Wu Zetian was born in Wenshi County, Shanxi Province, in 624 CE to a wealthy family. Wu is said to have potentially killed her own. Historians remain divided as to how far Wu benefited from the removal of these potential obstacles; what can be said is that her third son, who succeeded his father as Emperor Zhongzong in 684, lasted less than two months before being banished, at his mothers instigation, in favor of the more tractable fourth, Ruizong. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! Why should you weep for me?" None of these actions, though, would have attracted criticism had she been a man. As we know, the truth is somewhere in the middle. "Empress Wu and Proto-Feminist Sentiments in T'ang China," in Frederick P. Brandauer and Chn-chieh Huang, eds., Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China. One of these served as her new personal name, Zhao, which articulates the fundamental Buddhist notion of universal emptiness. World Eras. There are abundant signs that Wu was viewed with deep suspicion by later generations of Chinese. Before Smithsonian.com, Dash authored the award-winning blog A Blast From the Past. To reinforce her legitimacy, Wu Zetian also invented about a dozen characters with a new script. A woman in the most powerful position in government threatened the traditional patriarchy and the court counselors, ministers, and historians claimed Wu had upset the balance of nature by assuming a power which belonged to a man. Traditional historians grudgingly acknowledged that she surpassed her sons, the legitimate heirs, in both vision and statecraft. Empress and emperor appear at the center of each scene, larger than the other figures to show their importance, bedecked in imperial purple, and sporting . Wus later life was one long illustration of the exceptional influence she had come to wield. When she died, she was laid to rest in an elaborate tomb in the countryside about 50 miles north of the then capital, Xian. Empress Dowager. First emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Quin Shi Huang-di (259 B.C.-210 B.C.) Even today, Wu remains infamous for the spectacularly ruthless way in which she supposedly disposed of Gaozongs first wife, the empress Wang, and a senior and more favored consort known as the Pure Concubine. She whispered slander from behind her sleeves, and swayed her master with vixen flirting and insisted that she was the arch manipulator of an unprecedented series of scandals that, over two reigns and many years, cleared her path to the throne. The area around Changan could not produce the amount of food required to feed the court and garri-sons, and the transportation of grain up the Yellow River, traversing the Sanmen rapids, was exceptionally expensive. Not only do we pay for our servers, but also for related services such as our content delivery network, Google Workspace, email, and much more. (Issued by the Empress Dowager Cixi, 1835-1908) The story of Wu's murder of her daughter and the framing of Lady Wang to gain power is the most infamous and most often repeated incident of her life but actually there is no way of knowing if it happened as the historians recorded it. She herself would thus be seen as a restorationist of the Zhou Dynasty, with the Wu family replacing the Li-Tang family. After this event Wu became Empress and shared Imperial power equally with her emperor. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Empress Wu (died September or October 245), [a] personal name Wu Xian ( Chinese: ), formally known as Empress Mu (literally "the Just Empress"), was an empress of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. by Unknown. the empress, greatly weakened by infirmity and old age, would allow no one but the Zhang brothers by her side. The term Confucianism is derived from Confucius, the convention. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. At the age of fourteen, she was selected as a palace maid to Gaozong, then a Prince, and his first spouse and primary consort Xing, who had recently married. Mutsuhito (also known as Meiji Tenno; 1852-1912) was a Japanese emperor, who became the symbol for, and encouraged, the dramatic, Chien-lung She not only created many different cultural and political policies, but she displayed what a women could do in government. Lyn Reese is the author of all the information on this website . Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Wu's rise to power was ruthless and her reign no less so, as she continued to eliminate rivals and opponents using tactics that were sometimes brutal. Submitted by Emily Mark, published on 17 March 2016. World History Encyclopedia. With a heart like a serpent and a nature like that of a wolf, one contemporary summed up, she favored evil sycophants and destroyed good and loyal officials. A small sampling of the empresss other crimes followed: She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother. World Eras. She ruled China with complete authority and no one dared to challenge her when she was in control. It was used for religious rites supervised by her lover Xue Huaiyi. Although these characters were removed after her reign they still exist as a Chinese dialect in written form. She reigned during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in China's history. When Taizong died, Gaozong became emperor, and Wu Zetian joined a Buddhist nunnery, as required of concubines of deceased emperors. According to the histories of the period, Wu smothered her own week-old daughter by Gaozong and blamed the babys death on Wang, who was the last person to have held her. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. In 705, Wu Zetian's grandson, the later Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712756), slaughtered the Zhang brothers in spite of Wu Zetian's protest and forced her to return the Li-Tang imperial family to power. When Wu could no longer tolerate her daughter-in-law's antics and disrespect, and her son's refusal to discipline her and obey Wu's dictates, she had him charged with treason and banished along with his wife. Wu also learned to play music, write poetry, and speak well in public. What role, if any, the undeniably ambitious concubine played in the events of the early Tang period remains a matter of controversy. Mutsuhito (also known as Meiji Tenno; 1852-1912) was a Japanese emperor, who became the symbol for, and encouraged, the dramatic, Quin Shi Huang-Di We care about our planet! And while Chinas imperial chronicles were too rigidly run and too highly developed for Wus name to be simply wiped from their pages, the stern disapproval of the Confucian mandarins who compiled the records can still be read 1,500 years later. To ensure imperial male progeny, the Chinese emperor's harem was an elaborate organization of eunuchs who attended to hundreds of concubines, of whom one was appointed empress, the principal wife of the emperor. However, the date of retrieval is often important. When a mountain seemed to appear following the earthquake, this was also interpreted as nature itself revolting against the reign of Wu. Terms of Use She could not become an emperor under the Tang Dynasty because of the long tradition of male succession and the fact that she was not a member of the imperial family by birth. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. Web. Advertising Notice Each dynasty was considered a new beginning and when Wu changed the name from Tang to Zhou she was following this tradition but went further to make it clear that she was the beginning of a completely new era by calling her reign Tianzhou ('granted by heaven'). Her overall rule, in spite of the change of dynasty, did not result in a radical break from Tang domestic prosperity and foreign prestige. Barrett. It is the only known uncarved memorial tablet in more than 2,000 years of imperial history, its muteness chillingly reminiscent of the attempts made by Hatshepsuts successors toobliterate her namefrom the stone records of pharaonic Egypt. (February 23, 2023). She graduated from SUNY Delhi in 2018. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Beginning in 660 CE, Wu was effectively the emperor of China. Two brothers, known as the Zhang Brothers, were her favorites and she spent most of her time in closed quarters with them. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975. Emperor Gaozong had nothing to do with either of these events, although his name would have been attached to the campaigns against Korea. Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. These characters were supposed to replace between 10 and 30 of the older characters and were Wu's attempt to change the way her people thought and wrote. Wu decreed that the workmen sculpt the face of the largest of these statues to resemble her and also persuaded the monks of the sanctuary at Luoyang to forge the Big Cloud Book to substantiate her claim as Maitreya. 6, no. 1996-2021 She ruled for 15 years during the Tang Dynasty and was one of China's most impactful and divisive emperors. Swedens fascinating Queen Christina was nearly as infamous for eschewing her sidesaddle and riding in breeches as she was for the more momentous decision that she took to convert to Catholicismwhile mustering her troops in 1588 as the Spanish Armada sailed up the Channel, even Elizabeth I felt constrained to begin a morale-boosting address with a denial of her sex: I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too.. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Lineage Map: Wikicommons. Wu could have murdered her daughter but her position as a female in a male role brought her many enemies who would have been happy to pass on a rumor as truth to discredit her. Her usurpation marked a significant social revolution, the rise of a new class, which the empress tried to use in her struggle against the traditionalist, northwest nobility. Wu Zetian's politics can be considered as feminist initiatives to reinforce the legitimacy of women in the political arena. Wu also reformed the military by mandating military exams for commanders to show competency, which were patterned on her imperial exams given to civil service workers. Vol. Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century. Her social, economic and judicial views could hardly be termed advanced, and her politics differed from those of her predecessors chiefly in their greater pragmatism and ruthlessness. Even the terror of the 680s, in this view, was a logical response to entrenched bureaucratic opposition to Wus rule. Books From 655, when she became the empress of Emperor GaoZong of Tang (son of Emperor TaiZong), until 683 . Alternate Names When Gaozong died in 683 CE, Wu took control of the government as empress dowager, placing two of her sons on the throne and removing them almost as quickly. Unknown, . "Wu Zetian (624705) It is not likely Wu was involved in the disgrace of Taizongs unpleasant eldest son, Cheng-qian, whose teenage rebellion against his father had taken the form of the ostentatious embrace of life as lived by Mongol nomads. One of the most powerful champions of Buddhism in China was the Empress Wu Zetian. Woodbridge Bingham, The Founding of the Tang Dynasty: The Fall of Sui and Rise ofTang, a Preliminary Survey (New York: Octagon, 1975). She was also able to re-open the Silk Road, which had been closed because of the plague of 682 CE and later raids by nomads. Her reign witnessed a healthy growth in the population; when she died in 705 her centralized bureaucracy regulated the social life and economic well-being of the 60 million people in the empire. With her exceptional intelligence, extraordinary competence in politics, and inordinate ambition, she ruled as the "Holy and Divine Emperor" of the Second Zhou Dynasty (690-705) for fifteen years. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Public Domain. Empresas ICA Sociedad Controladora, S.A. de C.V. Empresa Brasileira de Aeronutica S.A. (Embraer), Emporia State University: Narrative Description, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/empress-wu-wu-zhao. She was in very poor health anyway by this time and died a year later. The only woman ever to rule as emperor of China, Wu Zhao (Wu ZeTian) was born in 624 C.E. This page titled 4.16: Links to Primary Sources is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by George Israel (University System of Georgia via GALILEO Open Learning Materials) . No contemporary image of the empress exists. Wu Zetian's first two sexual partners were emperors and related to each other as father and son. Shortly after she took the throne there was an earthquake which was interpreted as a bad omen. Taizong was so impressed at her intellectual abilities, he took her out of the laundry and made her his secretary. We contribute a share of our revenue to remove carbon from the atmosphere and we offset our team's carbon footprint. The emperor believed her story, and Wang was demoted and imprisoned in a distant part of the palace, soon to be joined by the Pure Concubine. Under Wus rule the government was expanded, and many of the new positions were filled through the examination system. While functioning and surviving in the male-ruled and power-focused domain, she exhibited strengths traditionally attributed to men, including political ambition, long-range vision, skillful diplomacy, power drive, decisive resolve, shrewd observation, talented organization, hard work, and firm dispensal of cruelty. After Gaozongs death, in 683, she remained the power behind the throne as dowager empress, manipulating a succession of her sons before, in 690, ordering the last of them to abdicate and taking power herself. When Taizong died, Wu and his other concubines had their heads shaved and were sent to Ganye Temple to begin their lives as nuns. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Meanwhile, the Turks invaded Gansu, and the Tibetans posed a threat to Chinese possessions in Central Asia. Empress Wu was buried in a tomb in Qian County, Shanxi Province, alongside Gaozong. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Unlike most young girls in China at this time, Wu was encouraged by her father to read and write and develop the intellectual skills which were traditionally reserved for males. Justinian. In sum, within the social and political context of her time, Wu Zetian was a leader who went beyond the traditional roles of submissive wife and home-bound mother to emerge as ruler, lawmaker, and head of state and society while her second husband, lovers, and sons were relegated to less powerful positions than traditionally expected. Throughout 15 dismal years in exile, her sons consort had talked him out of committing suicide and kept him ready to return to power. Under the administration of Empress Wu, Tang territory expanded through constant fighting with other peoples, particularly the Tibetans. Their antagonism toward a female ruler eventually would find its way into the histories which recorded her reign and become the 'facts' which future generations would accept as truth. Empress Lu Zhi (241-180 B.C.) Whether true or not, it is what people believed. Even though there were many important and influential women throughout China's history, only one ever became the most powerful political figure in the country. They came to power, mostly, by default or stealth; a king had no sons, or an intelligent queen usurped the powers of her useless husband. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Wu_Zetian/. In 683 CE, when Wu began manipulating events as a man would, one Confucian scholar wrote that nature had been reversed by the 'usurping woman' and "throughout the empire in every prefecture hens changed into roosters, or half changed" (Rothschild, 108). Paul, Diana Y. Two years later, in 712 CE, Ruizong abdicated after he saw a comet one night and, following the interpretation suggested by Taiping, took it as a sign his rule was over. The Analects of Confucius Primary Source Activity - Google Drive - Print & Digital. Empress Wu Zetian (r. 683-704 CE) of the Tang Dynasty . A huge stele was erected outside the tomb, as was customary, which later historians were supposed to inscribe with Empress Wu's great deeds but the marker remains blank. Nevertheless, the legitimation was not without problems, and there was continued resistance from among the high officials who collaborated with the Li-Tang crown princes, princes, and princesses to get her dismissed as empress in 674 and dethroned as de facto ruler in 684, but both events failed. At the end of this spirit road, the tomb itself lies in a remarkably inaccessible spot, set into a mountain at the end of a winding forest path. But she changed the composition of the ruling class by removing the entrenched aristocrats from the court and gradually expanding the civil service examination to recruit men of merit to serve in the government. She was also assured that her sons would rule the country after the death of her husband. World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. She carefully eliminated any potential enemies from the court and had Lady Wang and Lady Xiao killed after they had gone into exile. To consolidate her power, in 657 Wu designated Luoyang as a second capital. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984. Original image by Unknown. False: In fact, the Roman Empire was in decline at this time. New Haven: YUP, 2008; Jonathan Clements. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. The political success of Wu Zetian indicates that the attributes needed in diplomacy and rulership were not restricted to men. She was painted as a usurper who was both physically cruel and erotically wanton; she first came to prominence, it was hinted, because she was willing to gratify certain ofthe Taizong emperors more unusual sexual appetites. 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