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. Sources about Wu Zetian's life are a hodgepodge, which some condemning her as the devil himself and others testifying she was an absolute angel. They ruled as divine monarchs until Gaozong's death in 683 CE. This opposition was formidable; the annals of the period contain numerous examples of criticisms leveled by civil servants mortified by the empresss innovations. Under the administration of Empress Wu, Tang territory expanded through constant fighting with other peoples, particularly the Tibetans. She then began to plot against Gaozongs consort, Empress Wang, incriminating the empress in the death of Wus infant daughter. womeninworldhistory.com. If Wu Zetian is judged by the traditional female virtues of chastity and modesty, then she falls short of expectations. I always think that's the most interesting things about primary sources - the bias. 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. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. An active imagination produced pornographic novels in the 16th century focusing on her alleged sexual practices. The term Confucianism is derived from Confucius, the convention. The Shiji In 654 CE, Wu had a daughter who died soon after birth. In 690 C.E., Zetian forced Li Dan to abdicate the throne to her, and declared herself the founding empress of the Zhou dynasty. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Her success in the campaigns against Korea inspired confidence in her generals and Wu's decisions on military defense or expeditions were never challenged. Carved in limestone, the colossal statue is reputed to have been carved in Wus own likeness. In spite of all of her reforms and the prosperity she brought to the country, Wu was remembered mainly for her crimes against friends and family members - especially the murder of her daughter - and people did not think she was worthy of an inscription. Historical Significance: Empress Wu was very significant in the Tang Dynasty. Empress Wu Zetian (Illustration) - World History Encyclopedia 1996-2021 Web. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1994, pp. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine "The Real Judge Dee: Ti Jen-chieh and the T'ang Restoration of 705," in Asia Major. had been organized in a systematic way by the year 669. The political success of Wu Zetian indicates that the attributes needed in diplomacy and rulership were not restricted to men. 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. 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. Modern popular novels and plays, in Chinese, Japanese, and English, also exaggerate the sexual aspect of her rule. 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. 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. 04 Mar 2023. Her one mistake had been to marry this boy to a concubine nearly as ruthless and ambitious as herself. She had the mountain named Mount Felicity and claimed it had risen to honor her and her reign. Gaozong fell for it and the Empress Wang was put to death. For Wu Zetian, the rise to power and consolidation involved manipulations, murders, and support of the intellectual and religious establishments. Thereafter the empress favored Confucianism. 22 Feb. 2023 . Jennifer W. Jay , Professor of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Guisso says, that empowered informers of any social class to travel at public expense. She also maintained an efficient secret police and instituted a reign of terror among the imperial bureaucracy. She not only created many different cultural and political policies, but she displayed what a women could do in government. The Empress Wu Zetian (690-704 CE) is the only female ruler in the history of China. 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. Amherst : Prometheus Books, 1990; T.H. Wu Zetian. 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. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/empress-wu-wu-zhao. No-one knows what secrets it holds, for like many of the tombs of the most celebrated Chinese rulers, including that of the First Emperor himself, it has never been plundered or opened by archaeologists. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. Anyone she suspected of disloyalty, for any reason, was banished or executed. Nationality/Culture 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. If it does not yield, I'll hit it with the iron hammer. The other statues (still seen in the Longmen Grottoes) were also made to elevate her status as a divine ruler who knew what was best for the people and was divinely appointed to apply whatever laws or policies she saw fit. 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. ." Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. After this event Wu became Empress and shared Imperial power equally with her emperor. Japanese modern statue of Kannon commemorating Changing the dynasty was the easier task and was accomplished by securing the approval of the Confucian establishment. 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. Wu Zetian was in effect taking the unprecedented step of transforming her position from empress dowager to emperor. Setting up a new dynasty meant installing a new imperial family to replace the Li-Tang imperial house, from which she had married two emperors who were father and son, Taizong and Gaozong. Buddhism was carried into East Asia by merchants and Buddhist monks traveling the Silk Road from Northern India, Persia, Kashmir and Inner Asia. The Chinese Bell Murders. Leiden: EJ Brill, 1974. Empress Wu Worksheets & Facts | History, Reign, Legacy The cambridge history has a fascinating take on this period - the author of the chapter on Wu's reign keeps reminding the reader that the imperium was peaceful; the economy was booming; government was rational, efficient and effective; and a parade of highly qualified top officials presided. Wang was the last person seen in the room and had no alibi. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984. Complete List of Included Worksheets Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document. Barrett. We are told that through cruel manipulations, including strangulating her own infant daughter to falsely implicate Gaozong's then current barren empress, Wu Zetian replaced her as empress in 657 and dominated the rest of Gaozong's reign. She herself would thus be seen as a restorationist of the Zhou Dynasty, with the Wu family replacing the Li-Tang family. Empress Wu, or Wu Zhao, challenged the patriarchal system by advocating womens intellectual development and sexual freedom. 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 . When he fell out of favor, he burned the building to the ground. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. https://www.worldhistory.org/Wu_Zetian/. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Her last name, "Wu" is associated with the words for 'weapon' and 'military force' and she chose the name 'Zeitan' which means 'Ruler of the Heavens'. "Wu Zetian (624705) Before Smithsonian.com, Dash authored the award-winning blog A Blast From the Past. To legitimize her position, Empress Wu turned mainly to Buddhism, proclaiming herself an incarnation of Maitreya (Mi-le), the Buddhist savior. The three phases of the universe; These three phases were birth, existence, and destruction. Books 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. They are regarded as important by historians because they show how far Wu went in trying to create a new world in China under her reign: she even wanted to change the words they used. 145154. When Gaozong suffered a stroke in 660, the empress made herself the ruler. Map: Wikicommons. Wus later life was one long illustration of the exceptional influence she had come to wield. Nevertheless, court intrigues still greatly influenced the recruiting of civil servants. To entrench her biological family as the imperial house, she bestowed imperial honors to her ancestors through posthumous enthronement and constructed seven temples for imperial sacrifices. 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. 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. Click for Author Information. She founded a secret police and conducted a reign of terror, justifying the mass executions on the grounds that discrimination against a womans open exercise of power forced her to use terror to defend her authority. Illustration. 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. 21/11/2022. 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). They also functioned as powerful reminders of imperial power. Pronunciation: Woo-jeh-ten. According to almost all her biographers, she was extremely cruel in her personal life, murdering two sons, a daughter, sister, niece, grandchildren, and many Li and Wu princes and princesses who opposed her. 6, no. 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. published on 22 February 2016. World History Encyclopedia. (He would camp out in the palace grounds, Clements notes, barbecuing sheep.) Cheng-qian was banished for attempted revolt, while a dissolute brother who had agreed to take part in the rebellionso long, Clements adds, as he was permitted sexual access to every musician and dancer in the palace, male or femalewas invited to commit suicide, and another of Taizongs sons was disgraced for his involvement in a different plot. Naples: Institute Universitario Orientale, 1976. Luoyang was favorably located on the last stop of the river routes from the South, which greatly reduced the cost of shipping grains from the Southeast to the imperial capital. China during Wu Zetian's ReignIan Kiu (CC BY-SA). A Japanese example: In the late 7th century, Japans Emperor Shomu and Empress Komyo both were involved in Buddhist buildings. If so, their hopes were in vain; Empress Wu Zetian is remembered today as one of the greatest rulers in China's history. Wu Zetian turned to the Buddhist establishment to rationalize her position. World Eras. 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, 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. New Capital. Emperor Wu of Han - Wikipedia Web. 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. Wu Zhao: Ruler of Tang Dynasty China - Association for Asian Studies "Empress Wu Zetian." However, the date of retrieval is often important. One of the most powerful champions of Buddhism in China was the Empress Wu Zetian. While Confucian historians condemned her usurpation, extravagance, and scandal, Wu Zhao has been credited for providing strong leadership and ruling during an age of relative peace and prosperity. Empress Wu is the only female to have ever ruled in her own name in China. After Wu's death, Zhongzong reigned but only in name; real power was held by Lady Wei who used Wu Zetian as a role model to manipulate her husband and the court. Wei had her father appointed Chief Minister to her husband and tried to push through other measures favoring her family. "The Reigns of the Empress Wu, Chung-tsung and Jui-tsung," in Denis Twitchett, ed., Cambridge History of China. Throughout 15 dismal years in exile, her sons consort had talked him out of committing suicide and kept him ready to return to power. Wu Zetian was one of the longest-lived monarchs (82 years old) in Chinese history. World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Appears In The Analects of Confucius Primary Source Activity - Google Drive - Print & Digital. The system of Neo-Confucianism of which Chu Hsi is regarded as the spo, Mutsuhito 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. 04 Mar 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4558/empress-wu-zetian/. Cookie Policy The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Public Domain. The woman who believed she was as capable as any man to lead the country continues to be vilified, even if writers now qualify their criticisms, but there is no arguing with the fact that, under Wu Zetian, China experienced an affluence and stability it had never known before. Given Tang Chinas rich history of inter-regional connections and communications with its East Asian neighbors, it is not surprising that Wus sponsorship of Buddhism resulted in a flurry of scholarly exchanges, and the construction of many new pilgrimage Buddhist sites. RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 0.1 percent Empress Wu Zetian and the Spread of Buddhism - Women In World History 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. (February 23, 2023). He refused to cooperate well with his mother and his wife, Lady Wei, assumed too much power. According to Wu's own account, they conspired against her but, according to other historians, Wu started and finished the problems she had with them. 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. 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. Thank you! She organized teams to survey the land and build irrigation ditches to help grow crops and redistributed the land so that everyone had an equal share to farm. Empress Wu Zetian ruled as Chinas only female emperor. Hailing from the Tang dynasty, Empress Wu made some great positive strives for the Tang dynasty, but also got caught up in scandals - a couple even involving murder! . Wu Zetian's first two sexual partners were emperors and related to each other as father and son. 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. There must also be some doubt as to whether Wu really was guilty of some of the most monstrous crimes that history has charged her with. Taizong was so impressed at her intellectual abilities, he took her out of the laundry and made her his secretary. by Unknown. 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. (2016, February 22). She ruled for 15 years during the Tang Dynasty and was one of China's most impactful and divisive emperors. Buddhism was carried into East Asia by merchants and Buddhist monks traveling the Silk Road from Northern India, Persia, Kashmir and Inner Asia. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Wu Zetian. There are abundant signs that Wu was viewed with deep suspicion by later generations of Chinese. Empress Wu Zetian and the Spread of Buddhism (625-705 C.E.) Empress Wu Zetian - Naked History 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. His son Li Longji succeeded him, ruling as Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756 CE). . Wu (she is always known by her surname) has every claim to be considered a great empress. Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. 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. "Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) 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). 1, Sui and T'ang, pp. 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. Among a raft of other allegations are the suggestions that she ordered the suicides of a grandson and granddaughter who had dared to criticize her and later poisoned her husband, whovery unusually for a Chinese emperordied unobserved and alone, even though tradition held that the entire family should assemble around the imperial death bed to attest to any last words. 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. By 655 she had consolidated her position after her son inherited the throne. Empress Wu Zetian. Although she was not able to control the newly unified state, relations continued to be friendly during her reign. Shortly after she took the throne there was an earthquake which was interpreted as a bad omen. The Controversial Empress Wu - Travel Through Time What role, if any, the undeniably ambitious concubine played in the events of the early Tang period remains a matter of controversy. We care about our planet! Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources She reigned during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in China's history. How to evaluate such an unprecedented figure today? Jiu Tangshu [Old history of the Tang]. In 674 CE, Gaozong took the title Tian Huang (Emperor of Heaven) and Wu changed her own to Tian Hou (Empress of Heaven). Mark, Emily. 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). Guisso, Richard W. Empress Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T'ang China. Wu Zetian's collected writings include official edicts, essays, and poetry, in addition to a treatise to instruct her subjects on moral statecraft. Some historians have viewed her as blazing the trail for the women who came after her, and indeed her daughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter aspired to emulate her success, but they failed and even died violently in the process. Gaozong had caught a disease which affected his eyes (possibly a stroke) and needed to have reports read to him.