Useful Notes / Wu Zetian

Wu Zetian (武則天; 624–705)^note Wu's birth name has been lost to history; 'Zetian' is part of her posthumous title(s); 'Mèi' (媚, "charm" or "glamorous") was the art name given to her by Taizong. After she crowned herself Emperor, she created the character "Zhao" (曌) as her name was the only female Emperor in the history of Imperial China, reigning from 690 to 705 AD.

Wu was born the second daughter of Lady Yang, herself the second wife of Wu Shiyue (武士彠/武士彟), a supporter of Emperor Gaozu of Tang (real name 'Li Yuan', 李淵/李渊) during his uprising which overthrew the Sui Dynasty. Wu Shiyue saw that this daughter of his was gifted; unusual for the era, he encouraged her to read and write.^note Wu herself later became a calligrapher and poet of some repute, and she encouraged cultural activities during her years in power. Thus, compared to most women of her time, Wu was far more knowledgeable and learned. Since her father died when she was young (him being already in his 60s when Wu was born), Wu's half-brothers took the opportunity to throw Lady Yang and her three daughters out of the household. However, Lady Yang wasn't an entirely defenseless widow; she was part of the Yang clan of Hongnong, which included the emperors of the Sui Dynasty.^note Besides being relatives of the imperial family, Lady Yang's uncle Yang Xiong and father Yang Da held important positions during the Sui era. Also, the mothers of Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Emperor Yang of Sui (the second and last emperor of the dynasty) were sisters.^note However, some have expressed skepticism on Lady Yang's background. An epitaph of Yang Da's clan had been discovered; it made no mention of Lady Yang or Wu Zetian. Thus, skeptics argued that Wu Zetian forged her familial connections with the Yang clan after she became empress or empress regnant.

Wu first entered the Imperial Court as a minor concubine (才人, cáirén, "Person/Lady of Talents") of Emperor Taizong at the age of thirteen when he was forty.^note Some of Yang Xiong's granddaughters were already in Taizong's harem: one was a jiéyú (婕妤, "Lady of Handsome Fairness"); and the xiánfēi (賢妃/贤妃, "Capable Consort") when Wu entered the palace, Consort Yan — who later became défēi (德妃, "Virtuous Consort") — was also Wu's cousin. Her time in Taizong's harem is something of an unknown. As emperor, she stated that she suggested to Taizong to whip, bludgeon, and stab a horse if it didn't listen to her. Taizong was impressed with her bravery, however she was never promoted. Some of this can be chalked down to simple bad luck — in his younger years, he was potent and fertile, having some 35 children; however, he had a lot on his plate in the 640s and had no children during this period. He also preferred women who were Silk Hiding Steel like Empress Zhangsun (長孫皇后/长孙皇后)^note later praised to be a model empress for being kind, generous, and frugal, yet politically savvy and wise, and an honest advisor, or, in Wu's own time, Xu Hui (徐惠)^note Xu Hui entered the harem at a similar time to Wu Zetian. Xu Hui was a child prodigy and accomplished poet and Taizong admired her talent. She frequently advised for him to build fewer palaces and costly construction projects in his later reign, while the incident with the horse proved Wu to be too aggressive for his taste. When Taizong died in 649, she was sent to a convent like all Imperial Consorts who had not borne any children. Taizong had entrusted his capable chancellors such as Gaozong's maternal uncle Zhangsun Wuji (長孫無忌/长孙无忌) to help his son Emperor Gaozong rule until he gained more experience, as Gaozong was young and believed to be weak in character. Unfortunately, these chancellors held large amounts of power at Gaozong's expense. Emperor Gaozong brought Wu Zetian back to the Imperial court, allegedly on the advice of his then Empress Wáng so that Wu may distract Gaozong from his current favourite, Consort Xiāo (a decision she would not regret anytime soon). As Gaozong became more and more infatuated with Wu, Empress Wáng pulled an Enemy Mine with Consort Xiāo hoping to displace Wu from the court.

Suffice to say, it didn't work and it didn't look good for Empress Wang when Wu's newborn daughter was found dead in her crib and Empress Wáng was allegedly the last person to see the child alive (though traditional historians claim Wu did it herself to further her ambitions, it's also probable that Wu's daughter died young of natural causes due to the very high child mortality rate at the time); her days were numbered. Accusations of witchcraft went around and Gaozong's intention to make Wu his new Empress led to a divide and then a reshuffling of the Imperial court. The chancellors who held great power were exiled and later forced to commit suicide after they opposed Wu Zetian becoming empress.^note Empress Wang was from the Taiyuan Wang clan, a very important aristocratic clan. Though the Imperial examination system had been promoted by both Sui and its successor Tang in the hopes of diluting the power of the gentry clans, it was under Wu Zetian that the Imperial examination system became the dominant one for choosing high-level officials, with earlier officials rising through connections and recommendations. Eventually, both Empress Wáng and Consort Xiāo were stripped of their ranks and confined under house arrest. Later, when Gaozong showed signs of pardoning the two, Wu became so angry, she allegedly (again, this is according to historians who lived after her reign and did not like her) ordered the two be executed by cutting off their limbs and drowning them in vats of wine.

As Wu's influence within the court grew, she persuaded Gaozong to depose the then-crown prince Li Zhong and make her son Li Hong (李弘) Crown Prince and began making state decisions on his behalf with increasing frequency.^note Ironically, it was Gaozong who invited Wu into state politics, as he needed an ally in removing the chancellors his father entrusted to assist him. By the mid-660s, even Gaozong became annoyed enough at Wu's involvement in government to consider deposing her. She managed to persuade him against the idea enough to blame it on an official who opposed Wu, Shangguan Yi (上官儀/上官仪), and implicated the deposed Li Zhong, who was under house arrest, and had both executed.^note Shangguan Yi's granddaughter Shangguan Wan'er (上官婉兒/上官婉儿) later became Wu's secretary during her rule as Emperor. She also became Zhongzong's zhāoróng (昭容, "Lady of Bright Countenance", a rank of imperial concubine) during his second reign. After that point, Gaozong was more accepting of Wu's involvement that they often appeared together in court sessions.^note The couple became known as the "Two Sages" (二聖/二圣, èr shèng). However, this is not the first time in Chinese history whereby the ruling couple was known as "Two Sages"; Gaozong's great-grandaunt Dugu Jialuo (獨孤伽羅/独孤伽罗) and her husband Emperor Wen of Sui were also known as "Two Sages". In fact, historians have speculated that Wu may be trying to emulate her ancestor, since she would have learnt about Dugu Jialuo, be it from studying Gaozong's ancestry or her own. By all accounts, Wu had surpassed Dugu. Dugu Jialuo had played an important role in influencing her husband to change the crown prince from their eldest son Yang Yong (楊勇/杨勇) to their second son, Yang Guang (楊廣/杨广; the later Emperor Yang of Sui). Yang Guang then brought down the Sui Dynasty merely 16 years after his mother's death, partly due to the damage done to state institutions during the tussle over the title of crown prince, along with the sacking of Gao Jiong (高熲/高颎), a vastly talented and important official. In contrast, 16 years after Wu's death, the Tang was prospering under her grandson Xuanzong's reign. Around this time, Gaozong and Wu conducted the fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, which was so sacred that only 6 emperors have done so. Even Gaozong's father Taizong, nowadays considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history, did not do so after being persuaded by officials it would impose too much labour on the people and weaken Tang's defense. The ceremony involved envoys from as far away as the Umayyad Caliphate. Empress Wu also persuaded Gaozong to have women involved in the ceremony. She and the-now Princess Dowager Yan made offerings to earth, when traditionally women were not involved in the ceremony at all. Also around this time, Wu Zetian's sister Wu Shun, followed by her niece Lady Helan became Emperor Gaozong's lovers; she allegedly killed her sister in a jealous rage and poisoned her niece, blaming her death on her cousins.

By 671, Li Hong had grown into a kind and idealistic man much like his father. He suggested to Wu to marry off the daughters of Consort Xiao — Wu did so, marrying them to two palace guards who she gave positions to in order to elevate their position. Li Hong also opposed his mother holding so much authority and monopolising the court. In 675, Li Hong died at age 23, and later historians attributed this to Wu having him poisoned. However, many now believe Li Hong died of illness; he had been sickly as a child and contracted tuberculosis, which was a death sentence in the days before modern medicine. He was replaced by Li Xian, who was much stronger in body and mind. Li Xian was independent and rebellious. He criticised his mother's involvement in state affairs, and he believed himself to not be her son but her sister's. The final straw was when Wu's favourite sorcerer turned up dead. Li Xian took the fall and he was discovered to have broken the law on personal possession of weapons. He was deposed, exiled and later forced to commit suicide at age 29.

When Gaozong died in 683 AD^note Due to Gaozong's ill health in the later half of his reign, Wu had already accumulated great power even before his death, Wu was in complete control of the Imperial Government and through Gaozong's will made regent to her son, who became Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (唐中宗), complete with a piece of advice in the will that basically amounted to the governing equivalent of "listen to mommy".^note As fate would have it, she was also the first Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty. Zhongzong also proved to be too independent; he planned to build up his own support base, suggesting his father-in-law as chancellor. Wu had him deposed and exiled in favour of his younger brother Ruizong of Tang (唐睿宗) who managed to reign for six years, while Wu remained regent; when he was himself deposed and exiled, Wu took full control of the government, ruling as Huángdì in her own right. She changed the country's name to "Great Zhou" (大周, Dà Zhōu).^note Historians after her era often use the term "Wu Zhou" to refer to this part of her reign. During Ruizong's reign, Wu had defeated a rebellion led by Xu Jingye^note grandson of famed Tang general Xu Shiji. Shiji had been granted the honour of using the imperial "Li" surname, so he's also known as Li Shiji. After Emperor Taizong's ascension, he had to drop the "Shi" from his name to avoid the naming taboo, and so he's also known as Li Ji. and Luo Binwang, and another rebellion led by the then-deceased Princess Dowager Yan's son Li Zhen. After these rebellions, Wu purged the Li clan, many of whom had been part of Li Zhen's rebellion.

While her rise to power was ruthless and bloody, though not more than most male emperors before or after, her actual reign was noted as being one of prosperity and stability, and creating a level of gender equality that endured through much of the later Tang Dynasty.^note It can be argued this was more a pragmatic decision to further legitimize her claim to the throne against detractors and earn public support, but the fact they remained long after she was gone still indicates they struck a chord. Later historians emphasised her bloody purges of the gentry clans and use of secret police officials such as Lai Junchen and Zhou Xing, who were known for their cruelty. However, she was a keen patron of the imperial examination system, which would become the basis of China's Imperial Government for the rest of its history, and she made it easier of those of non-aristocratic background to get government positions. Though the secret police instigated a reign of terror through the 680s and early 690s, their brutality was directed to the court rather than to the lower classes. As well, secret police who overstepped their reach, such as Lai Junchen, often found themselves executed. While Wu Zetian was brutal in court, she was also very fair and corruption was punished severely. Sima Guang's Zi Zhi Tong Jian, despite referring to her as Empress Dowager rather than Emperor, states that while she overstaffed the government, she was a good judge of character and was able to spot the talented.

On a personal note, all Tang emperors after her were her direct descendants (through Zhongzong and Ruizong, who both regained the throne)^note This was part of the reason why historians of the later Tang era generally rated her favorably. On the other hand, Wu had pretty much pruned every other branch of the Li family during her reign; one of her grandsons was Xuanzong of Tang (唐玄宗), who would eventually have his own problems with women and decadence in the latter half of his reign.^note Just like his grandmother, Xuanzong also technically committed incest as his famous consort Yang Yuhuan (楊玉環/杨玉环), better known as Yang Guifei (楊貴妃/杨贵妃, "Noble Consort Yang"), was originally a concubine of his son Li Mao (李瑁), the Prince of Shou. Also, like his grandmother and father Ruizong, Xuanzong was forced to abdicate to a son before his death; unlike Granny, Xuanzong lived for a while after his abdication. In fact, his son Suzong of Tang (唐肅宗/唐肃宗) died a mere 13 days after him.

What is unusual during Wu's reign is her penchant for frequently changing the era name^note During the first 12 years of Gaozong's reign, he only used 2 era names; the next 22 years saw the usage of 12 and names of government departments and official titles, along with the construction of various gigantic palaces and monuments, all to boost her legitimacy.

By the late 690s, the purges had died down, and many of the secret police officials had found themselves executed, and Wu had to worry about her succession. By now in her mid-70s, Wu had not designated a crown prince, as she was hesitating between her nephews Wu Chengsi (武承嗣) and Wu Sansi (武三思) and her sons. However, the officials and the people were in favour of reinstating the Tang dynasty after her death, and according to Chinese custom, her nephew would be unlikely to pay respect to her, while Zhongzong would be required to as her son, and she was persuaded to recall Zhongzong from exile, and made him the Crown Prince. Wu Chengsi died soon after, and the conflict waned. Wu chose to marry the younger generation of the clans to each other. One of Zhongzong's daughters, Princess Yongtai married one of Wu Chengsi's sons, and another daughter Princess Anle married Wu Sansi's son, and after Wu's death, another of Wu Chengsi's sons.

Wu's downfall came after she took to pleasure and took a pair of brothers surnamed Zhang as her boy-toys. Zhang Changzong (張昌宗/张昌宗) and Zhang Yizhi (張易之/张易之) interfered in matters of court, to the extent that court officials have had enough of them. However, due to the Zhang brothers' machinations, court officials saw the brothers as a threat to Zhongzong's reinstatement. Two of Zhongzong's children, his only formal son Li Chongrun, his sister Princess Yongtai (who were both teenagers), and her husband had been executed by Wu Zetian after they were accused of criticising the Zhang brothers.^note Historical accounts differ on how they died, and on whether Wu Zetian killed the princess at all. The two Tang books state that they were caned to death, while the Zizhi Tongjian states they were forced to commit suicide. Princess Yongtai's epitaph states she died in childbirth. A palace coup was then staged — known as the "Shenlong Rebellion" (神龍政變/神龙政变) after the era name — the Zhang brothers were executed, and Wu handed over the throne back to Zhongzong. She passed away less than a year after the coup. Despite their deaths, the brothers would have a last laugh of sorts from beyond the grave, as Yang Guozhong (楊國忠/杨国忠), Xuanzong's famously corrupt and incompetent chancellor, was their nephew; Guozhong was a mere second cousin of Yuhuan's, although it must be said that it was via the kinship with her and her sisters that Guozhong had his first audience with Xuanzong.^note The coup took place partly because Wu was in ill health, being in her early 80s at the time. As a sidenote, Wu inherited great genes from her parents; Wu Shiyue died at about the age of 75 and Lady Yang in her early 90s. More incredibly, Wu Shiyue was in his 60s and Lady Yang in her 40s when Wu was born.

As a sidenote, women dominated politics for ten years after she died. During his second reign, Zhongzong was dominated by his wife Empress Wei. Empress Wei promoted her and Zhongzong's favourite daughter Princess Anle as Crown Princess, the first and only time a princess inheriting the throne from her father was on the cards. Zhongzong refused; Empress Wei and Princess Anle had Zhongzong poisoned, and Empress Wei placed his youngest son Li Chongmao on the throne as a Puppet King, intending to become Emperor herself like her mother-in-law, with Anle as Crown Princess. However, Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping and nephew Li Longji (the future Emperor Xuanzong and son of Ruizong) launched a counter-coup — known as the "Tanglong Rebellion" (唐隆政變/唐隆政变) after the era name used by Li Chongmao — and she was executed and Ruizong was put on the throne. Also powerful during Zhongzong's reign and executed in the counter-coup was Wu Zetian's secretary turned Zhongzong's concubine Shangguan Wan'er. Princess Taiping reigned supreme in politics during Ruizong's and the first part of Li Longji's reign, before Li Longji forced her and her associates to commit suicide in yet another coup — the "Xiantian rebellion" (先天政變/先天政变), named after Xuanzong's first era name. Many of the important officials during Xuanzong's early reign had in fact been discovered by Wu; this includes two of Xuanzong's early chancellors: Yao Chong (姚崇) and Song Jing (宋璟).^note Many equate Yao and Song to Fang Xuanling (房玄齡/房玄龄) and Du Ruhui (杜如晦), two of Tang Taizong's best chancellors.

Later historians were not kind to Wu Zetian, as they were Confucian, and Confucianism was dead set against female rulers. As well, she had promoted Buddhism over Confucianism and Taoism to legitimise her rule, as Buddhism was the most friendly ideology towards female rulers. She also engaged in magnificent construction projects in the name of Buddhism that were said to have been over-extravagant. As for the famous "Wordless Stele", it was left wordless by her descendants, who couldn't decide on the epitaph to be carved upon it.^note It was a Catch-22 of Confucian morality; the epitaph couldn't praise her because that meant praising a woman ruler and usurper, but it couldn't denounce her either since that meant disrespecting an Imperial ancestress and mother of an Emperor.

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Tropes as portrayed in fiction:

• Adapted Out: The majority of films about Wu Zetian only show the time of her rising to power as Empress Consort, and later, Empress Dowager, many ending when she became the first Empress Regnant of China.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: According to legend, she frequently tortured those who opposed her to death, going so far as to chop off the limbs of two of her rivals and having them slowly bleed to death in vats of wine.
• Distaff Counterpart: Wu Zetian's usurpation of the Tang Dynasty makes her more or less the female version of the short-lived usurper of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang (王莽).^note The Tang Dynasty resumed after her deposing. She does gain more notoriety in a more flattering way than Wang Mang, though.^note As mentioned above, all subsequent Tang emperors were her descendants.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Varies between this and Historical Villain Upgrade, depending on the time period. Confucian historians of the time demonized her as a monstrous tyrant for being a woman who "ruined" the natural order by ascending to a throne that had been reserved exclusively for men. Modern works tend to be more sympathetic towards her and give her a humanized portrayal by emphasizing the need to be ruthless to survive in a cutthroat court of men (to the point that The Empress of China was criticized for being a little too positive towards her to the point of making her borderline Incorruptible Pure Pureness)... The overly negative evaluations of Wu focus on her bloody purges while ignoring her reforms, while overly positive ones frame Wu as an innocent woman forced to kill to survive, emphasising her reforms while ignoring her secret police and penchant for murdering members of her family. The truth is probably somewhere in between; Wu was by no means an innocent angel, but she was not a bloodthirsty despot either. Though she could be ruthless and at times even cruel, her reign was one of the better ones for average commoners.
• Offing the Offspring: In traditional historical records, she is recorded to have strangled her infant daughter, poisoned her eldest son, exiled and killed her second son, and murdered two of her grandchildren.

Appears in the following works:

Anime & Manga

• Red Mudan by Sanae Sono begins when Wu Zetian is a 13-year-old girl.

Films — Live-Action

• Wu Zetian appears in the Chinese historical film Detective Dee, which takes place before her (official) takeover of the throne. She is played by Carina Lau.

Literature

• Empress, a biographical novel by Shan Sa.
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a fantasy/sci-fi reimagining of Wu Zetian piloting mechas inspired by Chinese mythology.
• Only mentioned as the generic Empress in Judge Dee. However, a French continuation features her as a much more prominent character, since her constant plotting to keep her husband on the throne (but not healthy enough to actually rule) causes her to ally and/or clash with the judge on more than one occasion.

Live-Action TV

• An upcoming HBO series, from the production team behind Game of Thrones, titled Empress starring Liu Xiaoqing. Liu herself had portrayed Wu in a Chinese TV series back in 1995. The series was first announced in 2016, and as of this writing in 2023, hasn't been heard from since.
• The Empress of China, a 2015 series starring Fan Bingbing, reputably the most expensive Chinese Drama Series ever, notable for its endless Costume Porn. Fan portrayed Wu from her early teens to shortly before her death in her early 80s.
• The unnamed female Emperor in Feng qi Luoyang (also known simply as "Luoyang" in English) is meant to be her, but left her unnamed due to the PRC government prohibiting artistic and creative liberties in drama series portraying historical characters. On the same note, the Crown Prince in the series is essentially Tang Zhongzong with a different name.
• Wu Zetian appears in the 2015 Chinese TV series Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties 5 (隋唐英雄5), where she's portrayed by Kara Wai.
• The TVB drama-fantasy, Whatever It Takes, sees Wu Zetian as a far more benevolent, sympathetic figure, who's being manipulated by an Evil Chancellor, the story's actual villain.
• She appeared in the Horrible Histories episode "Awesome Alfred The Great", in a parody of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, where's she's portrayed by Sophie Wu. It's a bit of Anachronism Stew since Wu would be long dead by the time Alfred exists and reigned long before Alfred's birth. There was controversy over the segment as Australian Chinese viewers claimed racism due to Wu trying various animals as food.
• Wu Zetian appears in the 2013 Chinese TV series Women of the Tang Dynasty (唐宮燕), where she's portrayed by Kara Wai. The series itself is set late in her reign, ending with Emperor Xuanzong's accession to the throne.
• Wu Zetian appears in the Chinese historical drama Young Sherlock, taking place before she became Gaozong's empress, where she's played by Ruby Lin.

Video Games

• Wu Zetian appears in Civilization as a leader of China, alongside Mao Zedong in II, by herself in V and alongside two version of Qin Shi Huangdi and Yongle in VI.
• In Fate/Grand Order, she is an Assassin Class Servant. She's portrayed as an expert on torture who was an effective ruler, but ruled through fear. Her Noble Phantasm, Gàomì Luózhī Jīng, allows her to subject her opponent to her various methods of torture and execution, like drowning them in vats of wine.^note Luózhī Jīng (羅織經/罗织经) was a work written by Lai Junchen, one of Wu's corrupt officials. The work focuses on how to fabricate crimes to frame victims. She's unusually portrayed as a little girl as opposed to the adult Empress she was famous as, which she claims is because this was the age she became dead-set on clawing her way to the top no matter who stood in her way and how much they mocked her. This creates a unique situation when one of her descendants, Yang Guifei (THAT Yang Guifei), becomes summonable and she's having a hard time of not calling Wu Zetian "grandma" as their official relationship implies: Wu does not like being called "grandma". Wu Zetian would later receive a Caster variant for summer, where she had a more adult body, representing her days as a concubine before she became the Empress.
• Hidden Dragon: Legend, a game set in the Tang Dynasty, has Wu Zetian as the Posthumous Character, where her quest for immortality ten years before the game's events kickstarts the plot.
• She is a Mage-class hero in Honor of Kings, a MOBA that unites many Chinese historical, mythological and literature figures. While her 'magic' manifests in energy blasts, she can fire them down to every heroes anywhere in the map. Several figures that were active in her rule (who are usually obscure in the international eye) is also present as heroes, including her secretary Shangguan Wan'er. Wu Zetian is also one of the heroes that cannot be obtained with normal or real life currency, but through a gacha with secondary currency to win the rare item necessary to unlock her. Her kit would be passed down to the hero Ilumia in Arena of Valor (though she's a lot more accessible).

Other Media

• The Ancient juncture in Feng Shui 2 is set in 690 AD/CE, the first year of Wu Zetian's reign as Empress. Empress Wu wants nothing to do with the Eaters of the Lotus, who were cut off from their original juncture of 69 AD/CE following the detonation of the Chi Bomb and have taken refuge in this era, and she has purged her court of sorcerers because she won't tolerate any threats to her power. The Lotus want to undermine her and claim power for themselves, as well as get Gao Zhang, their boss, back from 69.

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