Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty

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In the history of China，the dynastic power fell in the hands of women several times，e.g.Li Hou ，the Doweger，Liu Bang’s wife，in the Han Dynasty and later Ci Xi ，the Concubine of Xian Feng ，in the Qing Dynasty.Nonetheless，each of them had to find a puppet emperor，no matter how powerful she was.The Tang dynasty has the distinction of having had the only female empress.Shekicked the puppet away and seated herself on the royal throne as the only female monarch in China.

The woman was a concubine of the Taizong and Gaozong（Note:father and son）.She named herself Wu Zhao and reigned as empress.Before her，there was no such a character“mo”in the Chinese language，yet she created it herself to mean”the sun and the moon are shining in the sky at the same time.”This woman was a notorious wanton who played with young men even in her old age，the other female rulers in China being known for the same thing，which is a terrible rebellion against the Chinese tradition.

Malicious，cunning，devious，power hungry and ruthless—these aptly describe Empress Wu Zetian，the only woman to ever attain the title of empress of China.The woman was a driven person，whose obsession for power compelled her to do unthinkable acts，even to the point of murdering her own daughter！This quest for power，haunted her throughout her lifetime，and was only briefly satisfied when she ascended to the throne.

Great Obstacles for a Woman to Overcome Wu Zhao，also known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu，was born in 624 AD of an influential noble family.Wu Zhao’s mother came from the prestigious Sui clan，which was a part of the royal family.As a consequence of her position，she was taught the arts of reading，writing，and music at an early age.

Due to her great beauty and intelligence，she became one of the numerous concubines of the Emperor Taizong，at the“ripe old age”of fourteen.She was assigned to the level of“Cairen，” which was the fifth level of concubine.

However，due to her quick mind and knowledge of history，literature，and other valuable arts，she soon became a favorite of Emperor Taizong and of his court.Consequently，she had the title of“Charming Lady”given to her and was then given work to do in the Imperial Study.

One would think that the concubines lived in relative peace，because they had everything they wanted.However，this was definitely not the case.Wu Zhao soon observed that to be able to survive in the harem，one must obtain power.Therefore，she was always looking for a way to impress the emperor and draw attention to herself.She would stop at nothing to gain power，as will be seen later.

When she was at the age of 26，in the year of 649 AD，Emperor Taizong died.Consequently，all of his concubines were sent to a convent，where they were to spend the rest of their lives.However，Emperor Gaozong，son of the deceased，was stirred by her beauty and wittiness.Hence，he began to visit her often in the convent.Approximately，in two or three months（some sources say even as much as two or three years）later，Emperor Gaozong came to the monastery and“rescued”Wu Zhao.He then raised her position from a lower ranking“fifth grade”concubine to an elevated“second grade”position.It was at that very moment that Wu Zhao realized how much power was within her reach，if she eliminated her competition.

The Road to Power

Subsequently，she began to devise a way to rid the court of both the present empress，as well as the head concubine.

Suddenly，an idea came to her.Recently，Wu Zhao had born a baby girl，so she decided to strangle her own child to make it appear that someone else had done it.She then ran to the em-peror and accused the present empress of murdering the baby.

This was a logical assumption，as the empress had supposedly been alone with the baby right before its death.Thus，the emperor believed Wu Zhao’s story，because he thought that she would never murder her own child.So，he banished the realempress，as well as the head concubine from his palace.He then，placed Wu Zhao on the throne.

Even though Wu Zhao had risen to the title of empress，that still was not enough for her.Her thirst for power was not quenched and would not be quenched until she herself became the monarch.As a consequence，she was always on the lookoutfor any possible means of achieving more power and status.

In 660AD the emperor had a crippling stroke which lefthim very weak and disabled.At that very moment，Empress Wu jumped at the chance of being ruler of all of China.Due tothe emperor’s illnesses，she eventually began to sit in on his meetings and ultimately took over her husband’s duties.This was to his great dismay.Unfortunately，Empress Wu did not take to criticism well.As a result，she simply killed，exiled，or forced suicide on anyone who opposed or insulted her.As a result，her husband“was disgusted by these actions but by now had become too feeble to make efforts to curb Wu Zetian.”

Soon thereafter，her husband died.

She then put the weakest son of the emperor，LiXian on the throne，because she knew she could control him like a puppet.After some years had passed，and the emperor had become too difficult to handle，she“assisted”him in his abdication of the throne and changed another one，Li Dan .In 690，she deposed the new emperor，and in turn，crowned herself“empress.”Thus，she became a dictatress for several years until her abdication in 705 AD.

The Short Reign of Wu Zetian Her reign is actually a disruption of the Tang dynasty，as she called her dynasty the Zhou .This dynasty lasted for 15 years.She was able to gain power largely as a result of the hidden support of the Buddhist church.She was also powerful as a result of earlier having been influential in placing her relatives in important administrative positions.

The peasants especially suffered under her reign as they were heavily taxed and required to pay dues.While the peas-ants were being devastated，the favorites of the empress and the monasteries enriched themselves and enlarged their states.

Empress Wu died at approximately age 80，an unusual long life at that time.Being a troubled and tormented woman she often sought advice and counsel from soothsayers andwitches.Interestingly enough，it was some of the men whom she had elevated from“peasant hood”to nobility，who eventually coerced her into giving up the throne she had coveted so much.In January，705，she was forced to abdicate by theChancellor Zhang Jianzhi and a group of generals.

The former emperor Li Xian or Zhongzong ascended the throne and restored the Tang Dynasty of the Li’s family.Wu Zetian died in November of the same year.In senility and dotage，the dictatress met her shabby end.In conclusion，Empress Wu was a malicious and cunning woman，who used her beauty and guile to achieve her own agenda.She accomplished this by eliminating all of her competitors.Additionally，she was a ruthless dictatress who killed，exiled，or forced suicide upon anyone who disagreed with her.Sadly，she received her just“rewards”，because Jesus said“for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”