Warrior Empress Yingtian’s Rise to Power Through Political Ties and Military Reform

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" Warrior Empress Yingtian’s Rise to Power Through Political Ties and Military Reform "
Seeley, Keith Kara, György

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	1107089
Doc. No	:	TLpq2429657468
Main Entry	:	Kara, György
	:	Seeley, Keith
Title & Author	:	Warrior Empress Yingtian’s Rise to Power Through Political Ties and Military Reform\ Seeley, KeithKara, György
College	:	Indiana University
Date	:	2020
student score	:	2020
Degree	:	M.A.
Page No	:	70
Abstract	:	The Kitan Liao Dynasty (916-1125 CE) witnessed the rise of powerful women who directly exerted influence over the battlefield. The first recorded of these women was Empress Dowager Yingtian. She frequently provided important strategic advice to her husband on military campaigns, and she also personally commanded troops in defense of the Liao dynasty. After her husband’s death, Yingtian rose to even greater heights and directly seized control of the Kitan state. But what factors allowed this noblewoman to possess such political and martial influence? Both Chinese and English language scholarship provide responses to this question. On the one hand, scholars such as Wu Yuhuai and Zhang Ye emphasize the effect of pastoral nomadism as an economic force which empowers women. also advances this argument as an explanation for the historical presence of powerful Mongol women. On the other hand, other scholars, like Miao Runbo and David Wright, stress the importance of the Liao Dynasty’s unique two-clan system whereby all emperors came from the Yelü clan, while all empresses came from the Xiao clan. They assert that this political institution largely explains the existence of powerful Empress Yingtian. This thesis highlights issues with both arguments and proposes that military reform along with the creation of a political faction allowed Yingtian to both use her skills in war and gain legitimate access to power.
Subject	:	Asian history
	:	Military history
	:	Womens studies