Editing Fu Hao (section)

==Biography==
King [[Wu Ding]] of Shang cultivated relationships with neighbouring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them. Fu Hao (who was believed to be one of the king's 64 wives) entered the royal household through such a marriage and took advantage of the semi-matriarchal slave society to rise through the ranks<ref name="allWoman">{{cite web|url=http://www.womenofchina.cn/people/women_in_history/1405.jsp |title=Woman General Fu Hao |access-date=August 4, 2007 |publisher=All China Women's Federation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214080543/http://www.womenofchina.cn/people/women_in_history/1405.jsp |archive-date=February 14, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to become one of King Wu Ding's three consorts. She may have come from the border or from the [[Steppe]], as suggested by the assortment of weapons in her tomb.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rawson |first1=Jessica |title=Steppe Weapons in Ancient China and the Role of Hand-to-hand Combat |journal=故宮學術季刊 (The National Palace Museum Research Quarterly) |date=2015 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=39 |url=https://www.academia.edu/20315661 |quote=The presence of these different weapon types in Fu Hao's tomb has by some been taken as a mark that she came originally from the borders or the steppe, where women were more likely to play a central role in battle. Her status as a leader in war was thus symbolised by the axes, her homeland by the knife.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bunker |first1=Emma C. |last2=Watt |first2=James C. Y. |last3=Sun |first3=Zhixin |title=Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other New York Collections |date=2002 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York |isbn=9780300096880 |page=76 |url=https://cdn.sanity.io/files/cctd4ker/production/d27f6a71fecdde776eef21c1d59d30492dde11e6.pdf}}</ref>

The other two wives were [[Fu Jing (Shang dynasty)|Fu Jing]] ({{lang|zh|婦妌}}) and Fu Shi ({{lang|zh|婦嬕}}).{{efn|Fu Shi can also be called Fu Yi ({{lang|zh|婦睪}}), and she is often referred to in the oracle bones as Bigui ({{lang|zh|妣癸}}).}} Fu Jing was the primary queen while Fu Hao was the secondary queen. Fu Hao was also the mother of Prince [[Zu Ji]]. Oracle bone inscriptions show concern for her well-being at the time of the birth.

[[File:Shang Jade Human Figure.jpg|thumb|Jade human figure, tomb of Queen Fu Hao. The design is probably a derivation from the Central Asian [[Seima-Turbino culture]].<ref name="LM">{{cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Meicun |title=Seima-Turbino Culture and the Proto-Silk Road |journal=Chinese Cultural Relics |date=2016 |volume=3 |issue=1–002 |pages=256–257 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45055541 |issn=2330-5169 |quote=The report on the archaeological excavation of the Yin (Shang) ruins published in 2011 shows a Seima-Turbino style bronze socketed spearhead with a single side hook. (...) It is worth noting that a jade figurine (Figure 15:5) that resembles a Seima-Turbino-style bronze figurine (Figure 15:3) and a knife with deer-head pommel (Figure 15:6) were unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao at the Yin ruins. A similar knife with deer-head pommel is also in the collection of the Baoji Museum of Bronze Collections (Figure 12:4). These discoveries and collected artifacts reveal the cultural transmission between ancient inhabitants of the Yellow River region and nomads of the Eurasian Steppe.(...) The Illustrious Ancestor [King Gaozong of Yin] disciplines the Devil’s Country. After three years he conquers it.” (...) Seima-Turbino-style artifacts unearthed at the Yin ruins, including the bronze socketed spearhead with a single side hook, the jade figurine and the knife with deer-head pommel, indicate that the “Devil’s Country” refers to the far-away Altai Mountains.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meicun |first1=Lin |last2=Liu |first2=Xiang |title=The origins of metallurgy in China |journal=Antiquity |date=October 2017 |volume=91 |issue=359 |pages=e6 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.177 |language=en |issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free }}</ref> ]]

The activities of priestess and ritual matters of China only exist in the Shang dynasty, so some evidence is vague. Since each Chinese character like ''Fu'' ({{lang|zh|婦}}) often has variable meanings, even with the oracle bones of Shang deciphered, it is possible that women like Fu Hao were originally priestesses instead of the king's wives; she just happened to marry the king later. That is to say, the meaning of "wife" in some contexts may actually refer to a position as priestess.

Fu Hao owned her land. According to the oracle bones, she offered the king remarkably valuable tributes many times. Although the Shang king had control over ritual matters, which constituted the most important political activity of the day, oracle bone inscriptions show that Wu Ding repeatedly instructed Fu Hao to conduct the most special rituals and to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. The Shang dynasty had two most important activities: ritual matters and battles; Lady Hao played extraordinary roles in both at that time.