wherein women practiced martial arts. Steppe women trained to ride and
shoot were able to lead troops in battle, as some did, and to have consid-
erable political influence.^35 Steppe women fought in the same manner that
men did, with the same weapons.
Chinese women also practiced martial arts, though it is unclear whether
this practice had anything to do with steppe influence. The ruler of Wu,
Sun Quan, during the Three Kingdoms period, was always nervous when
he visited his wife because she had over a hundred female attendants all
armed with swords.^36 These weapons were not for show alone, and the
fact that these women carried swords, not long swords, in the Three
Kingdoms period alerts us to the martial atmosphere Sun Quan’s wife
established for her boudoir. The daughter of Xun Song, Xun Guan, at the
age of thirteen led several tens of troops in breaking out of a surrounded
city.^37 These were all women either of the upper class or living in the
environment of the upper classes. Not surprisingly, we lack information
on ordinary women. Chinese women did not regularly participate in war
orfighting of any kind, but some were capable of it. Chinese influence on
those steppe people who settled in China did gradually lead to a more
gendered separation of women from martial and political practice.
The complexities of warfare and the place of martial arts in Six
Dynasties’society are exemplified in the poetic account of Mulan, a
name familiar to modern Westerners. The particularities of martial arts
are not discussed in the poem for a number of reasons. First, of course, the
audience for the poem would be well aware of the martial arts practiced by
soldiers. These skills were all around them and were commonplace. Much
of the power of the poem rests on the ordinary service of Mulan. Second,
there was no poetic or literary tradition of describing such practices. The
poem is elegant in its indirect discussion of what was required for war.
Third, Mulan is not a notable martial artist. Like most people who prac-
ticed martial arts in the military, it is her service rather than any particular
skill infighting that is admirable. She served and performed martial arts as
a duty, not for personal glory.
Mulan
The anonymous author of a poem about a young woman named Mulan,
who took her father’s place in the army, initiated an evolving mythological
narrative that has continued to the present day. Here we are only con-
cerned with its place in the culture and martial arts during the Northern
and Southern dynasties period, but it is worth noting that Mulan’s story
86 The Six Dynasties