Women in History: Fu Hao

In the United States we lifted bans against women in combat in the early 1990s and in Russia women fought alongside the men during World War II (1939 - 1945), but the earliest woman warrior we know of lived long before our time.

Fu Hao lived in China during the Shang Dynasty, which lasted from ca. 1600 BCE to ca. 1050 BCE or, in other words, about 3,000 to 3,500 years ago. She was a consort of King Wu Ding, who made her one of his generals and gave her a feifdom to govern. She led an army of 13,000 warriors, defended Wu Ding's borders and conducted raids on other tribes.

Fu Hao died ca. 1200 BCE and was buried in a tomb in the Royal Cemetery at the Shang capital of Yinxu. Archaeologists discovered her tomb in 1975. It has been restored and was opened to the public in 1999. Here is a picture of a statue of Fu Hao that stands in Yinxu. The picture originally comes from Wikipedia, but I got it from this site, where you can find the full story.

Learn more here, and here, and also here.

Words you might not know:
Archaeologist - an archaeologist (ar-kee-AH-luh-jist) is someone who tries to learn about the past by studying things left behind by ancient civilizations, like bones, swords, and broken dishes.
BCE - This is an abbreviation for "Before the Christian Era", which is often shortened to "BC", meaning "Before Christ".
Ca. - "Ca." is an abbreviation for the word "circa"(SIR ka), which means "about". It's a word that historians use a lot when they don't know the exact date of something. (I wouldn't try it on your mom, EmmaGrace. If she asks you when you're going to be ready and you say, "oh, circa eight o'clock" she'll probably give you that look.)
Consort - In this case, it means the emperor's wife. Wu Ding seems to have had several wives, so calling her his "consort" probably means she was his main wife.
Feifdom - (FEEF dum) Kind of like a little kingdom that she would rule in his name.