One of the most power rulers of ancient China was a woman: Wu Zetian (武则天) who was de facto ruler of China through her husband and sons from 665 to 690. While it was not uncommon for a woman to rule in this way, in 690 she broke all precedents by founding her own dynasty—the Zhou (周)- and then ruling under the name Sacred and Divine Empress Regnant (聖神皇帝) until 705.
Her Rise to Power:
Wu Zetian was born into a wealthy family in 625. Her father, Wu Shihuo, was in the timber business. After the overthrow of Emperor Yang of Sui by Li Yuan (李淵), who was close to the Wu family and who became Emperor Yang of Sui, Wu Shihuo held a series of senior ministerial posts.
During her childhood, Wu Zetian travelled widely with her parents. She was interested in reading and thus acquired a wide political awareness. With regard to education, she was taught to play music, write, and read the Chinese classics. She had a reputation as a strong willed child who refused to act like other girls. Instead of studying needlework, she preferred to acquire knowledge through reading.
At the age of 13, Wu Zetian became a concubine of Emperor Taizong of Tang. She was already known for her sharp wit, intelligence, and beauty. She was not one his favorite concubines so when the emperor died in 649 she should have spent the rest of her life as a Buddhist nun like his other childless concubines. However, the palace struggle following his death and the rise of his son, Emperor Goazong, opened a different path to her.
The new empress was having a desperate struggle with another concubine, Consort Xiao, and wanted another beautiful concubine to divert the attention of her husband. Thus Empress Wang had Wu Zetian brought back to the palace and made her a concubine of the Emperor Gaozong. She managed to win the affection of the emperor and became the highest ranking consort. It should be noted, that according to Confucian principles, the taking of a father’s consort (one who had had sexual relations with the deceased Emperor Taizong) was considered to be incest.
In 652, she gave birth to her first son, Li Hong, and the following year she gave birth to another son, Li Xián. Initially, neither of these sons were in contention for the throne.
In 654, she gave birth to a daughter who died shortly after being born. Empress Wang had been seen near the child’s room and it is alleged that Wu Zetian managed to convince Emperor Gaozong that Empress Wang had killed the child out of jealousy. In 655, she accused Empress Wang of using witchcraft. Subsequently, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were deposed and Wu Zetian was made empress. Wu Zetian later ordered Empress Wang and Consort Xiao killed.
Some later historians have accused Wu Zetian of murdering her own daughter so that she could frame Empress Wang for the crime.
In 660, Emperor Gaozong began to suffer from painful headaches and loss of vision. Some modern historians have suggested that he had a stroke. Empress Wu, with her good understanding of both history and literature, began to make rulings on the petitions from officials. Thus, during the reign of Emperor Goazong, Empress Wu Zetian was actually making most of the major decisions.
Some later historians have accused Wu Zetian of deliberately poisoning her husband.
Wu Zetian showed little mercy for those who failed to conform to her wishes. Those who failed to conform were often imprisoned or executed. Members of her family and high ranking officials were not exempt from her anger.
While she was accused of interfering with the imperial governance, she was adept at manipulating palace intrigues and those who accused her were convicted of planning treason and executed.
In 666, Emperor Gaozong offered sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth at Mount Tai. Empress Wu, breaking with tradition, then offered sacrifices after him, publicly showing that her power was nearly as great as his.
In 675, Empress Wu suggested to the emperor that the Tao Te Ching by Laozi be added to the required reading for imperial university students. Emperor Gaozong praised her suggestion and it was adopted.
When Emperor Goazong died in 683, she became the Empress Dowager. When the new Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian, the third son of Wu Zetian) displayed independence by disobeying her, she had him deposed and had her fourth son, Li Dan, made emperor (Emperor Ruizong). However, Empress Wu Zetian presided over imperial gatherings and prevented her son from having an active role in the government.
By 685, Wu Zetian was having an affair with the Buddhist monk Huaiyi. Consequently, he was bestowed with great honors.
Her Reign:
As empress, Wu Zetian campaigned to promote the power of women. She commissioned scholars to write biographies of famous women, and raised the position of her mother’s clan by giving her relatives high political posts. She said that the ideal ruler was one who ruled like a mother governs her children. During her reign, there was greater equality between the sexes.
Empress Wu chose Buddhism over Daoism as the favored state religion. Chinese Buddhism achieved its highest development in this time.
After she established the Zhou dynasty in 690, her reign was characterized by secret police terror. This secret police force spied on those who opposed her and those who stood in her way were often jailed or killed. Over time, this moderated. She has been recognized by most historians, including those who hate her, as a capable and attentive ruler. She had an ability to select capable men to serve as officials in her regime and she was admired throughout the empire.
She instituted the practice of having everyone compete for government positions by taking exams. She stopped the influence of the aristocratic military men by replacing them with scholars, thus setting the practice of government run by scholars.
She was fair to the peasants; she lowered taxes and raised agricultural production; and strengthened public works. With regard to agriculture, Wu Zetian ordered the construction of irrigation systems and commissioned the compilation of farming textbooks. She had local officials evaluated for their abilities at cultivating the land. In order to increase agricultural production, she had taxes on the peasant population reduced.
In 694, Wu Zetian became impressed by a goup of mystic individuals: the hermit Wei Shifang who claimed to be 350 years old; an old Buddhist nun who claimed to be a Buddha and was capable of predicting the future; and a man who was not ethnically Han who claimed to be 500 years old. During this time she adopted the cult imagery of Maitreya, the future Buddha, in order to build popular support. However, when in 695 the imperial meeting hall and the Heavenly Hall were burned, Wu Zetian became angry with them for failing to predict this event. Wei Shifang committed suicide. We Zetian had the nun and her students arrested and made into slaves. The 500-year-old non-Han man fled. Following this incident, she paid less attention to mysticism and became more dedicated to the affairs of state.
Overall, her reign was characterized by numerous palace intrigues, many of which she ruthlessly suppressed. There were many plots to depose her and to kill her, but she managed to survive them.
In 705, Empress Wu Zetian was overthrown in a coup and Emperor Zhongzong was returned to the throne.
Historical Evaluation:
For the ten centuries that followed her rule, her actions have been the subject of debate. Many Chinese historians, particularly the Confucians, have not been kind to Wu Zetian. For many centuries she was used as an example of what can go wrong when a woman is in charge. According to Confucian beliefs, having a woman rule would be as unnatural as having a hen crow like a rooster at daybreak. At times the historians have admired her abilities to rule the state while vilifying her for seizing imperial power. During the late 1960s, however, Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao Zedong, used Wu Zetian as a part of a propaganda campaign to suggest that she might be the logical successor to her ailing husband.
Christian historians have characterized her as a troubled and tormented person and allege that she was one of the few Chinese leaders during the Tang Dynasty who persecuted Christians. They also condemn her for seeking advice and counsel from people considered to be soothsayers and witches by the Christians.
As the only female monarch of China, one who ruled for half a century, Wu Zetian was one of the most influential, remarkable, and sometimes mysterious women in Chinese history.
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