The Chinese Women Warriors of the Yang Family

The Women Warriors of the Yang Family: fake history taken for real

Chinese Women Warriors? From Peking opera to television dramas, many versions of The Women Warriors of the Yang Family (杨门女将) have captured the hearts of audiences for generations. In reality, these women warriors never existed in history.

Novels and several versions of Chinese opera fabricated events and dramatised how all the Yang brothers were either held prisoner by the Khitans or dying at the hands of jealous and corrupt officials. One version even had Yang Ye committing suicide by ramming his head into the tombstone of Han Dynasty traitor Li Ling 李陵 who had defected to join the Khitans. Chinese cinema tried to wow the audience by bringing in fictional female warriors from the Yang family to replace the male members who had been killed.

There was indeed a legendary Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) warrior by the name Yang Ye 杨业 (923-986). Emperor Song TaiZong (936-997) commissioned Yang Ye and sent him on a mission to defend the northern border against the Khitan-ruled Liao Kingdom. Yang proved himself by defeating the Liao in the Battle of Yanmen Pass 雁门关, shocking the enemy and also incurring the jealousy of some Song officials.

In 986, Yang was sent on a suicide mission by his jealous commander Pan Mei 潘美. Yang was captured by Liao forces and starved to death. His 6th son, Yang Yanzhao 杨延昭 and another son Yang Wenguang 杨文广 were also outstanding warriors on the battlefield. The brothers took their fathers’ place on the battlefield According to the History of the Song Dynasty, Yang Ye actually had seven sons: Yang Yanzhao 杨延昭, Yang Yanpu 杨延浦, Yang Yanxun 杨延训, Yang YanGui 杨延瑰 Yang YanGuì 杨延贵 Yang Yanbin 杨延彬 and Yang Yanyu 杨延玉. Among them, only Yang YanYu died in battle while his father was captured at Chenjiagu Pass 陈家谷. Except for Yang YanYu who died in battle, the rest of the Yang brothers all received military honours and lived to a ripe old age.

The story of the “Women Warriors of the Yang Family” 杨门女将，is thus a little historical and mostly fictional.