In the long history of More than 5,000 years in China, hundreds of wars and uprisings have occurred. More than a dozen major dynasties and a similar number of minor dynasties rose or ended through military action. One of the main differences between China and other cultures is that China has never had heroic warriors like Caesar or Napoleon to glorify war. However, similar to other societies, China's wars are mainly masculine activities. Chinese women are only occasionally recorded as participants. However, women actually appeared as early as the time of Sun Tzu (496-453 BC) in China's military history, an indelible and magnificent chapter.
About 3200 years ago, China's first female general appeared. The oracle records that she was a commander who led more than 13,000 soldiers, conquered the Qiang state and captured a large number of Qiang people, and the famous general Hou Zhao often fought under her command.
Another female general, Lady Wa, was a famous general in the War of Resistance against the Wu Dynasty, who made great military achievements and was given the title of Lady Erpin by the Jiajing Emperor.
The most famous female generals are Qin Liangyu and Liang Hongyu. Qin is known for its many victories in national defense and the suppression of civil unrest. Her husband was killed, and she took over his duties. Leading his brothers Qin Bangping and Qin Minping to participate in many battles, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty wrote many poems to praise her and named her Lady Erpin.
Liang and her husband, General Han Shizhong, were stationed in remote border areas. Liang is known for fighting alongside her husband in many battles. In 1130, Han Shizhong's army fought a major battle with the enemy at a place called Jinshan on the Yangtze River. Liang beat the war drum and guided the army with a flag lamp. The morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and eventually their 8,000-strong army defeated the 100,000 Jin soldiers commanded by Jin Wushu. To this day, the Yue opera story "Golden Mountain War Drum" is still widely circulated.
As the first female leader of the peasant uprising, Lü Yu's mother was the only woman to take part in military operations for only personal reasons: revenge on a bad county magistrate who wrongly executed her son.
Another peasant leader, Chen Shuozhen, was the first and only female leader to establish herself as emperor after launching a peasant uprising. Her peasant army occupied most of Jiangxi Province, but was eventually captured and executed by the officers. She was called emperor 37 years before Wu Zetian, and modern historians call her "China's first female emperor."
Among the leaders of the later female uprisings, Tang Sai'er and Wang Cong'er used religious activities to mobilize people. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the "White Lotus Sect" had begun to take shape and developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Tang Sai'er was a famous female leader of the rebel army in the early Ming Dynasty, ming Chengzu Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, Daxing Palace dug a canal, and recruited hundreds of thousands of people. In the name of missionary work, Tang Sai'er gathered thousands of people to rise up, and all the way to the ground, he was eventually defeated by the continuous army of the Ming Dynasty, and he himself disappeared.
Wang Cong'er was the commander-in-chief of the late White Lotus Sect, a heroine of national color Tianxiang, excellent moral character, extraordinary martial arts, and courageous and strategic. She led the rebel army to kill corrupt officials and officials, to relieve the poor people, 19 years old she has grown the army to 40,000 to 50,000, and then all the rebel armies gathered in Sichuan, the number reached a staggering 150,000, Wang Cong'er was elected as the commander-in-chief, began the great cause of subverting the Manchu Qing, killing all the way. Later, due to the Qing Dynasty's adoption of the policy of "jianbi and clearing the wilderness", Wang Cong'er lost the help of the people and the masses, and finally defeated and heroically, at the age of 22.
The most famous heroine defending the motherland or hometown is Mulan. Hua Mulan is the earliest legendary female warrior in Chinese culture, and has recently been confirmed by many scholars as a true Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) woman. Around 419 AD, she was recorded in a roster compiled by the late Jin Dynasty. Mulan's should be the heroine who is most familiar to Chinese.
Of course, there are also well-known heroines such as Mu Guiying, Fan Lihua, Lady Xian and so on, who are brave, skilled in martial arts, and unique, which are the common characteristics of these heroines. Most people have little military training, but they practice and master martial arts from an early age, which is the opposite of the general behavioral expectations of their gender. Strict discipline, sharing weal and woe with soldiers, and skillful tactics are universal descriptions of female warrior leadership.
Two common patterns of ancient heroines participating in military operations. One is the crisis of the survival of groups in which the country or city is attacked, so war is justified; the second is the absence, death or disability of key male family members with military commander-in-chief status, or having participated in an uprising with female fighters. For example, Mulan, disguised as a man, joined the army because her father was ill and could not join the army. For example, because Xun Guan's father wanted to continue to command defense, and her knowledgeable brothers had no martial arts, she took more than 10 warriors to stand out and seek help.
All female generals have male family members in high positions. Given the patriarchal structure and feudal culture of ancient societies, it is understandable that women behave in such a strong family connection to their male relatives. The only Chinese female warriors who act independently of their families are the female warriors. Fight not only for the defense of their city, but also for their own families. The female leaders of the peasant uprising fought alongside their male family members.
Ancient heroines were an eternal source of inspiration for women. The loyalty of ancient heroines is emphasized in both history books and works of art. These women either showed strong loyalty to the family or the emperor, or showed understanding and support for the peasant revolt. Their nobility is expressed in their loyalty to the group. Legends in Chinese history and their bravery, decisiveness, loyalty and filial piety in the crisis of group survival have encouraged generations of female compatriots.