June 2, 2022 by by Wu Zhao embarked on religious life as a nun in a convent after Li Shimins death in 649. After suppressing this revolt, the empress dowager began to purge her opponents at court. World History Encyclopedia. 127148. 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. False: In fact, the Roman Empire was in decline at this time. Five Historical Plays. At one point, to the horror of her generals, Wu proposed raising a military corps from among Chinas numerous eunuchs. She ordered farming manuals to be written and distributed. (108). Forte, Antonino. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. 04 Mar 2023. She shocked the Chinese officialdom by arranging to send male grooms to the daughters and aunts of the tribal chieftains at the empire's borders, although it was customary to send female brides. Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Van Gulik, Robert. Thank you for your help! Functioning in a male-oriented patriarchy, Wu Zetian was painstakingly aware of the gender taboos she had to break in political ideology and social norm. Meanwhile, the Turks invaded Gansu, and the Tibetans posed a threat to Chinese possessions in Central Asia. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. When he fell out of favor, he burned the building to the ground. When she died, she was laid to rest in an elaborate tomb in the countryside about 50 miles north of the then capital, Xian. How to evaluate such an unprecedented figure today? "Wu Zetian." "Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) She also organized military campaigns against Korea in 668 CE which were so effective that they reduced Korea to the status of a vassal state. 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. His son Li Longji succeeded him, ruling as Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756 CE). In 710 CE Zhongzong died after being poisoned by Wei who hid his body and concealed his death until her son Chong Mao could be made emperor. In death, as in life, then, Wu remains controversial. 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. 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. When the Turkic ruler asked for a marriage arrangement, she sent her nephew's son to become the groom to the chieftain's daughter. is held up in Chinese histories as the prototype of all that is wicked in a female ruler. 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). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Taizong was so impressed at her intellectual abilities, he took her out of the laundry and made her his secretary. World History Encyclopedia. From 655, when she became the empress of Emperor GaoZong of Tang (son of Emperor TaiZong), until 683 . 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. To enhance her position as a woman, in 688 she constructed a "hall of light" in the eastern capital of Luoyang to serve as a cosmic magnet to symbolize the harmony of heaven and earth and the balance of male (yang) and female (yin) forces. 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. In the reign of Empress Wu, persons who entered government through the examinations were able for the first time to occupy the highest positions, even that of chief minister. After his death, she married his son, Gaozong (r. 649-683 CE) and became empress consort but actually was the power behind the emperor. Wu also learned to play music, write poetry, and speak well in public. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Give me three tools to tame that wild horse. 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. Wills, John E., Jr. "Empress Wu," in Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History. 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. 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. Her mother ne Yang was of aristocratic birth with mixed Chinese and Turkic blood, the result of generations of intermarriage when five nomadic tribes overran north China and founded dynasties in the 4th to 6th centuries. One critic, the poet Luo Binwang, portrayed Wu as little short of an enchantressAll fell before her moth brows. The famed imperial mosaics in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna depict the sixth-century Byzantine empress. To respond properly to Heaven's censure, it is suitable that you lead the quiet life of a widow and cultivate virtue, otherwise I fear further disasters will befall us. 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. We care about our planet! Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Paul, Diana Y. Japanese modern statue of Kannon commemorating 1, 1993, pp. 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. Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) 627-705 First female monarch Sources Rise to Power. First emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Quin Shi Huang-di (259 B.C.-210 B.C.) Last modified March 17, 2016. The critical Anderson concedes that, under Wu, military expenses were reduced, taxes cut, salaries of deserving officials raised, retirees given a viable pension, and vast royal lands near the capital turned over to husbandry.. Born to a newly emerging merchant family in the Northeast, Wu Zhao had been a concubine of Li Shimin, or Taizong, founder of the Tang dynasty (618-907). Thank you! It may be helpful to consider that there were in effect two empressesthe one who maintained a reign of terror over the innermost circle of government, and the one who ruled more benignly over 50 million Chinese commoners. Wu was given the privileged position of first concubine even though by law she should have been left in the temple as a nun. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Lady Wang had no children and Lady Xiao had a son and two daughters. https://www.worldhistory.org/Wu_Zetian/. Li Zhi was deeply in love with Wu but could not do anything about it because she belonged to his father and, besides, he was already married. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Taizong forced the abdication of his own father and disposed of two older brothers in hand-to-hand combat before seizing the throne. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Encyclopedia.com. The Woman Who Discovered Printing. She not only created many different cultural and political policies, but she displayed what a women could do in government. In the largest cave there is a statue called the Grand Vairocana Buddha. Kannon embodies compassion, and when seen as female is venerated as a patron of motherhood and fertility. Bellingham : EAS Press, 1978; Robert Van Gulik. 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. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1989, pp. Missions from Japan, Korea, and Vietnam arrived at Xi'an bearing tribute and seeking education in Buddhism and Confucianism. Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. We contribute a share of our revenue to remove carbon from the atmosphere and we offset our team's carbon footprint. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. 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. The poet Luo Binwangone of the Four Greats of Early Tang and best known for his Ode to the Gooselaunched a virulent attack on the empress. Princess Taiping put an end to her plans when she had Wei and her family murdered and put her brother Ruizong on the throne. She improved the public education system by hiring dedicated teachers and reorganizing the bureaucracy and teaching methods. Chen, Jo-shui. Her travel writing debuts in Timeless Travels Magazine. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. unified China in 221 B.C. When Gaozong suffered a stroke in 660, the empress made herself the ruler. If it still won't be tamed, I'll cut its throat with the knife. empress wu primary sources. License. Click for Author Information. 290332. Two brothers, known as the Zhang Brothers, were her favorites and she spent most of her time in closed quarters with them. The military exams were intended to measure intelligence and decision making and candidates were personally interviewed instead of just being appointed because of family connections or their family's name. Lu Zhi was an instantly recognizable villain to the people of China, and linking Wu with her through the murders worked to destroy Wu's reputation. 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. 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). Wu Zhao (624-705), also known as Empress Wu Zetian, was the first and only woman emperor of China. Your Majesty may take this as 'Mount Felicity', but your subject feels there is nothing to celebrate. Picking through the bias to try to get to the real story is always fascinating and - in my mind - fun. Her overall rule, in spite of the change of dynasty, did not result in a radical break from Tang domestic prosperity and foreign prestige. Hidden Power: The Palace Eunuchs of Imperial China. Cold, ruthless, and ambitious, the Han dynasty dowager murdered her rival,. Wus later life was one long illustration of the exceptional influence she had come to wield. 1 minutes de lecture . Zhou Dynasty. Originally published/produced in China, 18th century. Her experience reflected a reversal of the gender roles and restrictions her society and government constructed for her as appropriate to women. 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. Wu Zetian is believed to have been born in Wenshi County, Shanxi Province around 624 CE. But if she is observed in the context of the sexuality of male rulers, then the number of her favorites is insignificant. She attracted the attention of many of the young men at court and one of these was the Prince Li Zhi, son of Taizong, who would become the next emperor, Gaozong. "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. A history known as the Comprehensive Mirror records that, during the 690s, 36 senior bureaucrats were executed or forced to commit suicide, and a thousand members of their families enslaved. C.P. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Although she gave political clout to some women, such as her capable secretary, she did not go as far as challenging the Confucian tradition of excluding women from participating in the civil service examinations. Still, Xuanzong continued many of Wu's policies, including keeping her reforms in taxation, agriculture, and education. Territorial Expansion. But several years later, she returned to the palace as Gaozong's concubine and gave birth to sons. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Wu is said to have potentially killed her own. In 704 CE, court officials could no longer tolerate Wu's behavior and had the Zhang brothers murdered. At these pilgrimage sites, rituals were performed which established a link between the standing Buddha and the ruler. Name variations: Wu Ze-tian; Wu Chao, Wu Hou, or Wu Zhao; Wu Mei or Wu Meiliang; Wu Tse-t'ien, Wo Tsetien, or Wu Tso Tien; Wu of Hwang Ho or Huang He; Empress Wu, Lady Wu. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The empress responded with both diplomacy and force, concluding a marriage alliance with the Turks and defeating the Qidan in battle. The first thing she did was change the name of the state from Tang to Zhou (actually Tianzhou or Tiansou). Wu was forced to abdicate in favor of her exiled son Zhongzong and his wife Wei. Primary Sources with DBQsCHINA 4000 - 1000 BCE Ancestral Rites and Divination . 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. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. 3, no. 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. Complete List of Included Worksheets Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Barretts recent book even suggests (on no firm evidence) that the empress was the most important early promoter of printing in the world. . After rising to power, Wu tried to remove from power the representatives of the northwestern aristocracy, who had controlled the government from the beginning of the dynasty through the medium of the imperial chancellery. Her reign was peaceful and prosperous; she introduced the meritocratic system of entrance examinations for the imperial bureaucracy that survived into the 20th century, avoided wars and welcomed ambassadors from as far away as the Byzantine Empire. The historians always portray Wu as ruthless, conniving, scheming, and bloodthirsty, and she may have been all of these things, she may have even murdered her daughter to gain the throne, but any of these claims should only be accepted after considering their source. 21/11/2022. 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. Replacing the dynasty and imperial house through Confucian ideology still could not legitimize a woman on the throne. Naples: Institute Universitario Orientale, 1976. She, like Lady Wei, had paid careful attention to the reign of Wu Zetian and thought she would be able to manipulate Xuanzong as her mother had Gaozong. The only woman ever to rule as emperor of China, Wu Zhao (Wu ZeTian) was born in 624 C.E. On the question of succession after her death, Wu Zetian entertained notions of an heir from a Wu and Li marriage. Guisso, Richard W. Empress Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T'ang China. Books Empress Dowager. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. One reason, as we have already had cause to note in this blog, is the official nature and lack of diversity among the sources that survive for early Chinese history; another is that imperial history was written to provide lessons for future rulers, and as such tended to be weighted heavily against usurpers (which Wu was) and anyone who offended the Confucian sensibilities of the scholars who labored over them (which Wu did simply by being a woman). Omens were extremely important to the people of ancient China and played a significant role in Tang politics. It is a challenge to recover real people from this morass of bias. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! "Wu Zetian." Even if she took full advantage, however, she must have possessed not only looks but remarkable intelligence and determination to emerge, as she did two decades later, as empress. $1.99. Abdication. 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. 04 Mar 2023. Rothschild describes a confrontation which reflects the feelings of majority of those at court. 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'). She carefully eliminated any potential enemies from the court and had Lady Wang and Lady Xiao killed after they had gone into exile. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Edward Schafer, The Divine Women: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in Tang Literature (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973). No contemporary image of the empress exists. If Wu Zetian is judged by the traditional female virtues of chastity and modesty, then she falls short of expectations. Controversial ruler of Tang China who dominated Chinese politics for half a century, first as empress, then as empress-dowager, and finally as emperor of the Zhou Dynasty (690705) that she founded . 181. 1, Sui and T'ang, pp. 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.