A Female Burial Figurine, Tang Tri-color
3 min readThe Tang tri-color is a general term for the glazed pottery baked during the Tang Dynasty. Usually it was white, yellow and green glazed, hence the name. As the clay roughcast was too brittle for making household utensils, these exquisite handicraft articles had been used as burial furnishings.
Nevertheless, Li shimin began to seek a life of pleasure in his old age. He frequently wenton hunting trips, and even built a summer palace named Cuiwei at the top of Mount Liin 647. At the same time, he didn’t accept advice as readily as before. In 645 he stubbornly unleashed a war against Goguryeo, which cost a large amount of money and caused widespread resentment. Later on he blamed himself and said:”If Wei Zheng were still alive, he would not have allowed me to go on this expedition.”
In the fifth lunar month of 649, Li shimin died at the just completed Cuiwei Palace.
Wu Zetian: Only Empress Regnant in Chinese History
Portrait of Wu Zetian (624-705)
Wuzetian, originally a concubine of Emperor Taizong, founded her own dynasty in 690 under the title of Zhou She thus became the only empress regnant and also, perhaps Wu Zetian (624-705) of the Han nationality was the only empress in Chinese history who ruled the country from 690 to 705 under the dynastic title of Zhou, which reverted to Tang upon her abdication.
She was of Wenshui(the same-named county in present Shanxi Province) origin and was born in Chang’ an. she had once coined a word of “Zhao”as her personal name.
Her Early Life
Wu Zetian’s father Wu Shiyue was originally a wood merchant in Taiyuan. In 617, he followed Li Yuan to rise against the Sui Dynasty, and was then offered a high post in the newly-established regime. In 637,13-year-old Wu Zetian became a low-ranking imperial concubine(with the title cai-ren”), and Li Shimin who was captivated by her beauty named her Mei to show special favor.
After the emperor’s death in 649, by royal convention Wu Zetian had to shave her head to become a nun at the Ganye Monastery located on the outskirts of Chang’ an. But she was unwilling to live an obscure life thereupon, and hoped to get out of her predicament as soon as possible.
Previously, when Crown Prince Li Zhi(Li Shimin’s ninth son,628-683) went to attend his father who was seriously ill, he ran into Wu Zetian and felt an immediate attraction to her. After succeeding to the throne, he went to see Wu Zetian one day under the pretext of offering incense in the temple.
From his adoring look Wu clearly read the new emperor’s mind. She therefore sobbed her heart out to prompt him into action.
Burial Figurine ofa Man from the western Regions, Tang Tricolor AGlazed Pottery Figurine, Funeral Object, the Tang Dynasty As luck would have it, the empress consort Wang was vying with Xiao–a high-ranking imperial concubine(with the title “shu-fei”)–at that time for Lizhis favor. Wang consequently allowed Wu Zetian to wear her hair long in secret, whilst persuading her husband to get Wu back to the imperial harem, in the hope of frustrating her rival Xiao.
In 651, Wu Zetian returned to Chang an. As expected, she became Li Zhi’s new sweetheart and just one year later the couple had their first son named Li Hongl. wu was thus promoted to zhao-yi–imperial concubine of a higher rank.
