Fu Hao - one of several consorts of the ‘Warrior King Ding' of the Shang dynasty. Fu Hao played an important part in a series of wars during the reign of Wu Ding. All her life Fu Hao had been economically independent. Like other leaders and meritorious chiefs, she was granted extra land by the emperor in addition to her own. She managed the land herself, and the yields were hers.
Background
Productivity in her time was low and knowledge about nature and society was restricted to religious explanations. Sacrifices were common practice, and seen as a way of appeasing the gods in the hopes of being protected and blessed with happiness. These ceremonies were presided over by such high-ranking personages as Fu Hao. Fu Hao's presiding role at such ceremonies was deduced from the large collection of sacrificial bronze vessels unearthed in 1976 from her tomb in Xiaotun Village, in Anyang, Henan Province (the site of the Shang capital). The collection included an enormous cooking utensil bearing many inscriptions of the name Fu Hao. Among the artifacts are also tortoise shells bearing the characters "prepared by Fu Hao", which shows that Fu Hao was also in charge of divination rites.
Career
Fu Hao served as a military commander and high priestess. Wu Ding repeatedly instructed Fu Hao to conduct special rituals and offer sacrifices. This was very unusual for a woman of that time, and shows that the king must have had great confidence in his wife.
Religion
Productivity in her time was low and knowledge about nature and society was restricted to religious explanations. Sacrifices were common practice, and seen as a way of appeasing the gods in the hopes of being protected and blessed with happiness. These ceremonies were presided over by Fu Hao.