In 11th century China, a young girl lived with her wild-bandit father in the strong Muke Fortress. The bandit, Mu Yu, was a skilled fighter and taught his daughter, Mu Guiying martial arts from a young age.
You can imagine that Guiying grew up among her father’s men, comfortable with their presence and commanding their respect due to their fear of her father and her own prowess as an impressive warrior.
When Guiying was a grown woman, the youngest son of the powerful and illustrious Yang family approached Muke Fortress with a demand. His father had sent him to get Dragon-Taming Wood from them. Guiying’s father, Mu Yu, refused and emerged from the fortress to fight a duel with the Yang prince.
He won, captured Yang Zangbao and threw him in the fortress prison. It is interesting that Mu Yu was not afraid of antagonising the powerful Yang family. As well as being a great warrior himself, he must have had an impregnable, well-provisioned stronghold.
Guiying was intrigued by her father’s captive and fell in love with him. Boldly, she proposed marriage which Zongbao eventually accepted. Guiying’s father decided to set Zongbao free.
He returned home and reported to his father, the noble Yang Yanzhao. Filled with shame and anger at his son’s failure and his subsequent captivity, Yang Yanzhao ordered his son’s execution. When terrible news came Guiying refused to accept it.
She left the fortress and challenged Yang Yanzhao to a duel. She fought hard and she defeated him. Exercising great tact, Guiyang abjectly apologised to Yang Yanzhao and he granted Zongbao his life and allowed Guiying to marry him.
The happy couple had a son and a daughter together but peace was not to be theirs. Threatened by the powerful Khitan clan, Guiying joined the warleaders and demonstrated her formidable tactical skills by shattering the Khitan’s once-unassailable ‘Heavenly Gate Battle Formation.
Not long after throwing back the Khitan, a new threat emerged in the form of the Western Xia, casting a shadow over the Song dynasty.
When the last Yang male, General Yang Wenguang, was killed in the struggle against the Xia, China found itself devoid of any strong war leaders. With invaders approaching and beacon towers aflame, the courageous widows of the Yang family stepped forward. Under the guidance and support of the Yang matriarch (She Taijun), our heroine, Guiying, together with her devoted maid, Paifeng, and the other widowed women of the family assumed leadership of the imperial army. They vanquished the Western Xia army and preserved the dynasty.
What a fine tale from Chinese history. When all their men had been spent in fighting for China, the women of the family took up arms and commanded the imperial army. Not only that but they won! Such courage and tenacity. This sounds like a great premise for a book.
The other intriguing thing from the story is Dragon-taming wood. Is it wood as in a place? Hand over the Dragon-Taming Wood. Or is it an actual type of wood used in taming an actual dragon? I searched and I found no answers. If you have any answers, please let me know.
Historical note: in fiction Wenguang is Guiying and Yang Zongbao’s son however in the historical record, The History of Song, Yang Yanzhao (Guiying’s father-in-law) has no son called Zongbao but rather Yang Chuanyong, Yang Dezheng and Yang Wenguang. So, Yang Wenguang was probably Guiying’s husband not her son.
Author note: in some places above I have not included the family name, such as Mu or Yang, for the purposes of clarity.
The fam and I have been busy with friends, activities and annoying sniffs and colds. Three of the kids aced the karate national champs for fighting. They had a chess tournament where the homeschoolers stormed away with the competition and won team and individual for both seniors and juniors (!!!). We had a mad and very competitive soccer game one evening with another family - it was so much fun. I tagged all mine with a yellow patch in the photo.
Coughs and colds have dogged us since May! I can’t remember being so sick. This month has been better but still I struggle with blocked sinuses. The writing continues on amidst everything else although it took longer to tame my laptop than I imagined. Highlight of the month - I’m really enjoying sharing spotify lists with my teen boys. They have similar tastes in music (a surprise) and its so fun listening together and sharing new songs.
You may get another email from me before next month as Substack is breathing down my neck about inactive subscribers - they want me to cull my list. I don’t want to cull but I may have to send an email asking subscribers if they want to stay or not. If you get that email, please click yes to stay!
A new feature is coming to the newsletter soon. I’m putting together a series of author interviews. They are going to be so interesting. I’m really looking forward to it.
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I thought i’d include the full spread of the print cover for Daughter of the Wolfhead! I love it. Only $2.57USD. Click the image to go to the store.
No chapter for Fierce today. The novel is going through drafts. Rayl is experiencing tough times as not everyone in Kiri’s birth tribe are happy that she is there.
I have something new for you coming soon. In the October newsletter, I featured Tuyo, a book I recently read and loved. Rachel Neumeier, the author, has joined me for a fantastic written interview. I can’t wait to share it with you and will send it out in the next week.
Thank you for joining me today,
Emma
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