Female Military Strategists of Ancient China

Included in this book are fifteen stories of the female strategists of ancient China from the Chinese Shang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, arranged in alphabetical order according to the surnames of the heroines. These stories happened within the historical context of their times. The readers will observe that not a few of these heroines came from the minorities; some were showgirls or prostitutes. This might have been the natural outcome of the feudalistic society where men enjoyed higher status than women and women who eked out a marginal existence had to work harder. Unlike men, historical records of these women are sketchy and deficient and, because of the deficiency, researchers have to fill in the blanks from legends and folk literatures, making it difficult to differentiate between truth and hearsay sometimes. Yet, despite this less than ideal situation, the stories provide examples of the exploits of our heroines, which the readers will enjoy reading.