Ancient China had been male dominated and women were required to obey their fathers and husbands and were treated as bondservants. Throughout the rise of the Tang Dynasty (618BC-765B) however reform had been made to the social system of that time and females had been granted unusual rights and freedoms. The country itself had undergone considerable development in a variety of areas such as philosophy, politics and culture.
Princess Pingyang was the daughter of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. She was the third eldest of nineteen daughters and had eventually been married off to Chai Shao, the duke of Jujy. when the emperor, li yuan, had decided to rebel against the emperor of yang of Sui she had sent her husband to fight alongside her brothers, while she escaped to her family’s estate situated in the province of Huxian. It was there that she gained a following of thousands of men and persuaded multiple rebel leaders to join and fight alongside her. Leading the army she proceeded to attack and successfully capture the capital of Huxian. However despite her efforts the opposing army of the Sui regime failed to take the attack and the army seriously as it had been lead by a woman.
Over time she had acquired over 70,000 men in her army and had met up with Chai Shao and Li Shimin and their army as they had been commanding another wing of the emperor’s army. Pingyang had been recognized as a commanding general and her army had been given the name “Army of the Lady, “ and was able to set up headers alongside her husband. The emperor had declared his daughter as the new marshal, authorizing staff to serve at her command. When she had passed at the age of 23 she had been given a grand military funeral to recognize her efforts in the founding of the Tang Dynasty.