In 674 CE, Gaozong took the title Tian Huang (Emperor of Heaven) and Wu changed her own to Tian Hou (Empress of Heaven). The odds that a girl of this low rank would ever come to an emperors attention were slim. Her courtiers, however, hatched a plot and afterward forced her to abdicate in 705; she died later that year. No contemporary image of the empress exists. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. 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. Under the older regimes, a suggestion or complaint had to go through a number of different offices before it ever reached anyone who could do something about it. Under Wus rule the government was expanded, and many of the new positions were filled through the examination system. Although she was not able to control the newly unified state, relations continued to be friendly during her reign. Jennifer W. Jay , Professor of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Empress Wu is the only female to have ever ruled in her own name in China. . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1977. The empress responded with both diplomacy and force, concluding a marriage alliance with the Turks and defeating the Qidan in battle. Liu, Xu. Empress Wu, or Wu Zhao, challenged the patriarchal system by advocating women's intellectual development and sexual freedom. Not the United States, of course, but one thinks readily enough of Hatshepsut of ancient Egypt, Russias astonishing Catherine the Great, or Trung Tracof Vietnam. Wang was the last person seen in the room and had no alibi. is held up in Chinese histories as the prototype of all that is wicked in a female ruler. These criteria no doubt favored the aristocratic families. Emperor Gaozong had nothing to do with either of these events, although his name would have been attached to the campaigns against Korea. Replacing the dynasty and imperial house through Confucian ideology still could not legitimize a woman on the throne. No area of Chinese life was untouched by Empress Wu and her reforms were so popular because the suggestions came from the people. Cookie Settings, 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., as we have already had cause to note in this blog, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Empress Wu, the first and only female emperor of Imperial China. To legitimize her position, Empress Wu turned mainly to Buddhism, proclaiming herself an incarnation of Maitreya (Mi-le), the Buddhist savior. (3). 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. 31, no. She did not ask any man's permission to lead these women to Mount Tai; she felt she knew what was best and did it. The practice of an emperor having young women as concubines was customary but when an empress decided to entertain herself with young men it was suddenly scandalous. 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. Although this system opened government positions to a wider group than ever before, in the final stages of the process candidates continued to be judged on their appearance and speech. Agricultural production under Wu's reign increased to an all-time high. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 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. Character Overview 1 minutes de lecture . One of these served as her new personal name, Zhao, which articulates the fundamental Buddhist notion of universal emptiness. Empress Theodora. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. All in all, Wus policies seem less scandalous to us than they did to contemporaries, and her reputation has improved considerably in recent decades. 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. Removing the legitimate heir, she took the name of Emperor Zetian and founded the Zhou dynasty in 690, becoming the first and only female emperor in Chinese history. 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. 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. "Wu Zetian (624705) At one point, to the horror of her generals, Wu proposed raising a military corps from among Chinas numerous eunuchs. (February 23, 2023). Wills, John E., Jr. "Empress Wu," in Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History. 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. Instead, it was left without any inscriptionthe only such example in more than 2,000 years of Chinese history. License. Why should you weep for me?" Nationality/Culture Unknown, . The Confucian dynastic system of government, based on the mandate of heaven, or the claim of heaven-sanctioned military conquest and benevolent rule, was first propounded by the Zhou Dynasty in 1045 bce and perpetuated by subsequent dynasties until 1911. 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. 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. 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 . To further separate her Zhou Dynasty from the Tang, she created new characters for the Chinese writing system which are known today as Chinese Characters of Empress Wu or Zetian Characters. 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. 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. 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. 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). and to pray for permanent world peace. Traditionally, only the emperor, as the son-of-heaven, could communicate with heaven and carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth. Her reforms and policies lay the foundation for the success of Xuanzong as emperor under whose reign China became the most prosperous country in the world. At these pilgrimage sites, rituals were performed which established a link between the standing Buddha and the ruler. Although modern historians, both east and west, have revised the ancient depiction of Wu Zetian as a scheming usurper, that view of her reign still persists in much that is written about her. correct answers: the roman empire constructed significantly more roads and developed inland economic resources more extensively than its predecessors the roman empire integrated many Greek and Phoenician trade routes, regional products and trade cities into its own economic system World History Encyclopedia. Empress Lu Zhi (241-180 B.C.) Taizong was surprised that his latest concubine could read and write and became fascinated by her beauty and wit in conversation. "The Real Judge Dee: Ti Jen-chieh and the T'ang Restoration of 705," in Asia Major. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. $1.99. Moreover, Wu exhibited one important characteristic that suggests that, whatever her faults, she was no despot: She acknowledged and often acted on the criticisms of loyal ministers, one of whom dared to suggest, in 701, that it was time for her to abdicate. Lady Wang's uncle, the chancellor Liu Shi, was removed from his post which meant his son was cut off as Gaozong's heir. It is easier to take seriously the suggestion that Wu arranged a series of murders within her own family. Her extravagant construction projects and expensive frontier campaigns had exhausted the treasury, which led to a financial crisis. World History Encyclopedia. Empress Wu rose to power through ruthless tactics to move her from the emperor's concubine, to the emperor's consort, and eventually to the position of empress of China. The Shiji 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. Unknown, . Her patronage of Buddhism also expanded to other temples and sects, and much work was done on the cave temples at Longmen on her orders. On the Korean peninsula Empress Wu supported the unification movement under the state of Silla. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. If it still won't be tamed, I'll cut its throat with the knife. 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. Encyclopedia.com. Lineage The first thing she did was change the name of the state from Tang to Zhou (actually Tianzhou or Tiansou). 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. Complete List of Included Worksheets Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document. The empress even promoted what might loosely be termed womens rights, publishing (albeit as part of her own legitimation campaign)Biographies of Famous Women and requiring children to mourn both parents, rather than merely their father, as had been the practice hitherto. "Wu Zetian." 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. She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother, the chronicles say. One of the brothers, she declared, had a face as beautiful as a lotus flower, while it is said she valued the other for his talents in the bedchamber. Cold, ruthless, and ambitious, the Han dynasty dowager murdered her rival, the beautiful concubine Lady Qi, by amputating all her limbs, turning her into a human swine and leaving her to die in a cesspit. However, when Li Zhi became emperor and took the name Gaozong, one of the first things he did was send for Wu and have her brought back to court as the first of his concubines, even though he had others and also a wife. Click for Author Information. Hidden Power: The Palace Eunuchs of Imperial China. Vol. She ruled China with complete authority and no one dared to challenge her when she was in control. 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. The founding emperor of a dynasty and his descendants constituted the imperial family, which through male succession produced emperors who were normally the eldest son born to the empress. 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'. Ch'ien-lung (1711-1799) was the fourth emperor of the Ch'ing, or Manchu, dynasty in China. T.H. Primary Sources with DBQsCHINA 4000 - 1000 BCE Ancestral Rites and Divination . The only woman ever to rule as emperor of China, Wu Zhao (Wu ZeTian) was born in 624 C.E. 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. Wu eliminated all the bureaucracy by establishing a direct line of communication between herself and the people. Cite This Work Wu either read him whatever she felt like and then made her own decisions or read him the real reports and then still acted on her own. 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 improved the public education system by hiring dedicated teachers and reorganizing the bureaucracy and teaching methods. 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. How did she hold on to power? . Ruthless and decisive, she stabilized and consolidated the Tang dynasty at a time when it appeared to be crumblinga significant achievement, since the Tang period is reckoned the golden age of Chinese civilization. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. 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. I always think that's the most interesting things about primary sources - the bias. The horrible deaths of empress Wang and the Pure Concubine, for example, are nowhere mentioned in Luo Binwangs fearless contemporary denunciation, which suggests that Wu was not blamed for them during her lifetime. She was also assured that her sons would rule the country after the death of her husband. Image taken from An 18th-century album of portraits of 86 emperors of China, with Chinese historical notes. Her one mistake had been to marry this boy to a concubine nearly as ruthless and ambitious as herself. A 17th-century Chinese depiction of Wu, from Empress Wu of the Zhou, published c.1690. Tang China during the 7th century was a period of military strength and cultural attainments, its empire stretching into Central Asia and Southwest Asia and ruled by the Li-Tang imperial family from the capital city of Xi'an (Xian), Shanxi province. But is the empress unfairly maligned? However, the date of retrieval is often important. Carlton further notes, "While ostensibly for her great concern over the condition of her people, the box mainly served the purpose of obtaining information on seditious subjects (3)." Still, Xuanzong continued many of Wu's policies, including keeping her reforms in taxation, agriculture, and education. But 28 other consorts still stood between her and the throne. Empress Wu Zetian and the Spread of Buddhism (625-705 C.E.) 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. disadvantages of food transportation. Wu began an affair with Li Zhi, who was married at the time, while still attached to Taizong as concubine. Last modified February 22, 2016. According to Anderson, servants. unified China in 221 B.C. 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 Woman Who Discovered Printing. World History Encyclopedia. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. The mute and limbless concubine was then tossed into a cesspit in the palace with the swine. Omens were extremely important to the people of ancient China and played a significant role in Tang politics. 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.. 7789. She appears in influential plays as a feminist and champion of the lower classes while her male rivals are shown to be aristocrats, landlords, and conservatives against the tide of history. 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). Wu was forced to abdicate in favor of her exiled son Zhongzong and his wife Wei. Thank you! The primary and secondary sources on Wu Zetian are abundant and problematic, reflecting an almost exclusively male authorship that has portrayed her as a beautiful, calculating, brutal woman who ruled China as the only woman emperor in name and in fact. McMullen, David. The political success of Wu Zetian indicates that the attributes needed in diplomacy and rulership were not restricted to men. 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. Your Privacy Rights "Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) Anyone she suspected of disloyalty, for any reason, was banished or executed. Web. 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! Bellingham : EAS Press, 1978; Robert Van Gulik. 3, no. However, despite establishing an autocratic and centralised state, Emperor Wu adopted the principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics. The Empress Wu Zetian (690-704 CE) is the only female ruler in the history of China. Creating overpowering statues, like the one at Longmen, was important. 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. Mary Anderson. 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. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2007; Dora Shu-Fang Dien, Empress Wu Zetian in Fiction and in History: Female Defiance in Confucian China. Historical Significance: Empress Wu was very significant in the Tang Dynasty. Traditional historians grudgingly acknowledged that she surpassed her sons, the legitimate heirs, in both vision and statecraft. Submitted by Emily Mark, published on 17 March 2016. Gaozong divorced his wife, barred her mother from the palace, and exiled Lady Xiao. 1996-2021 We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. Empress Wu proved to be a wise monarch, and in her reign of twenty years she continued many policies and practices of her predecessors. Wu Zetian is the only legitimatized Empress in Chinese history. Wu: the Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become A Living God. 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). Her Buddhist supporters interpreted the Madamegha (Great Cloud) sutra to predict a maitreya Buddha (Buddha-to-come) in female form, presumably Wu Zetian herself, who would embody the concept of the cakravartin (wheel-turner, universal emperor, or the ideal man who is king). First, I'll beat it with the iron whip. One explanation for Wus success is that she listened. A third problem is that the empress, who was well aware of both these biases, was not averse to tampering with the record herself; a fourth is that some other accounts of her reign were written by relatives who had good cause to loathe her. In 654 CE, Wu had a daughter who died soon after birth. 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. 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. (108). Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. In promoting Buddhism over Confucianism and Daoism as the favored state religion, the Empress countered strongly held Confucian beliefs against female rule. Wu Zetian was born in Wenshi County, Shanxi Province, in 624 CE to a wealthy family. In the last three decades, Marxist historiography on Wu Zetian in Mainland China has yielded a positive but unreliable and ideologically charged reappraisal. In the largest cave there is a statue called the Grand Vairocana Buddha. Wu Zetian argued that since mothers were indispensable to the birth and nourishment of infants, the three years when the infant totally depended on the mother as caregiver should be requited with three years of mourning her death. But if she is observed in the context of the sexuality of male rulers, then the number of her favorites is insignificant. Vol. Mutsuhito (also known as Meiji Tenno; 1852-1912) was a Japanese emperor, who became the symbol for, and encouraged, the dramatic, Chien-lung The baby was strangled in her crib and Wu claimed that Lady Wang had killed her because she was jealous. Amherst : Prometheus Books, 1990; T.H. across from her husband, the emperor. She commissioned statues of the Maitreya in the Longmen Caves outside Luoyang. Changing the dynasty was the easier task and was accomplished by securing the approval of the Confucian establishment. She also reformed the department of agriculture and the system of taxation by rewarding officials who produced the greatest amount of crops and taxed their people the least. Long a supporter of Buddhism through her mother's devotion and her own refuge in the nunnery after her first husband Taizong's death, Wu Zetian counted on Buddhist ideology to legitimize her reign and her dynasty. ." womeninworldhistory.com. June 2, 2022 by by She graduated from SUNY Delhi in 2018. Japanese modern statue of Kannon commemorating Wu (she is always known by her surname) has every claim to be considered a great empress. To consolidate her power, in 657 Wu designated Luoyang as a second capital. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. She thus arranged marriages between her children and grandchildren with her brothers' sons and their grandchildren. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. If it does not yield, I'll hit it with the iron hammer. 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. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1984. The most spectacular are the stone temples and statues chiseled into grottoes at Longmen, near her capital. This institution became a political weapon in the hands of Empress Wu when she usurped the throne in 690. Throughout 15 dismal years in exile, her sons consort had talked him out of committing suicide and kept him ready to return to power.