Portrait of a woman
Biography
Good wife. The date of birth and death is unknown. She is the earliest female general in Chinese history. She lived in the first half of the 12th century BC when Wuding reorganized the Shang Dynasty. Among the more than 60 wives of King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty, Fuhao was the first queen, the “mother Xin” of Zugeng and Zujia. Fuhao didn’t originally have a surname of Fu, but her father’s surname is a symbol of the shape painted in a sub shape. According to experts’ speculation, Fuhao should be the matrilineal tribal leader or Princess of the subordinate or surrounding tribes of the Shang Kingdom before she married Wuding. She has extraordinary insight and identity. After he married King Wu, he was given rich land and scholars for his great contributions. On her fief, she got the surname “Hao” and was honored as “Fuhao” or “Hou Fuhao”. Because the temple name of Fuhao is “Xin”, later generations also call her “mother Xin”, “mother Xin”, “stepmother Xin” and so on. Fuhao died at the age of 33. The reason is still unknown. She gave birth to a son named Xiaoji for Wuding.
The reason why Fuhao can get so many good names is that she is a heroine who has been on the battlefield many times. As the commander-in-chief of the Shang Dynasty, she led troops to fight many times, often wearing armor and holding a bronze knife, riding a horse to kill on the battlefield. She was as majestic as a man. She had defeated more than 20 small countries before and after, and made immortal contributions to the opening up of the territory and strengthening of the Shang Dynasty. It is said that Fuhao has great strength. A weapon she uses weighs nine kilograms. Fuhao can not only lead soldiers to fight, but also is the main priest of the country. She presides over large-scale activities such as offering sacrifices to heaven, ancestors and holy springs; She was also an official of divination, which was inconceivable in such a patriarchal society.
Two word legend
The king of Shang had more than 60 wives. She was the most outstanding one, the queen who commanded the six palaces and the mother’s world; She is not greedy for beautiful women’s clothes, but she only loves the powerful armed forces. She is a general and queen who frightens the enemy and is respected and loved by the people; She was an exception among women in the Shang Dynasty. She was not only proficient in literature and history, but also presided over sacrifices. She was a divining queen who participated in the government of the dynasty; She let the king of Shang give her true feelings. She was the wife who made her husband dream of becoming a wife. After her death, she had a huge tomb to be buried alone and enjoyed the special treatment of offering a memorial ceremony alone. Unfortunately, perhaps the writing of that era was not perfect. Such a woman general and queen, who was the first female general and queen with historical records in Chinese history, knew her deeds very few people. Even her birth was not recorded in history. What was left to future generations was also handed down through the ages, but the ordinary and simple word given by the people – women’s good.
Outstanding female general
Turning to historical records, there are many heroines who led the expedition and galloped on the battlefield. Fuhao in the late Shang Dynasty was the first female general in China. Due to the influence of historical factors, the traces left by the Shang Dynasty are extremely vague, but in all the existing oracle bone inscriptions, the name “Fuhao” appears frequently, and most of the limited relics belong to her. Among these relics, there is a weapon weighing up to 9kg. On it, there is a large copper Yue decorated with the pattern of two tigers biting people and engraved with the inscription “women’s good”. It shows that she is superior in martial arts and strength. All these strongly prove that Fuhao is the first female general in China’s written records.
Fuhao has a smart mind and extraordinary courage and wisdom. Her husband Wuding was a famous leader in the history of the Shang Dynasty. During his reign, he frequently went to war, and the territory of the dynasty was constantly expanded. As his wife, Fuhao was also a heroine. She was named the commander-in-chief of the Shang Dynasty. She was sent by soldiers to fight for many times, serving the country and expanding the territory of the Shang Dynasty.
In the oracle bone inscriptions, there is a record that “there were 3000 women and thousands of journeys to attack Qiang”. The greatest war achievement that Fuhao made for the Shang Dynasty was this war. Before that, the Shang Dynasty was worried about the war in the northwest frontier, but it was unable to win. This time, the king of Shang asked Fuhao to lead his 3000 troops and 10000 other soldiers to invade the Qiang state. For the Shang Dynasty at that time, 13000 people were almost half the strength of the Shang Dynasty, and the victory or defeat was in one fell swoop. However, women’s kindness did not disappoint people. She had a good command, and took the lead. She soon defeated the enemy and won a complete victory. The battle greatly weakened the power of the Qiang people, the ancient enemy of the Shang Dynasty, and made the northwest border of the Shang Dynasty stable. Today’s historians even believe that the historical significance of this war is no less than the legendary Chiyou war.
At that time, there was also a powerful nomadic tribe called Tu Tu, who often did such outrageous things as plundering people and property at the border of the Shang Dynasty. The local people suffered a lot, which was also a worry of Wu Ding for many years. Therefore, King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty and Fuhao discussed the countermeasures and finally decided to lead the troops to fight against the invading enemy. Before the war, the two men discussed that the elite troops would be led by the soldiers, while Fuhao was ready to ambush. The careful plan made the Turkish army take care of one thing and lose the other in the encirclement. Suddenly, the formation was in chaos, and was finally surrounded and annihilated, and the Southern territory was pacified.
Fuhao made great achievements. In order to commend her, Wuding divided her into fiefs. On this fief, Fuhao had a large number of fields and more than 3000 independent troops. Her fief was one of the richest places at that time. Not only that, she also cast large-scale bronze products for herself, and the existing “Fuhao Fang Ding” is one of them. Fuhao can control everything in the fief, but the fief under her jurisdiction also needs to pay a certain amount of tribute to the king every year. Everything is handled according to the etiquette of the king and the princes.
The Shang Dynasty was an era with male supremacy as the dominant ideology. A woman was treated so favorably that it is conceivable that she had great political and military talents.
Important diviner
According to the historical material Zuo Zhuan, in the Shang Dynasty, people paid special attention to two things, which are sacrifice and war. Due to the low social productivity at that time, people knew too little about nature, so they attributed the movement, development and changes of everything in the world to the control of ghosts and gods in the dark. It was precisely because of superstition about ghosts and gods and the worship of destiny that sacrifice and divination were very popular at that time. In particular, the Shang royal family and the ruling class of slave owners would repeatedly divine and pray for ghosts and gods whenever there was a national event. They did not forget to offer sacrifices to the gods of mountains, rivers and ancestors from time to time to pray for the protection and blessing of gods and ghosts. Based on these, divination became the most important political activity at that time. The priests who preside over this highest priesthood must not only have extensive knowledge, but also have a high position and weight, and have considerable prestige among the people. The fact that Fuhao was able to undertake this important task shows the trust of the Shang royal family in her. She has also become the actual decision-maker of major state affairs through communication with ghosts and gods.
Among the existing archaeological relics, many places are engraved with the inscription of “Fuhao”, and some are engraved with “tortoise shells for Fuhao’s renovation”. In the oracle bones unearthed in Yin Ruins, it is recorded that Fuhao had presided over various large-scale sacrificial activities for many times, such as sacrificing heaven, ancestors, divine spring, etc., and used his special divine power to serve the rule of the Shang Dynasty. She also served as an official of Divination (the most important person to communicate with heaven), which has to amaze people today.
Fuhao is a priest with extraordinary knowledge and high status. The significance of divination is so great that only diviners can prepare for it. Before divination, the residual meat residue and rubber band on the tortoise shell shall be cleaned and cut off. After drying, a special bronze drill shall be used to drill a certain number of small round holes with a certain interval. The purpose is to burn and moxibustion with a fire column during divination, so that cracks appear on the oracle bone. The diviner then judges good or bad luck according to the texture of the focus pattern, decides whether things should be done, and writes the divination result and the predicted possible situation on the same oracle bone as a sign of solemnity. No one can disobey the result of divination, even the king must do it. In those days, Fuhao also used wine and fire, and slaughtered livestock and captives. She was really a strong woman with both literature and martial arts.
Like minded Business King’s favorite
According to records, the king of Shang had more than 60 wives, and only three of them had the status of Queen. Fuhao was the first and was also the favorite of the soldiers. The king of Shang attached great importance to her, which can be seen in the existing fragments of oracle bone inscriptions.
When a woman goes out to fight against the enemy, the soldiers will divine the “death of a woman”—— Will there be no disaster for a good woman?
When a good woman returns triumphantly, Wuding will divine “will a good woman come? Will a good woman not come”—— Should Fuhao be back?
When a good woman is about to give birth, Wuding divines “a good woman gives birth”—— Can a good woman give birth smoothly?
When a woman is healthy and ill, Wu Ding divines that “a woman is healthy and ill”—— Will a woman’s illness continue to drag on?
After the death of Fuhao, Wuding is still divining “Wang Meng, not just evil”—— I dreamed that the woman was well, and she wouldn’t have any disaster, would she?
Among the more than 10000 oracle bones unearthed in Anyang alone, there are more than 200 inscriptions about Fuhao. Wuding often prays to the gods to make Fuhao live a long life. It can be seen that he has deep feelings and meticulous care for Fuhao.
Whenever Fuhao returns from the war, Wuding will go out of the city to meet her personally. On one occasion, Wuding was more than 80 miles away. When they saw the woman, they both forgot their identity as king and queen. They couldn’t help but be happy to drive together, chasing and galloping in the wilderness.
In the present words, Fuhao and Wuding are a good couple with similar ideals. When Fuhao first married Wuding, the king of Shang did not know her combat ability very well. Once the border was invaded, and the troops who went to crusade could not solve the problem for a long time, so the woman volunteered to go out to fight. Wuding was very hesitant about this request. He thought for a long time, and finally let her go through divination. As a result, Fuhao won a complete victory, which also made Wuding look at her with new eyes. However, due to the long-term war, Fuhao eventually died due to chronic labor (or inferential dystocia). The death of Fuhao made Wuding very sad. He buried her beside the palace where he handled military and political affairs, so that he could see her and protect her at any time. Fuhao’s funeral was very grand. There were 1928 objects buried with her alone, including a large number of bronze, jade, stone, bone and ivory carvings. At the time of her burial, Wu Ding killed 16 slaves for her burial, and built a memorial hall on her cemetery, which was called “mother Xin Zong” in the Oracle, so that future generations can remember her forever.
But even so, Wuding still felt that his strength could not reach the nether world. He always thought about the woman who had been separated from heaven and man. He often called the diviner to ask:
Wuding: have you married a woman? Zhenren: only Zujia marries.
Wuding: have you married a woman? Zhen people: only the ancestors marry.
Wuding: have you married a woman? Zhen Ren: Wei Cheng marries Tang.
Hearing such instructions, Wuding led his children and grandchildren to hold many large-scale sacrificial activities for Fuhao, and betrothed her soul to the three previous kings, so that she could receive the care and care of the three ancestors in the dark. After the death of Fuhao, he set up a new queen, but he ignored the new queen, and soon the new queen died. The queen after that also failed to have good luck and was not favored by the king of Shang. In addition, whenever there are wars or celebrations in the country, Wu Ding will personally lead his subjects to hold large-scale ceremonies for women’s well-being, hoping that he can triumph and return triumphantly under her blessing.
Look at history and comment on “rouge”
In the long course of history, she is one of countless queens, an imperial Marshal galloping across the battlefield, and a confidant that her husband will never forget. Such a woman with both civil and military skills lived out her dignity and natural and unrestrained life in the Shang Dynasty of the slave society.
Fuhao had a variety of prominent identities, which was unprecedented in the slave society. She is a rough woman who wields a heavy weapon of nine kilograms, but she is also a weak woman who has been ill for many years; She once commanded the largest battle of the Shang Dynasty and played an important role in promoting the development of the Chinese nation. As the first female general with written records in Chinese history, and as the most beloved and valued queen of the Shang Dynasty, her life added a bit of legend to the mysterious Shang Dynasty. In such an era, a woman can spread the history, which shows her extraordinary charm. Her tomb is well preserved. The abundance of funerary objects unearthed in recent years once shocked archaeologists and historians at home and abroad. Among the few relics of the Shang Dynasty, a large part of them are closely related to this special woman, which adds a bit of mysterious aura to her.