The GENERAL who became a PRINCESS

When the war came, she was a daughter and a wife. Instead of hiding or running away, she chose to go to war, and soon became a great general leading 70 thousand men. And that eventually earned her the title of a princess. Hi I’m Ally. And this is the story of the general who became a princess. The future princess was the third daughter of Li Yuan. We only know her last name Li, so let’s call her Lady Li for now. Her father Li Yuan was a duke during the Sui Dynasty and a nephew to the Empress of Sui. Her mother Lady Dou was the daughter of a princess. Lady Li was born with the golden spoon, and if nothing happened, she would have lived a very good life with her husband. But the new emperor of Sui, the infamous Emperor Yang of Sui, was one of the worst tyrants in Chinese history. Over the years, he started 3 major wars against neighboring countries which led to the death of countless Sui soldiers. At the same time, he forced more than 10 million commoners to build large projects and half of them never came home, yet he still increased taxes. People had enough, so rebellions started all over the country. In year 617, Lady Li’s father Li Yuan was a general in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi province. The emperor grew dissatisfied with Li Yuan and wanted to kill him so he had no choice but to start a rebellion. But there was one problem. His daughter and son-in-law were still in the capital city of Chang’an. Their lives would be in danger once the emperor learned about his betrayal. Li Yuan sent secret messengers to them about his plan. When Lady Li’s husband received the news, he was excited to join his father-in-law and be of use. However, he was worried about his wife. If he left her, what would happen to her? Lady Li told him, “You should go as soon as possible. I’m just a woman. I can hide easily.” Well I don’t know how much truth there is about women being able to hide easier than men. Lady Li probably just said that to comfort her husband. After her husband left, instead of just hiding, Lady Li made a bold move. She went to her family’s villa near the capital, and distributed all their family wealth to outlaws in order to gain their support. This could have drawn attention to herself and put her life in danger, but she did it anyway to help her father. At first, she was able to get several hundred men. And then she heard about a barbarian rebel leader who had been gathering a crowd but didn’t belong to any of the existing forces. In a turbulent time like this, when everyone wanted to be a leader and start their own army, how could she recruit others to join her, especially when she was just a young lady with only a couple hundred men? Lady Li looked for someone who could deliver a message to the barbarian leader and chose one of her family servants. I don’t know how she was able to tell that this servant was no ordinary man and trusted him to do the impossible. But this servant did not disappoint and convinced the barbarian rebel to meet with her. The barbarian agreed to work with her and even gave her one hundred men as personal guards. She then sent this extraordinary servant to other rebel leaders near the capital city and successfully recruited all of them to combine forces and work for her. Lady Li must have been a very charismatic leader that was able to make all these men who each commanded several thousand men to all follow her. But that wasn’t enough. This group of people she gathered was made up of outlaws and bandits, who didn’t have proper military training and were disobedient to military commands. Lady Li trained them and made clear rules that allowed the different groups to work together and act as one. The Sui dynasty army attacked her troup several times, but was defeated every time thanks to her amazing leadership. Lady Li then decided to go on the offensive. She must have read ‘The Art of War’ and other military books, because she not only knew all the strategies to win in battle, but also excelled in capturing the hearts of people. While she was attacking and capturing nearby cities, she made very clear rules to forbid her soldiers from robbing and stealing from civilians. That attracted more people to join her. By the time her father and husband’s army crossed the Yellow River into the Chang’an region, her troup already grew to a number of more than 70 thousand soldiers. I’m sure her father and husband would have never expected this from Lady Li. She went from a potential burden to the greatest aid to their cause. After their armies joined forces, Lady Li was assigned to command one wing of her father’s army. And the wing under her command became known as the “Army of the Lady.” The next year, 618, her father had the grandson of Sui dynasty’s emperor yield the throne to him, establishing the Tang dynasty. After her father became the new emperor, he granted her the title Princess Pingyang. But Lady Li, now Princess Pingyang, did not stop here to enjoy her new royal life. She continued to fight on the war front to help solidify the unification of the new dynasty. People loved the princess wherever she went. There was a mountain pass on the Great Wall that the princess once stationed with her “Army of the Lady.” Ever since then, the pass was renamed to Ladies’ Pass. You can still see it today in Hebei Province. It took another 7 years for the various battles to finally come to an end. Unfortunately the princess didn’t live to see that happen. She passed away in March 623. We don’t know for sure how she died because it wasn’t recorded in history. Some people guessed it was from battle wounds. What we do know is that the new emperor was very sad and ordered a grand military burial ceremony for the princess, which had never happened in history. The Ministry of Rites objected to this, arguing that no women’s funeral had drums and fifes before. The Ministry of Rites objected to this, arguing that no women’s funeral had drums and fifes before. The emperor replied, “Fife and drum is the music of the army. The princess helped us overthrow the Sui dynasty and contributed to the founding of the Tang dynasty. She was no ordinary woman. How can her burial be without fife and drum!” In the end, her funeral procession had two marching bands, one in the front, one in the back, an elephant vehicle, 40 guards holding flags and wooden swords, as well as armored guards. The emperor also gave Lady Li an honorary posthumous name Zhao, which means bright. It’s a name reserved for those with illustrious virtues and who have rendered great service to the country. So the princess’s full title became Princess Zhao of Pingyang. That separated her from the more than 10 other Princess Pingyangs throughout Chinese history. I have a video about another famous Pingyang from the Han dynasty. Check out my other video for her story. So to sum it up, our Lady Li here is the only Princess Pingyang with the posthumous name Zhao. She was the only general to become a princess. She was the only princess that helped to overthrow and start a new dynasty. And she was also the only princess in history to ever be honored with a military funeral. We don’t live in the same era as Princess Zhao of Pingyang, so it’s hard for us to imagine what kind of woman could achieve what she has done. Luckily the dancers of Shen Yun are the closest I could find that perfectly demonstrate what it's like for a girl to be both elegant and determined. Take a look at the Shen Yun Technique Showcase to see what I mean. It’s available to stream for free exclusively on Gan Jing World.com until Nov. 6th. I’ll put the link down below. I can’t help but be amazed at Princess Zhao of Pingyang’s story. What she did was super impressive even for a man. What do you think about her? Is there someone else you want me to talk about? Let me know in the comments Thank you for watching. See you next time!