This Woman Saved China Twice—and You’ve Never Heard of Her

I'm sure most of you know the story of Mulan. She disguised herself as a guy to join the army so her sick father wouldn't have to, and served the country for a decade. Awesome. Great story. Solid role model. But there is another— There's another female warrior with an even greater story. Not only did she serve the army—she led the army. Yeah, the whole darn thing. And she didn't even have to disguise herself to do it. It's a wild ride, so strap in for the amazing tale of history's greatest heroine that you haven't heard of yet: the legendary legend of Mu Guiying. Our story starts in the Northern Song Dynasty, somewhere around 1,000 to 1,100 AD. In this period lived the Yang clan, which at that point was led by the general Yang Yanzhao. His family was famous for producing incredible military officers known across the land as the Yang Jia Jiang—the Yang family generals—who led the Song armies against countless foreign invaders. But there was one nut they couldn't crack: the Khitans—a nomadic people who lived across northern China and the Mongolian plateau, and had become a constant and growing threat. They had this supernatural tactic called the Tianmen Zhen, or Heavenly Gate Formation—a multi-layered, constantly shifting battle array derived from the principles of Feng Shui and Chinese astrology. When used according to celestial patterns, it gave the army extra super mystical energy that rendered it absolutely invincible. Totally a true story. Trust me. Anyway, the Yangs couldn't defeat this formation. But it was rumored that there was a secret magical weapon hidden away in the stronghold of bandit warrior Mu Yu that could be the silver bullet against the witchcraft and wizardry of the Khitans: the Xiang Long Mu, or Dragon-Taming Staff. Yang Yanzhao sent his son Yang Zongbao, a very capable fighter, to ask for this priceless trump card… nicely. Except Mr. Mu Yu was not about to give up something so valuable… nicely. And neither was his spunky teenage daughter. “Yeah, we've got the staff—and you're free to take it… if you can rip this sword from my hands, punk.” Yang Zongbao was not about to let that slide. But unfortunately for him, a bandit dad was not about to raise a weak daughter—and she totally beat him up. Our poor boy was quite humiliated, and very much preferred to die than be taken prisoner. And Mu Guiying was about to help him fulfill that wish… except she had a little thought: "You know… this guy is a real one. He’s a solid fighter. And… he's actually kind of cute." Oh snap. Little Miss Mu proposed to him then and there. Man, can you imagine what was going through his head? You just lost to a girl, failed your dad, failed your country, want to die, are about to die… and then that same girl says she wants to marry you. Talk about luck. Even without these extraordinary circumstances, it's hard to turn down a pretty girl who knows how to fight. And of course, he didn’t. He was happy, she was happy, and her dad was totally okay with it. Perfect, right? Well… except there’s always the in-laws. Yang Zongbao returned home and reported the situation to his dad—and oh boy was he not happy. “I’m trying to save the country here, and all you do is fail your mission, lose to a girl, and now you're marrying that girl?!” And so Daddy Yang does what all good fathers do when they're having a tough moment with their son: he calls for his execution. Talk about luck. Well, he was actually lucky—because before he had his son killed, Daddy Yang also decided to assault the Mu stronghold for revenge. And Mu Guiying was not about to let that happen. Who did this crazy old fogey think he was? She had a wedding to attend. She suited up, stormed out, confronted the marauder—and completely whooped him too. Why hasn't anyone made a decent movie about this yet? Thankfully, before anyone got seriously hurt, she realized this was actually her future father-in-law—and apologized for kicking his butt. Daddy Yang, now knowing his place, did the smart thing: let bygones be bygones and agreed to the marriage. Hooray! Family issues settled, and the happy power couple set their sights on the bigger threat. Heads up, Khitans. They pondered ways to defeat the Khitans' Heavenly Gate Formation, and Mu Guiying had an idea. The formation required tight, coordinated movements and transformations to work effectively. If she could muddle up that rhythm, perhaps there would be an opening she could capitalize on. At that point, she was only 19, and the Yang forces were a little hesitant to follow an inexperienced teenage girl with a crackpot plan into battle—and I can't completely blame them. I mean, sometimes I'm not sure if I would follow any teenager into anything. But Yang Zongbao's faith in her won them over. She led a 30,000-strong detachment to hit the Khitan formation with a series of feints—throwing off their organization and loosening their movement patterns. And when an opening appeared, she struck. Hard. The Khitans never recovered from this complete and utter defeat. And they never became a serious threat again. She became a renowned commander in Chinese history, and retired to live happily ever after with her two kids and her cute warrior husband. And she didn’t even need a magical stick to do it. The end. Except… there's a sequel. A few decades later, a neighboring state called the Western Xia was giving the Song Dynasty a really hard time. I mean really. The Yang family generals were all sent to fight them, but they all died in battle—including her husband. Mu Guiying was well into her 50s by now, but offered to sally forth once more unto the breach. The Song Emperor, though, was a little wary. She might have won the Khitan campaign, but still—a middle-aged woman leading the entire imperial army to war was unheard of. But he was also out of options. The Yang generals were slain. Most of his other commanders were dead. And he really didn’t have a good reason to deny her impressive track record. And so she took command of the army, rallied the many widows of the fallen Yang generals, and together they took charge of the imperial forces—and crushed the Western Xia. Her heroic efforts during this campaign were memorialized in one of China's most popular Peking operas: Mu Guiying Takes Command (Mu Gui Ying Gua Shuai). She served as a commanding officer into her 80s, becoming a legendary figure of strength, decisiveness, and valor—for women and men in the centuries that followed. But somehow… Mulan is the one Disney decided to make two movies about. I, for one, would like to petition for someone to make a high-budget, high-effort, actually good retelling of her incredible story. The source material is already so good, the only thing to worry about… is making it worse. Like, comment, and subscribe if you agree—and let us know if there are any other strong women you'd want to hear about. Until next time, I'm Jared Madsen, and keep fighting to crush the evildoers. If you enjoy the deeper meaning behind Chinese culture, folklore, legends, and strange true stories, then come explore more with me on Jared Tells Tales, where mystery, meaning, and the otherworldly still live on. Click the link to watch your first tale.