Barking Up the Wrong Tree - The Dynasty’s Female Constables

While Ming Feizhen and his colleagues left Liu Shan Men, an interesting matter took place at Liu Shan Men. It was the day the female constables welcomed their new colleague.

Shen Yiren set up the female constables division at the age of fourteen. For the record, they were an official team the imperial court acknowledged. Their reputation was on the rise as of recent, leading to people perceiving them to be a law-enforcing team with plenty of potential. The dynasty's system was impressive, considering there was room for there to be female constables in an era where eunuchs and women could work as officials.

Female constables existed long ago, and there most certainly were a decent number of excellent female constables comparable to Shen Yiren. Now, due to constables being treated as personnel as opposed to officials, Shen Yiren needed to jump through lots of hurdles to legalise them as officials. Strictly speaking, then, female constables were around before female officials were acknowledged. Having said that, there was a lot of doubt in the imperial court. See, if females could fulfil the roles of a constable, was there really a need to establish an exclusive "Female Constables" team. To compound the matter, it was suggested during Liu Shan Men's period of decline.

Shen Yiren had plenty of sound reasons. Her response to the criticism and scepticism earned the acknowledgement and support of Empress Dowager, the Empress, the consorts and high-ranking officials' wives. She said: "Females can hold up half of the sky."

There were cases of female soldiers in military history. There were sects led by females in the martial world. The Emperor's Entourage and the Qilin Guards also had