In my current statcounter addiction, I found that someone reached my site by searching for “Tang Legion of the Heroine”….hmmm….

Followed the link to a fascinating thread about fighting women of China. I’ve known that there were several prominent female warriors and military leaders from ancient times through the Tang dynasty. One post mentions there are female statues among a terracotta army (not THE Terracotta army of the First Emperor), indicating that there were women commonly serving in the Han dynasty armies. (Not to be mistaken with an art exhibit where a modern sculptor purposefully created female terracotta warriors.)

There’s some debate as to whether they were truly soldiers, but they were riding horses and holding weapons so I think it’s a strong case!

Another post mentions the “Legion of the Heroine” formed by a Tang dynasty princess. That one I had encountered in my research, but the post added some more detail.

Western readers may find it hard to believe that my princess heroine wields butterfly swords and is so independent. I think Asian readers won’t even twitch an eye since it’s such a common trope for them. That is supposing, that I have any readers at all. 😉

Well, if you’re interested. It’s a fascinating read:
http://chinahistoryforum.com/lofiversion/index.php/t11692.html

http://www.members.tripod.com/~journeyeast/women_warriors__secret.html