Princess Wu of Yang Chao (Han Chinese)

A (quite rough) concept drawing for the Chinese Women Warrior in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series - Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800 AD to 1400 AD. She represents China during the early high middle ages, which corresponds to the Song Dynasty before the Mongol Invasion of China.

Inspired by the Music - Theme of Hebei (Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII OST)


The History of China dates back to the most ancient time and early human civilization, and throughout the ages, It's people have grown into powerful kingdoms and empires that became the source of awe to other nations they came in contact with. During the middle ages, it was one of the most advance, progressive and wealthiest nation, dwarfing any European Kingdoms or even Empires that existed. The scientific renaissance during the Song Dynasty, the Militaristic expansion done by the subsequent Sino-Mongol Yuan Dynasty and the revival of ancient traditions and power projection during the Ming Dynasty, gave China a prestige that few others could match.



In this drawing, Princess Wu Xuan is drawn in a highly stylized Chinese scale (or lamellar) armor, with ornated helmet as well as decorated pauldrons, which is based on that worn by the earlier Tang period as well as the Southern Song period. Lamellar and Scale armor had been employed by the chinese since the time dating back to Qin, and were often worn by warlords or warriors of high status and wealth. For the Chinese women warrior, wearing these kind of amour would show her highborn status and her powerful position (there were records of chinese women leading men to battle). Indeed, such would be the portrayl of princess Wu, one the daughters of the royal family, whose taste in martial arts and warfare is stronger than that of other court ladies. Given her background, she would probably be ruthless and would not hesitate to execute her men for insubordination and imposed harsh discipline, creating a brutally deadly force of warriors at her disposal.

The scene depicts her fighting against attacking force/besieging force, (probably the jurchen/mongols) with her retainers behind her, dressed in the manner of Song Heavily armed infantry or cavalrymen, as well as spearmen with decorative shield. The gate in the background is based on the Bianjing city gate painting, one of the remarkable architecture during the reign of Song dynasty. Of course, all of this are just my imagination and may not be historically accurate, but then again, this is historically wrong sketch series no?



China is home to one of the oldest surviving civilization that has ever recorded in the history of mankind. Not surprisingly, It is also home to some of the most powerful empire, numerous intellectual discoveries and beautiful patronage in arts, philosophy and literature. The Chinese had been moving mountains when Rome was still busy fighting Carthage, it had developed sophisticated agricultural technology when Europe fell into Dark Ages and it had even developed a much more complex military weapons than the knights who rode their steed to glory in battle. Even to the Arabs who were renowned for their scholars and achievements in cultural as well as scientific achievements (which dwarfed the Europeans of that time in comparison), China was a land revered for their wealth, knowledge and wisdom of its people. So, the next time we want to boast about any of the European Kingdoms/Empires in the middle ages, think of the Chinese on the far east...chances were, they would have been at least equally powerful and wealthy, if not better.

In Historical perspective, China had undergo some turbulent periods throughout the middle ages. After the Fall of Tang dynasty in the beginning of the 10th century, numerous kingdoms and powerful warlords fought for power and dominance over the lands for decades, before being united under Song dynasty on mid 10th century. The dynasty ruled China till late 13th century, first as the Northern Song Dynasty which then became Southern Song dynasty after their capital and surrounding territories were invaded by the Jurchen (becoming Jin dynasty). Their fall came when the mongol invaded China, establishing their rule as Yuan dynasty, and began embarking on their conquest of Europe that would become one of the turning points in the history of the world.

The Song dynasty itself was one of the richest in Chinese history and also the world, and also one of the most vibrant society. The breakaway from the previous tradition of land ownership, as well as employing numerous bureaucrats (who were often scholars) to run the government, Song dynasty of China enjoyed massive agricultural bloom and intellectual achievement. At its peak, China had close to 100,000,000 people living on their land (oh yes, the Chinese did their census) whose blossoming trades brought numerous wealth that made the empire rich. Their economic model was very advance of its time, and through its trades, it influenced many of foreign powers, most notably the muslims, who traded goods with them. Back then, both men and women enjoyed their privileged due to the meritocratic system employed by the government, allowing women (in rare case) to occupy position of power.

It was also the period where 3 of the 4 Chinese Great inventions were invented; the printing block, magnetic compass and gunpowder. The printing block allowed numerous literature works to printed, published and preserved, as well as being used to print money, the first country to do so in the history of mankind. As for gunpowder, the Chinese had been using it for multiple purpose long before it reached Europe. It was originally used for making fireworks, but found its way into military application in the form of incendiary bombs, flame-throwers, canon, land mines, or simply something to scare the crowds with