Female Military Leaders in Chinese History

solarz

solarz

Brigadier
I thought it would be interesting to make a list of famous female military leaders in Chinese history.

Probably the most famous would be Mulan, though I don't think she was a high-ranked leader.

Others:

Mu Guiyin (穆桂英)
Princess Pingyang (平阳公主), whose all-female army gave rise to the name of 娘子关.
Liang Hongyu (梁红玉)
Qing Liangyu (秦良玉)

and others?
 
Verum

Verum

Junior Member
The internationally famous Mulan came from a Chinese opera written about a little over a thousand years ago. It was one of those country tales that made a good story but was never true. Over the ages, more details had been added to the story, making it more believable and more attractive to its audiences.

It's the same thing for 穆桂英, this person probably did not exist. You could research it on your own time.

Tell the truth, I used to believe all those people existed in history. But when I grew up and researched on them, most of them either didn't exist at all, or have existed but didn't do anything as extraordinary as legend says them to be.
 
solarz

solarz

Brigadier
Verum said:
The internationally famous Mulan came from a Chinese opera written about a little over a thousand years ago. It was one of those country tales that made a good story but was never true. Over the ages, more details had been added to the story, making it more believable and more attractive to its audiences.

It's the same thing for 穆桂英, this person probably did not exist. You could research it on your own time.

Tell the truth, I used to believe all those people existed in history. But when I grew up and researched on them, most of them either didn't exist at all, or have existed but didn't do anything as extraordinary as legend says them to be.
Click to expand...

If you're gonna say "research it on your own time", why even bother posting in this thread?
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
While Mu Gui Ying was a legendary figure, all of the other three female commanders the OP listed were, in fact, historical figures, though some of their achievements were heavily embellished by later tall tales.

Only Qin Liang Yu and Princess Ping Yang physically fought on the battlefield. Liang Hong Yu was a drummer. Not that drummers weren't important, since they helped coordinate the army during the heat of war.
 
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