The story of Fu Hao - BBC Bitesize

Who was Fu Hao?

Fu Hao was one of King Wu Ding’s 64 wives. She became an important and powerful figure in Shang society.

She was a powerful military general, which was an unusual role for a woman to have at that time. She was also a high priestess who performed religious and spiritual duties.

She died around 1200BC. Her tomb, in which she was buried, was discovered in 1976 and revealed lots of information about her life.

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Important words

Important words on Fu Hao.

Keyword	Definition
Archaeology	A way of studying the past by looking at objects and clues from the past.
Dynasty	A family line of rulers.
High priestess	A woman who performs religious and spiritual duties.
Jade	A hard, green stone used for ritual objects and ornaments.
King	A male ruler of a country or state who often become king when their father dies, this system of government is a monarchy.
Oracle bones	Animal bones covered in ancient writing.
Tomb	A special place where people were buried after they died.

What did she do?

A photo of a statue of Fu Hao. — Image caption,
A statue of Fu Hao and her tomb at Yinxu Palace, Anyang, China.

Fu Hao owned her own land.

She was a high priestess. King Wu ordered Hao to make very special rituals and sacrifices. We know this from the oracle bones which were animal bones covered in ancient writing.

They also tell us that Fu Hao was a military general in command of Shang armies. This was unusual for a woman at that time. The weapons in her tomb also suggest she was very involved in military life.

Fu Hao had up to 13,000 troops serving under her and they won many battles. Other women were also in the military during the Shang dynasty. About 600 women are recorded in the oracle bones as being in the army.

What was in Fu Hao’s tomb?

In 1976, the tomb of Fu Hao was discovered.

It was further away from the other royal tombs from that period and it is the only royal Shang dynasty tomb to be found left exactly as it was when the person was buried. None of the items inside had been stolen.

A photo of a reconstruction of Fu Hao's tomb. — Image caption,
A reconstruction of Fu Hao's tomb, as it was discovered by archaeologists, in in the The Yin Ruins (Yinxu) in Anyang, China.

Discovered in the tomb were:

A Shang dynasty jade decoration. — Image caption,
Shang dynasty period jade, similar to those buried with Fu Hao.

Discovered in the tomb were:

more than 700 jade objects
more than 500 bone objects
400 bronze objects
16 dogs
16 human sacrifices
many weapons including battle axes

Some of the jade objects in Fu Hao’s tomb were ones she had collected during her life, some of the items were already very old. Jade is a hard, green stone that was very precious in the Shang Dynasty and was used to make special ornaments and ritual items. Large battle axes were some of the weapons found, they symbolised her military leadership.

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