The Warrior Queen: Fu Hao
“Mom, do you have to go?” The boy asked his mom.
“Yes, I do. I’ll be back before you go to sleep tonight. The place I’m going to today isn’t that far,” the mom said.
This mom was unlike any other mom. She was the queen: she was Wu Ding’s wife. The boy, her son, was one of the princes of the country. She was a warrior (fighter) queen.
“Where is it?” He asked.
“About an hour away by horse. We’re taking the horses today.”
“Oh, mom, be safe.” He said as he gave her a big hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too. You know, your mom always comes back.” She said with a smile.
The boy, the king, and a crowd of people from the palace went to the gate to see her off. After she left the palace walls, the boy ran to his favorite climbing tree and climbed up so he could see over the palace walls. This was the last glimpse of his mom for the day. Whenever she went off to fight, he always climbed up this tree to see her off. Later that day, he would climb the tree a few times to watch for her return.
She was leading a small army against the Yi people. She led the army against at least 4 other peoples as well, neighbors who weren’t as friendly with China. When she first started leading the army, no one thought that she, a women, could really lead the army or fight at all. However, she soon proved them wrong. They asked her to shoot an arrow at a target and she did. They asked her to ride a horse around and she rode better than most of them!
Finally, after dinner, the boy begged his nurse (the lady taking care of him while his mom was gone) if he could climb up the tree once more to watch for his mom. He went up the tree and she watched from below.
“Is she here yet?” The nurse asked him.
“Not yet. Can I wait a few more minutes?” The boy asked.
“Yes, we can wait until the sun goes down.” She said.
She had often waited with the boy. This was his usual routine when she was gone. Just as the sun was setting, the boy shouted down, “She’s here! She’s here!”
“I know you’re excited, but come down slowly. Your mama wouldn’t like to come home and see her boy hurt from climbing down the tree,” she said.
A few minutes later, the boy was down the tree and started running to the gate of the palace shouting, “She’s here, she’s here, she’s back! Mama’s back!” The servants, other queens (this king had many wives!), king, and many others came out to meet them.
Whenever she came back, she always looked tired, but this time she looked really tired. As usual, the king was the first one she greeted. Then she would always look around for her son. “Welcome back, mama” he said, as he gave her a big hug.
“Oh, I’m yucky from a long day, let me clean up first, then give me an even bigger hug!” She said. “Go and wait in your room. I’ll be there in a little bit to say goodnight.”
The nurse took the boy to his room and helped him get ready for bed. She stayed with him until his mom came in, which seemed like a long time to the boy. However, it was only about 30 minutes.
“I told you I’d always come back for you,” she said as she gave him a big hug.
“Did you fight a lot of people today, mama?” The boy asked.
“Yes, and mama’s tired. You must be tired too. What did you do today?” She asked.
“I climbed the tree many times looking for you.” He said.
“Your favorite climbing tree?” The mom asked. The tree actually was named after the boy because everyone always saw him climbing in it.
“How did you know?”
“Because it’s yours. What else did you do today?” The mom asked.
“Ate lunch. Oh, we also ate dinner.”
After a few minutes of chatting, the mom said, “Mama’s tired. I need to say goodnight. We can talk more in the morning.”
“You don’t have to go back and fight tomorrow, right?” The boy asked.
“No, not tomorrow. Good night. I love you,” she said as she gave him a big hug goodnight.
Epilogue:
Wu Ding (1250-1192 BC), the king at the time, married 64 women: one women from each of the neighboring areas. However, Fu Hao rose above them and became one of the 3 queens of Wu Ding. She owned land (which was a big thing then!) and led the army a few times. It’s not clear how she died: some people think it was after giving birth or maybe it was from a disease. After she died, she was renamed Mu Xin. Most of what we know about her and her life is from what was found in her tomb, which was excavated in 1975.
