Changing the dynasty was the easier task and was accomplished by securing the approval of the Confucian establishment. published on 22 February 2016. Leiden: EJ Brill, 1974. But if she is observed in the context of the sexuality of male rulers, then the number of her favorites is insignificant. Wu was now raised to the position of first wife of Gaozong and empress of China. Encyclopedia.com. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Patronage of Buddhism. . Click for Author Information. 21/11/2022. Since candidates normally tried to win favor with an examiner prior to the tests, some could use their family connections to send samples of their verse in an effort to impress the men who held the keys to government positions. Gaozong divorced his wife, barred her mother from the palace, and exiled Lady Xiao. Empress Wu Zetian and the Spread of Buddhism (625-705 C.E.) A 17th-century Chinese depiction of Wu, from Empress Wu of the Zhou, published c.1690. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, 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. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Complete List of Included Worksheets Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document. Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. Buddhists Support. Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. In the last three decades, Marxist historiography on Wu Zetian in Mainland China has yielded a positive but unreliable and ideologically charged reappraisal. During her Tang Dynasty reign, the practice of Chinese Buddhism is known to have reached its height and influence. provided her with a string of virile lovers such as one lusty, big-limbed lout of a peddler, whom she allowed to frequent her private apartments. Most nations of note have had at least one great female leader. Sima, Guang. I always think that's the most interesting things about primary sources - the bias. Her name was Wu Zetian, and in the seventh century A.D. she became the only woman in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule in her own right. Empress Wu is one of the most controversial leaders in Chinese history for her method of rule and the means she likely used to rise to power. You're hard-pressed to find any historical documents that don't have some sort of bias, especially when dealing with a controversial figure like Wu Zetian. Beginning in 660 CE, Wu was effectively the emperor of China. As early as 660 CE, Wu had organized a secret police force and spies in the court and throughout the country. Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. This is very similar to the story of the Empress Lu Zhi (l. 241-180 BCE) of the Han Dynasty who got rid of her rival Qizi in the same way (although Qizi was drowned in a pigsty and had her eyes gouged out as well). When Empress Wu was the empress of the Tang Dynasty, she created a system of secret police to watch her opponents and killed or put anyone in . Mark, Emily. (It was common for poor Chinese boys to voluntarily undergo emasculation in the hope of obtaining a prestigious and well-remunerated post in the imperial service). The Story Of Wu Zetian, China's First Female Emperor, The Demonization of Empress Wu by Mike Dash, The Karmic Retribution of Pei Huaigu by Kelly Carlton (University of Florida), Wu Zetian: China's One and Only Woman Emperor by Jim Down. So queens and empresses regnant were forced to rule like men, and yet roundly criticized when they did so. Chapter 2 SOURCES FOR THE LIFE AND CAREER OF WU TSE-T'IEN The chief primary sources for the life of the Empress Wu are her annals in the two dynastic histories of the T'ang, her biography in the New T'ang History, and the numerous references to her in Ssu-ma Kuang's Comprehensive Mirror.^ In some of the large official compilations of later ages, Cite This Work The only woman ever to rule as emperor of China, Wu Zhao (Wu ZeTian) was born in 624 C.E. In 697 CE, Wu's hold on power began to slip when she became more paranoid and began spending more time with her young lovers than on ruling China. The Tang emperor Taizong was the first to promote Wu, whom he gave the nickname Fair Flatterera reference not to her personal qualities but to the lyrics of a popular song of the day. Traditionally, only the emperor, as the son-of-heaven, could communicate with heaven and carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth. Wu Zetian's SteleI, (GJGY.com) (CC BY-SA). One of these served as her new personal name, Zhao, which articulates the fundamental Buddhist notion of universal emptiness. 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. 7789. 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. Determining the truth about this welter of innuendo is all but impossible, and matters are complicated by the fact that little is known of Wus earliest years. It was used for religious rites supervised by her lover Xue Huaiyi. If it still won't be tamed, I'll cut its throat with the knife. Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty (The Greenwood Press Wu: The Chinese Empress who schemed, seduced and murdered her way to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. From 655, when she became the empress of Emperor GaoZong of Tang (son of Emperor TaiZong), until 683 . Wu Zetian. 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. She was very beautiful and was selected by emperor Taizong (r. 626 - 649 CE) as one of his concubines when she was 14 years old. When she saw she would not be able to control the court as her mother did, she killed herself and Xuanzong decreed that no member of Wu's family would be allowed to hold public office because of their ruthless scheming and underhanded politics. Charlemagne (or Charles the Great) was king of the franks from 768 to 814, king of the lombards from 774 to 814, and emperor from 800 to, FOUNDED: c. 1050256 b.c.e. In 605 the Qidan, who lived in Manchuria in the marginal areas between the open steppe and settled areas, invaded the Tang empire and gained a dramatic victory over Wus armies near the site of modern Beijing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Wu Zetian turned to the Buddhist establishment to rationalize her position. Still, Xuanzong continued many of Wu's policies, including keeping her reforms in taxation, agriculture, and education. Wu probably did dispose of several members of her own family, and she ordered the deaths of a number of probably innocent ministers and bureaucrats. World Eras. Vol. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. After his death, she married his son, Gaozong (r. 649-683 CE) and became empress consort but actually was the power behind the emperor. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. Meanwhile, the Turks invaded Gansu, and the Tibetans posed a threat to Chinese possessions in Central Asia. On a similar tone, she ordered that the mother of the Daoist sage Laozi (Lao Tzu, c. 600 bce) be honored. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. She reigned during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in China's history. Before coming to power, she was presented with three petitions containing sixty thousand names and urging her to ascend to the throne, which suggested that she had some popular support. For centuries she was excoriated by Chinese historians as an offender against a way of life. 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. She established a policy so that informants could be paid to travel by public transportation to report to the court. This spy system served her well in giving her early warning of any plots in the making and enabled her to take care of threats to her reign before they became actual problems. By the fourth century CE, the Roman Empire was at the apex of its power and strength. She did not hold that title but she was the power behind the office and took care of imperial business even when pregnant in 665 CE with her daughter Taiping. The odds that a girl of this low rank would ever come to an emperors attention were slim. The most spectacular are the stone temples and statues chiseled into grottoes at Longmen, near her capital. Buddhism was carried into East Asia by merchants and Buddhist monks traveling the Silk Road from Northern India, Persia, Kashmir and Inner Asia. Whether true or not, it is what people believed. After the latter died in 684, she took on four or five lovers, including a monk whom she ordered executed when weary of his greed and abuse of power. 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. Although the function of the concubine in China is almost always associated with sex, a woman in this position could have a number of non-sexual responsibilities, from daily tasks like taking care of the laundry to more specialized skills like conversation, poetry reading, and playing music. When a mountain seemed to appear following the earthquake, this was also interpreted as nature itself revolting against the reign of Wu. Seen from this perspective, Wu did in fact fulfill the fundamental duties of a ruler of imperial China; Confucian philosophy held that, while an emperor should not be condemned for acts that would be crimes in a subject, he could be judged harshly for allowing the state to fall into anarchy. (February 23, 2023). Empress Wu Zetian (Empress Consort Wu, Wu Hou, Wu Mei Niang, Mei-Niang, and Wu Zhao, l. 624-705 CE, r. 690-704 CE) was the only female emperor of Imperial China. Wu disposed of her enemies, first the former empress and then the high-ranking officials, who had strongly opposed her rise. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Wu_Zetian/. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. "The Reigns of the Empress Wu, Chung-tsung and Jui-tsung," in Denis Twitchett, ed., Cambridge History of China. Mary Anderson. She was the last wife and the only empress of Liu Bei, the founding emperor of Shu Han, and a younger sister of Wu Yi . If so, their hopes were in vain; Empress Wu Zetian is remembered today as one of the greatest rulers in China's history. When her mother was distressed about losing her to an uncertain life fraught with intrigues in the emperor's harem, she firmly reassured her: "Isn't it a fortune to attend the emperor! The answer was to proclaim another dynasty, not by military conquest, but by interpreting omens that favored her to carry out a change of dynasties and become enthroned as a woman emperor. World History Encyclopedia, 17 Mar 2016. To ensure the security of her new reign she had any members of the Tang Dynasty royal family imprisoned (including the future emperor Xuanzong) and proclaimed herself an incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha, calling herself Empress Shengsen which means 'Holy Spirit'. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. Neither of these boys was a threat to Lady Wang or Lady Xiao because Gaozong had already chosen a successor; his chancellor Liu Shi was Lady Wang's uncle, and Gaozong appointed Liu Shi's son, Li Zhong, as heir. The most serious charges against Wu are handily summarized in Mary Andersons collection of imperial scuttlebutt, Hidden Power, which reports that she wiped out twelve collateral branches of the Tang clan and had the heads of two rebellious princes hacked off and brought to her in her palace. Jiu Tangshu [Old history of the Tang]. She was also the most important early supporter of the alien religion of Buddhism, which during her rule surpassed the native Confucian and Daoist faiths in influence within the Tang realm. Empress Wu used the intelligence she gathered to pressure some high-ranking officials who were not performing well to resign; others she simply banished or had executed. The scholar N. Henry Rothschild writes, "The message was clear: A woman in a position of paramount power was an abomination, an aberration of natural and human order" (108). This institution became a political weapon in the hands of Empress Wu when she usurped the throne in 690. Mutsuhito To recruit a new class of administrators through competition, the examinations that had played only a secondary role in the recruitment and promotion of civil servants in Han times (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) Lineage The Chinese TV series Women of the Tang Dynasty (2013) featured the actress Hui Yinghong as Wu Zetian and was very popular, attesting to the continued interest in China's first and only female ruler. Unknown, . She ruled China with complete authority and no one dared to challenge her when she was in control. Wu: the Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become A Living God. Agricultural production under Wu's reign increased to an all-time high. Anticipating Wu Zetian's political ambitions, 60,000 flatterersincluding Confucian officials, imperial relatives, Buddhist clergy, tribal chieftains, and commonerssupported the petition to proclaim the Zhou Dynasty with herself as the founding emperor. After Mount Felicity appeared, and Wu claimed it as an omen favoring her, one of her ministers wrote: Your Majesty, a female ruler improperly has occupied a male position, which has inverted and altered the hard and soft, therefore the earth's emanations are obstructed and separated. She maintained a stable economy and a moderate taxation for the peasantry. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Naples: Institute Universitario Orientale, 1976. Mark, Emily. 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. She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother, the chronicles say. When the Turkic ruler asked for a marriage arrangement, she sent her nephew's son to become the groom to the chieftain's daughter. 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. McMullen, David. Bellingham : EAS Press, 1978; Robert Van Gulik. is held up in Chinese histories as the prototype of all that is wicked in a female ruler. womeninworldhistory.com. Rise to Power. 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). 6, no. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Most historians believe Wu became intimate with the future Gaozong emperor before his fathers deatha scandalous breach of etiquette that could have cost her her head, but which in fact saved her from life in a Buddhist nunnery. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1994, pp. "Empress Wu and the Historians: A Tyrant and Saint of Classical China," in Nancy Auer Falk and Rita M. Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Religious Lives of Women. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Image taken from An 18th-century album of portraits of 86 emperors of China, with Chinese historical notes. The spirit road causeway to Wus still-unopened tomb lies between two low rises, tipped by watchtowers, known as the nipple hills.. These monumental statues, like the one carved into the mountain at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, which was destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, alerted the populous to the dominance of Buddhism. She ordered the executions of several hundred of these aristocrats and of many members of the imperial family of Li. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Wu Zhao embarked on religious life as a nun in a convent after Li Shimins death in 649. (2016, February 22). Her supposed method, moreoveramputating her victims hands and feet and leaving them to drownsuspiciously resembles that adopted by her most notorious predecessor, the Han-era empress Lu Zhia woman portrayed by Chinese historians as the epitome of all that was evil. Empress Wu, or Wu Zhao, challenged the patriarchal system by advocating womens intellectual development and sexual freedom. 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. Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished. In preparing for the legitimacy of her emperorship, she claimed the Zhou Dynasty (1045256 bce) and its founders among her own ancestors. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Map: Wikicommons. Became concubine to Emperor Taizong (640); entered Buddhist nunnery (649); returned to the palace as concubine (654), then as empress (657) to Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong; became empress dowager and regent to her two sons (68489); founded a dynasty (Zhou, 690705) and ruled as emperor for 15 years. Pomacanthus imperator (emperor angelfish) See CHAETODONTIDAE. Wu also took back lands which had been invaded by the Goturks under the reign of Taizong and distributed them so that they were not all held by the aristocrats. One critic, the poet Luo Binwang, portrayed Wu as little short of an enchantressAll fell before her moth brows. "The Real Judge Dee: Ti Jen-chieh and the T'ang Restoration of 705," in Asia Major. How to evaluate such an unprecedented figure today? Her spy network and secret police stopped rebellions before they had a chance to start and the military campaigns she sent out enlarged and secured the borders of the country. Wu began her life at court taking care of the royal laundry but one day dared to speak to the emperor when they were alone and talked about Chinese history. Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. One of the most powerful champions of Buddhism in China was the Empress Wu Zetian. Terms of Use Born ne Wu (first name at birth not known) in 624 in Taiyuan, Shanxi province; died in 705 in Luoyang, Henan province; daughter of a high-ranking official, Wu Shihuo, and his aristocratic wife; married Emperor Taizong (r. 626649), in 640 (died 649); married Emperor Gaozong (r. 650683), in 654; children: (second marriage) Crown Prince Li Hong; Crown Prince Li Xian; Emperor Zhongzong; Emperor Ruizong; Princess Taiping ; another daughter (died in infancy). Just how accurate this picture of Wu is remains a matter of debate. "Empress Wu Zetian." R. W. L. Guisso, Wu Tse-ten and the Politics of Legitimation in Tang China (Bellingham: Western Washington University, 1978). Hidden Power: The Palace Eunuchs of Imperial China. It was customary, when a dynasty changed, to re-set history. World History Encyclopedia, 22 Feb 2016. Traditional historians grudgingly acknowledged that she surpassed her sons, the legitimate heirs, in both vision and statecraft. Her experience reflected a reversal of the gender roles and restrictions her society and government constructed for her as appropriate to women. Gaozong had caught a disease which affected his eyes (possibly a stroke) and needed to have reports read to him. She kept Ruizong under a kind of house arrest confining him to the Inner Palace. A brother or a clan grandson at times ascended the throne during usurpation or when the emperor died without issue, but female succession through descent from a daughter was never permitted. Vol. Empress Wu Zetian (r. 683-704 CE) of the Tang Dynasty . From 697 onward she found it so diffi-cult to win support that she attempted to return the throne to her son Zhongzong. However, the date of retrieval is often important. By transferring the normal seat of the court from Changan to Luoyang, she was able to escape the control of the great families of the northwestern aristocracy, which played an important role in the rise of the Tang dynasty. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1977. Although these characters were removed after her reign they still exist as a Chinese dialect in written form. She replaced Zhongzong with her second son, who became Emperor Ruizong. Before Smithsonian.com, Dash authored the award-winning blog A Blast From the Past. . Wu Zetian came to the throne when she was 67, making her the oldest person ever be crowned. By 655 she had consolidated her position after her son inherited the throne. 31, no. Lyn Reese is the author of all the information on this website Download Full Size Image. Your Majesty may take this as 'Mount Felicity', but your subject feels there is nothing to celebrate. 22 Feb. 2023 . A Japanese example: In the late 7th century, Japans Emperor Shomu and Empress Komyo both were involved in Buddhist buildings. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Nevertheless, court intrigues still greatly influenced the recruiting of civil servants. "Wu Zetian." Wu began an affair with Li Zhi, who was married at the time, while still attached to Taizong as concubine. Uploaded by Ibolya Horvath, published on 22 February 2016. Unknown, . One of the most powerful champions of Buddhism in China was the Empress Wu Zetian. Originally published/produced in China, 18th century. emperor angelfish (Pomecanthus imperator) See CHAETODONTIDAE. In her seventies, Wu showered special favor on two smooth-cheeked brothers, the Zhang brothers, former boy singers, the nature of whose private relationship with their imperial mistress has never been precisely determined. It was Lu Zhi who, in 194 B.C., wreaked revenge on a rival by gouging out her eyes, amputating her arms and legs, and forcing her to drink acid that destroyed her vocal chords. Her last two lovers were the young and handsome Zhang brothers who put on makeup and exploited the relationship by obtaining offices, honors, and gifts for themselves and their family. Carved in limestone, the colossal statue is reputed to have been carved in Wus own likeness. The empress responded with both diplomacy and force, concluding a marriage alliance with the Turks and defeating the Qidan in battle. Empress Theodora. World History Encyclopedia. It was approached via a mile-long causeway running between two low hills topped with watchtowers, known today as the nipple hills because Chinese tradition holds that the spot was selected because the hills reminded Gaozong of the young Wus breasts. In 690 C.E., Zetian forced Li Dan to abdicate the throne to her, and declared herself the founding empress of the Zhou dynasty. The first thing she did was change the name of the state from Tang to Zhou (actually Tianzhou or Tiansou). (3). In her new position, she was constantly involved in affairs of state at the highest level and must have performed her duties well because she became a favorite of Taizong.