Essay Sample about Priestess Lady Hao

Priestess, General, mother, and wife of the Shang Dynasty Lady Hao, or in other words Fu Hao, she was a legend that every Chinese woman looked up to, Not to mention she was strong and brave, and she accomplished a position not many females can accomplish. Even after her death she still was remembered and honored because of her tomb that had many objects that indicated her power and honor. Becoming a general was the beginning of her story that soon became history; a history that will never be forgotten.  Due to her being the first female general in Chinese ancient history, Lady Hao had a historical impact on Chinese military and female history. 

Fu Hao or Lady Hao was the first female Chinese general to be recorded in history. Therefore she contributed in many ways to the Chinese military. She became a somewhat famous female figure, however before she became the general, she was the former wife of king wu ding. Together they led troops under their wing, and they destroyed the Bafang troops in one of their battles. Furthermore, Her army became famous after defeating the  Tu-Fang, fierce rivals of the Shang, in one single battle. Therefore She went on to lead several successful military campaigns against neighboring kingdoms. “She Also led as many as 13,000 soldiers in Shang armies against the fearsome Qiang”( lowsen), Yi, and Tufang tribes; she was the most powerful Shang during her time, her accomplishments were honored using the tomb that was buried when she died, placing her corpse there.

Fu Hao was indeed a famous figure, though what actually proved her existence was her tomb. which is located in Anyang, China. It was the only tomb that was buried near the Shang area. However, Scientists that have recorded their findings found in many educative websites such as khan academy,  say that the objects found in her tomb indicate the way she lived her life and illustrate how she captured her enemies in battle and sacrificed them to her ancestors through cooking, beheading, burning, and boiling them alive. And also the bronze ritual vessels found in her tomb indicating what her social statues were, “ Fu Hao’s tomb contained more than 200 bronze ritual vessels, indicative of her social and ritual status in Shang society.”(Chaffin) said one of the historical writers that investigated her tomb. Moreover, This also indicates that her tomb is also a very important factor in her life, or maybe not during her living days but after she died. The tomb is a square large pit, 5.6 m by 4 m at the mouth. The floor level had the royal corpse and most of the utensils were buried with her. Below the corpse was a small pit that had the remains of six dogs, and along the perimeters lay the skeletons of 16 humans. Her tomb was opened to the public in 1999 and a memorial hall has been constructed there For the rituals in honor of Fu Hao. Not to mention before you enter her tomb you will find a huge structure of lady Hao built there where the memorial is built, also indicating her importance and honors to the Chinese military. 

Fu hao maybe history but she affected many factors in today's society, some are also very unexpected such as cartoons. Many people may know Mulan which is a movie published by Disney on June 19, 1998. The movie was very similar to Fu Hao's characteristics, yet it wasn’t identical. As for Mulan she pretended to be a man and joined the military but at the end of the movie she became the first female general, however, Fu Hao didn't have to disguise himself as a man and became a general either way. However, they had very similar characteristics which were bravery and power that helped be able to lead armies under their wing. Other similar characteristics were the setting which is technically the place their history/story had taken place,  both females were in china and their stories also took action china, moreover, some differences can be their social status Mulan was a commoner while fu hao was a queen, their endings were not very similar due to their social status also not to mention that Fu Hao is a real person while Mulan is only fictional. Therefore seeing how much she affected the way women are seen in China is truly a great thing even after her death she shows that women are strong and can lead armies or even defeat enemies that may be stronger than them. Moreover, Another factor Fu Hao contributed to in today's society is also her tomb which was a great factor for Chinese history, yes history, having accurate history based on evidence that is still evident to this today forms a strong country, and of course, a strong history book that generations can learn from.

In conclusion, Lady Hao contributed greatly towards the Shang hye Chinese army, and also by being the first recorded Chinese women general. She inspired many other Chinese women to also be strong and brave, by being the wife of the king of Shang,  and also the general of an army and defeating many enemies, and most importantly scientists having found objects and oracle bones which can be evidence for her contributions and the way she lived and how she dealt with her enemies. She became a history that will never be forgotten and can't be forgotten.