. There are perforated holes in the front of the body, which makes the phoenix body plump and charming. The protruding perforated round button on the back should be where the rope is hung. The image of the phoenix is ??beautiful and exquisite, and the jade is crystal clear and clean, making people unable to help but look at it more and find it difficult to understand. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" says: "The first text of the phoenix bird is called De, the winged text is Shun, the imprinted text is Ren, and the back text is Yi. Seeing it will bring peace to the world." This shows that the phoenix was still a symbol of morality and benevolence at that time. Perhaps women at that time It is a good idea to wear this jade phoenix, which not only expresses nobility, but also implies good fortune.

3.2 Battle-tested

For example, there is an inscription in the oracle bone inscriptions that reads: "Zhen, if you ascend to the throne, you will have three thousand wives, and if you ascend to the throne, you will be able to defeat the Qiang." This means that the King of Shang Fuhao's 3,000 men and horses and 10,000 other soldiers were recruited and ordered to conquer the Qiang State, the old enemy of the Shang Dynasty. At that time, the team of more than 13,000 people who visited women's tombs and statues was already considered a mighty army. This was also the largest war in the history of the Shang Dynasty recorded in oracle bone inscriptions. At that time, Wu Ding's favorite generals such as Qin and Yu, who had been on the battlefield for a long time and had numerous military exploits, were all led by Fu Hao. After that battle, the power of the Qiang people was greatly weakened, and the western border of Shang was stabilized.

At that time, there was a powerful nomadic tribe Tufang more than 1,000 miles due north of the capital Anyang (now Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan). They often invaded Shang's borders wantonly and robbed people and property, which was a major worry for the dynasty for many years. Therefore, Wu Ding ordered his wife Hao to lead his troops into battle. In just one battle, he repelled the invading enemy. Fu Hao took advantage of the victory to pursue and completely defeated Hijikata. From then on, Tufang no longer dared to invade, and was eventually included in Shang's territory.

3.3 Exciting Battles

The most exciting battle of Fu Hao was the battle with Wu Ding to conquer Pakistan. Before the war, Fuhao and her husband agreed on a strategy. Fuhao would ambush the enemy's army in the west, while Wuding would lead the elite troops to launch a surprise attack on the Pakistani army in the east. Encircled by the Wuding Army and the Fuhao Army, the Pakistani army lost sight of one thing and lost the other. Their formation was in chaos, and they were finally surrounded and annihilated, and the southern border was pacified. This is probably the earliest "ambush battle" recorded in writing in China.

3.4 The queen with both civil and military skills

As a queen, she does not like "red clothes" but prefers "arms", or she loves "arms" even more than "red clothes". In the Fuhao tomb excavated in 1976, many women-specific ornaments such as exquisite bone carving knives, bronze mirrors, bone hairpins, and agate beads were discovered, as well as "large stone cicadas, small stone pots, stone barriers, stone jars and other ornaments for appreciation" Playing with utensils", this all shows that she has a feminine and delicate side. What is amazing is that in addition to these trinkets, there are also a large number of weapons among the funerary objects, especially a large copper ax weighing 9 kilograms, decorated with a pattern of two tigers biting people, and engraved with the inscription "Women are good", which is particularly attractive. Attention. Later, experts verified that this was a weapon she had used during her lifetime. Fu Hao can use such a heavy weapon, which shows that she has superb martial arts skills and great strength. More importantly, the yue was a symbol of military power and royal power in ancient times. Then, we can conclude that she must have been a female general commanding thousands of troops in that era. In fact, as early as 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, jade axes from the Liangzhu Culture period had intricately carved images of the female war goddess or the Great Mother Goddess with her “toothed vulva” exposed. This shows that in that era, the legacy of matrilineal society still existed, and it was not unusual for women to lead soldiers in war. However, in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, when men were already dominant, the fact that a woman could possess a symbol of China's supreme military commander, such as a yue, and become the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces was enough to show that her abilities were truly extraordinary.

3.5 Important fortune teller

The importance of good marriage is not only reflected in her noble status as a queen and a first-class military general, but also in her special position, that of presiding over Priestly diviner. In her time, people were superstitious about ghosts and gods, respected destiny, and sacrifices and divination were very popular. Especially among the Shang royal family and the slave-owning ruling class, almost all major national events required repeated divination and prayers to ghosts and gods. Therefore, sacrifice is one of the most important state activities. The priests who hold this highest clerical power must have extensive knowledge and a lofty status. Through communication with ghosts and gods, they must become the actual decision-makers of major national affairs.

4 Related events edit this paragraph

4.1 Overview

The Shang Dynasty regarded sacrifice and military affairs as two major national events. Sacrifice and Rong". Because Fu Hao had a high level of cultural accomplishment, King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty often asked her to preside over sacrifices and read sacrificial inscriptions. She was appointed as a diviner and wrote inscriptions. Among the preserved oracle bone inscriptions, some were carved by Fu Hao's hand. She participated in political activities in the court by presiding over sacrifices and became a female politician buried by Wu Ding.

4.2 Conquests and Sacrifice

Fuhao was also a military strategist. She led troops on many expeditions and made great military exploits. There is an inscription in the inscription: "A woman who ascends is good for three thousand people, and she travels with ten thousand people." The record of "almost conquering the Qiang" means that King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty recruited 3,000 troops belonging to Fuhao and 10,000 other soldiers to conquer the Qiang Kingdom. Two bronze axes belonging to "Fuhao" were found among the unearthed cultural relics. The handle weighs eight or nine kilograms, which was a symbol of royal and military power in the Shang Dynasty. Once, Wu Ding personally conquered Pakistan and ordered Fu Hao to set up an ambush. The Ba army was ambushed and was annihilated by Fu Hao.

According to the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed from the Yin Ruins, Fuhao once presided over various types and names of sacrificial activities many times, using her divine power to serve the rule of the Shang Dynasty. In addition, Fu Hao was sent by Wu Ding many times to lead troops in battles, conquering the Tufang tribe in the north, attacking the Yi Kingdom in the southeast, and defeating the Ba army in the southwest, making great contributions to the expansion of the Shang Dynasty's territory. Wu Ding loved her very much, granted her an independent fief, and often prayed to ghosts and gods for her health and longevity. However, Fuhao passed away before Wuding. Wu Ding was very sad and buried her about 100 meters northwest of Xiaotun Village in Anyang, Henan Province. The tombs were excavated and well preserved. In addition to a large number of bronze wares, a total of 755 jade wares were unearthed, making it the tomb with the largest number and concentration of jade wares unearthed in the Shang Dynasty. There were also 63 stone wares, 47 gem wares and ivory carvings.

After Fu Hao's death, Wu Ding was very sad. Every time there was a military operation, he often offered sacrifices to pray for Fu Hao's spirit to help in the battle. This also reflects that Fu Hao's name during her lifetime was indeed enough to deter the enemy. After Fuhao's death, there was a huge tomb in which he was buried alone, and he enjoyed the solemn ceremony of solemn sacrifice, which was also rare in the Shang Dynasty

4.3 Fuhao's ghost marriage

3000 years later In two accidental discoveries 40 years apart, she appeared in front of today's people as the most concrete image of the Shang Dynasty. The king of Shang arranged a ghost marriage for his beloved wife. However, people still wonder why Fuhao married so many kings? Did a queen in the Shang Dynasty have the right to marry multiple times? Zhao Cheng, an old expert from Zhonghua Book Company, has retired for many years, but he still remains obsessed with the study of oracle bone inscriptions. He has unique insights into the 2636 edition of "Oracle Bone Inscriptions Collection": Wu Ding is the longest-reigning king among the known Shang kings. King, he died in the 59th year of his life, and his cherished queen, Huhao, died before him. People in the Shang Dynasty were superstitious about ghosts and gods and respected destiny. They believe that everything in the world depends on God, gods and ancestors. Wu Ding had a very special feeling for Fu Hao. Maybe he loved each other deeply, or maybe he respected each other like a guest. He could not let go of Fu Hao's departure. Therefore, this enlightened monarch betrothed his cherished wife to the long-dead virtuous king. Perhaps he believed that these dead ancestors would protect his wife in the afterlife, or he also believed that a good wife is outstanding and perfect. Can be compared with great emperors. The oracle bone inscriptions are Wu Ding's urgent inquiries about his ancestors. "Is Fu Hao married?" "Dajia is already married to Fu Hao!" "Is Fu Hao married?" "Cheng Tang is already married to Fu Hao!" "Is Fu Hao married?" "Zu Yi is already married. Good luck!" Then the king was relieved.

4.4 Modern Speculations

The discovery of Fu Hao’s tomb in Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan in 1976 brought to light the deeds of this female politician and military strategist who had been buried for more than three thousand years. , archaeologists and historians believe that this outstanding ancient woman should be given her due historical status.

The twelfth century BC was the Yin and Shang period in China. Due to frequent wars, the traces left by the Shang Dynasty to modern people are very few, but among these few relics, a considerable part belongs to a special woman

Wu Ding is seen in historical materials as " There are more than sixty "wives", among whom only three have the status of queen, and good wives are the first. And she was also the only woman that Wu Ding, the great Zhongxing King of the Shang Dynasty, truly loved in his life.

In the existing oracle bone documents, the name "Fuhao" appears frequently. In the more than 10,000 oracle bones unearthed from YH127 oracle bone cave in Anyang Yinxu alone, she appeared more than 200 times. ! Moreover, Wu Ding's prayers to heaven in these divination included all aspects of the woman's life: war, childbirth, illness, and even her condition after death. This shows that Wu Ding was very interested in his wife.

Fuhao's surname is not Fu. Her father's surname is a symbol of a sub-shaped figure painted in a si-shaped figure. When she married Wu Ding and became the royal wife, Wu Ding gave her a very generous fiefdom and scholars. In her fief, she received the surname "Hao" and was respectfully called "Fu Hao" or "Later Fu Hao". Fuhao's posthumous title was "Xin", and descendants of the Shang Dynasty respectfully called her "Mother Xin" and "Stepmother Xin".

5 Emotions with Wu Ding Edit this paragraph

5.1 Basic overview

Wu Ding was the 23rd king of the Shang Dynasty and the 20th king Pangeng. Nephew. When Pan Geng succeeded to the throne, the Shang Dynasty already showed signs of internal strife and foreign aggression. In order to get rid of the predicament, Pan Geng moved the capital of the Shang Dynasty to Northern Mongolia (now Anyang, Henan). A few years after Pan Geng completed the feat of moving to Yin, Wu Ding, the king of Zhongxing in the Shang Dynasty, took over the royal staff.

Wu Ding’s experience was similar to that of Peter the Great of Russia nearly three thousand years later.

Wu Ding’s father, Xiao Yi, was Pan Geng’s fourth brother. He never dreamed that he would succeed to the throne. Therefore, when Wu Ding was young, Xiao Yi sent his son Wu Ding to live among the people.

Wu Ding did not reveal his royal ancestry to anyone, but learned the knowledge of various labors like an ordinary person, and experienced various sufferings like an ordinary person, thus laying the foundation for his future succession to the ZTE Dynasty. It was this experience that gave him Fu Shuo, who was born as a house-building slave.

5.2 Deep love between husband and wife

Wuding Wuding was a monarch with a very strong personality, full of emotions and ambitions. Fu Hao was Wu Ding's first queen. Her identity before marrying Wu Ding was probably the leader or princess of a matrilineal tribe under the Shang Kingdom or surrounding tribes. She had an extraordinary background and knowledge. The woman is very smart and has extraordinary courage and wisdom. Wu Ding, the king with the most prosperous martial arts in the Shang Dynasty, was her husband, and a good part of the martial arts in Wu Ding's era was due to her good wife. The Shang Dynasty has a strong matrilineal clan legacy. There is no problem at all when these adjectives are applied to Queen Shang. Fuhao has extraordinary arm strength, and one of the weapons she uses weighs nine kilograms, which shows that she is physically strong. The weapon is a large axe, which further shows her bravery.

Fu Hao and Wu Ding are a truly like-minded couple. When he first got married, Wu Ding didn't know much about his wife's ability to lead troops in battle. One summer, there was an invasion of foreign enemies on the northern border. The generals sent to conquer the war could not solve the problem for a long time, so Fu Hao took the initiative to ask for help and led troops to help in the battle. Wu Ding was very hesitant about his wife's request. After thinking for a long time, he decided to let the queen go to war through divination. Unexpectedly, as soon as Fu Hao arrived at the front line, she dispatched and commanded well and took the lead. She quickly defeated the enemy and won the victory.

Wu Ding looked at his wife with admiration from then on, and appointed her as the military commander of the Shang Dynasty, letting her command the battles. From then on, Fuhao led the army to conquer and defeat more than 20 small countries such as Beitufang, Nanyi Kingdom, Nanbafang, and Guifang, and made immortal military exploits for the Shang Dynasty's expansion of territory. Among them, in the battle against the Qiang, Wu Ding handed over more than half of the Shang Dynasty's troops to her: more than 13,000 people. This battle was a complete victory, and it was also the largest troop deployment during the Wu Ding period.

5.3 Contribute to the country

In addition to leading the army in Fuhao's tomb, Fuhao also mastered the sacrificial and divination rituals of the Shang Dynasty and often presided over such ceremonies. She is a true clergyman. The highest priest actually wants to follow my advice. The king should learn from Wu Ding and explore the potential of his wife. No matter how loyal a minister is, he is not as reliable as his wife. As the saying goes, if you gain something, you will both prosper and if you lose, you will suffer. What's more, a couple's kindness lasts a hundred days. China's traditional education teaches women to think that their husbands are bigger than the sky. Later emperors kept their wives in the harem, and then treated them like monkeys and sold them to their own officials and generals. They were really asking for trouble. Generally speaking, Wu Ding and his wife were the happiest and most successful couple in the world. They worked together to run the Shang Dynasty into the world's first-class mom-and-pop shop.

One of Fuhao's greatest military exploits for Wu Ding and the Shang Dynasty was to lead an army of 13,000 people to conquer the enemy in the Hetao area of ??Inner Mongolia in the northwest. This war had great epoch-making significance for the Yin and Shang dynasties and even the entire history of China.

This was a self-defense war. Before Fu Hao went to war, the Shang Dynasty had been trapped in the war and harassment on the northwest border for many years and could not win. However, Fu Hao completed the battle and won the final and most powerful victory. Victory and the surrender and obedience of the enemy. This was a decisive battle that laid the foundation for the historical process of Chinese civilization. Historians believe that the significance of this battle in Fuhao is no less than the legendary battle between Huangdi and Chi You.

Of course, Wu Ding was not just a useless man who just stayed in the palace and divined for his wife who went out to fight. He also led his troops on many expeditions. When attacking Ba

Shang Dynasty War Goddess

Fang Guo (today's southwest Hubei), he and Fu Hao led the army together and divided the labor and cooperated - letting Fu Hao stay in the southwest He set up an ambush formation and led various Hou Bos to launch an offensive from the east, driving the enemy into Fuhao's iron barrel formation and annihilating them with one blow.

Whenever Fu Hao went on a solo expedition and returned triumphantly, Wu Ding could not restrain his joy and went out of the city to greet her. Once, he traveled more than 80 kilometers to greet her. When the couple led their respective subordinates and finally met in the suburbs, the excitement of meeting again after a long separation made them forget their identities as king and queen, leaving their subordinates behind. The two drove side by side, chasing each other in the wilderness. And Wu Ding regarded his wife as extremely important, even loving and respecting her. This time, the romantic marriage has remained in the historical data, and naturally there are more love affairs that have not been written down. The harmony between the piano and the harp will make future generations envious.