Which use of semicolons would be correct? #1 In Asia as well, Chinese noble women led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor; and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

#2 In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor, and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.
#3 In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies; often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor; and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

None of the above. This is a complex sentence, no semicolon is required. The phrase "often with great decisiveness and skill" could be a parenthetical, but no semicolons are needed.

Reed is exactly right. Only commas are needed in that sentence. Here's how I'd punctuate it:

In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill, paid tribute to the Emperor, and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

n Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor; and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

The use of semicolons is to connect independent clauses (complete sentences) that are closely related in meaning. Here's an analysis of each option:

#1 In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor; and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

This option correctly uses semicolons to connect the independent clauses "Chinese noble women led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill," "paid tribute to the Emperor," and "controlled agriculture within their areas of command."

#2 In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies, often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor, and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

In this option, the use of a comma before "and" after the second semicolon is incorrect. If you use semicolons to connect the first two independent clauses, you must either continue using semicolons to separate all the clauses or use commas consistently throughout. Mixing semicolons and commas in this way is not appropriate.

#3 In Asia as well, Chinese noblewomen led armies; often with great decisiveness and skill; paid tribute to the Emperor; and controlled agriculture within their areas of command.

In this option, the use of semicolons is inconsistent. While the semicolon is used correctly to connect the second independent clause ("often with great decisiveness and skill") with the first independent clause ("Chinese noblewomen led armies"), the following semicolons do not connect independent clauses. Instead, commas should be used to separate the items in the list ("paid tribute to the Emperor" and "controlled agriculture within their areas of command").

Therefore, the correct use of semicolons is in option #1.