Empress Wu Zetian
624 - 705
Only woman to be emperor of China
by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003( )
Malicious, cunning, devious, power hungry and ruthless - these aptly describe Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to ever attain the title of emperor of China. Zetian 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.
Wu Zhao, also known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, was born in 624 A.D,
the daughter of an influential noble. 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 is 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. (http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html
and
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_wuzetian.htm.)
Life in the Imperial Court was not as it should have been. One would think
that the concubines lived in relative peace, because they had everything
they wanted. However, this was definitely not the case. 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.
At the age of 26, in the year of 649 A.D, 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 Kao Tsung, 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 Tsung came to the monastery and “rescued” 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 Zhao realized how much power was within her reach, if . . . she eliminated her competition. 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, Zhao had birthed 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 emperor 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 Zhao’s story, because he thought that she would never murder her own child. So, he banished the real empress, as well as the head concubine from his palace. He then, placed Zhao on the throne. It was at that time, that Zhao’s named changed from Wu Zhao, to the infamous Empress Wu Zetian. (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_wuzetian.htm, http://www.cyberport.ugam.ca/english/countries/china/history3b.htm, and http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html)
Even though Wu Zhao, or now Wu Zetian, 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 emperor. As a consequence,
she was always on the lookout for any possible means of achieving more
power and status. In 660 A.D, the emperor had a crippling stroke which
left him very weak and disabled. At that very moment, Empress Wu jumped
at the chance of being ruler of all of China. Due to the 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 her weakest son on the throne , because
she knew she could control him like a puppet. After some years had passed,
and her son had become too difficult to handle, she “assisted”
him in his abdication of the throne. She in turn crowned herself “emperor.”
Thus, she became a dictator for several years until her death in 705 A.D.
(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_wuzetian.htm.and
http://www.womeinworldhistory.com/heroine6.html)
[In summary, Empress Wu exiled Tang Zhong Zong (who had reigned less than a year) to Fang Zhou in 685 and replaced him with his brother, Tang Juan Zong (685 – 690 A.D.). Although Wu changed the dynasty from Tang to Zhou in 690, Zhong Zong returned from exile and changed it back in 705. She had him assassinated in 710 and put Juan Zong in power. Because she wielded such power even during the reigns of others, her span of formidable power is from 690 – 713 A.D.]
Empress Wu died at approximately age 80, a troubled and tormented person who often sought advice and counsel from soothsayers and witches. She had been one of the few leaders to persecute Christianity following a line of Tang Emporers who had favored Christianity. 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. (http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html http://www.cyberport.ugam.ca/english/countries/china/history3b.htm and Encyclopedia Americana, page 530.)
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 dictator who killed, exiled, or forced suicide upon anyone who disagreed with her. Sadly, she received her just rewards, because Jesus said in Matthew 26: 52, “ . . . for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.“ Unfortunately, she had wasted her life pursuing earthly power and position, never knowing she had eternally missed the mark.
*Please excuse the few resources in this article. Due to plagiarism, it was extremely difficult to find websites that were not identical. Most of the articles on the internet had different names, but identical information.
Sources:
Books:
Holy Bible. Nashville, Atlanta, London, and Vancouver. Thomas Nelson Publishers © 1992
Encyclopedia articles:
Klein Donald W. “China: History and Government.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1995
Websites:
Unknown. “ Empress Wu, the only feminine monarch in Chinese history.“ http://www.cyberport.ugam.ca/english/countries/china/history3b.htm. Unknown. Unknown. April 11, 2004
Unknown. “Empress We Zetian.” http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html. Unknown. Unknown. April 11, 2004
Unknown. “Tang Dynasty --Empress Wu Zetian (624 - 705) http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_wuzetian.htm Unknown. Unknown. April 11, 2004
