Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. She organized teams to survey the land and build irrigation ditches to help grow crops and redistributed the land so that everyone had an equal share to farm. 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. The China that Wu Zetian was born in was the Tang Dynasty (618906), a strong and unified empire after four centuries of political discord and foreign interaction. Buddhism was carried into East Asia by merchants and Buddhist monks traveling the Silk Road from Northern India, Persia, Kashmir and Inner Asia. By transferring the normal seat of the court from Changan to Luoyang, she was able to escape the control of the great families of the northwestern aristocracy, which played an important role in the rise of the Tang dynasty. Edward Schafer, The Divine Women: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in Tang Literature (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973). Taizong was so impressed at her intellectual abilities, he took her out of the laundry and made her his secretary. After rising to power, Wu tried to remove from power the representatives of the northwestern aristocracy, who had controlled the government from the beginning of the dynasty through the medium of the imperial chancellery. Functioning in a male-oriented patriarchy, Wu Zetian was painstakingly aware of the gender taboos she had to break in political ideology and social norm. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4558/empress-wu-zetian/. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4558/empress-wu-zetian/. Having been raised by her father to believe she was the equal of men, Wu saw no reason why women could not carry out the same practices and hold the same positions men could. 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. 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. 242289. You're hard-pressed to find any historical documents that don't have some sort of bias, especially when dealing with a controversial figure like Wu Zetian. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wu-zetian-624-705, "Wu Zetian (624705) Although Carlton's observation is accurate, the box also did provide Wu with a number of ideas for reform which came directly from the people, not government officials who would have profited from them, and which Wu implemented efficiently. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. 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. Empress Theodora. Still, Xuanzong continued many of Wu's policies, including keeping her reforms in taxation, agriculture, and education. Economic considerations also played a role in this relocation. Empress Wu proved to be a wise monarch, and in her reign of twenty years she continued many policies and practices of her predecessors. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975. World Eras. Pronunciation: Woo-jeh-ten. 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. She was the daughter of Wu Shihuo, a chancellor of the Tang Dynasty. She also dealt ruthlessly with a succession of rivals, promoted members of her own family to high office, succumbed repeatedly to favoritism, and, in her old age, maintained what amounted to a harem of virile young men. ." Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. But if she is observed in the context of the sexuality of male rulers, then the number of her favorites is insignificant. She worked against the Confucian dictum that women must restrict their activities to the home and in the wildest imagination could not become emperors. Empress Wu Zetian and the Spread of Buddhism (625-705 C.E.) The baby was strangled in her crib and Wu claimed that Lady Wang had killed her because she was jealous. Unknown, . Her paranoia resulted in a purge of her administration. unified China in 221 B.C. 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. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. One of the most powerful champions of Buddhism in China was the Empress Wu Zetian. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Even today, Wu remains infamous for the spectacularly ruthless way in which she supposedly disposed of Gaozongs first wife, the empress Wang, and a senior and more favored consort known as the Pure Concubine. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Sima, Guang. Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished. Barretts recent book even suggests (on no firm evidence) that the empress was the most important early promoter of printing in the world. Born ne Wu (first name at birth not known) in 624 in Taiyuan, Shanxi province; died in 705 in Luoyang, Henan province; daughter of a high-ranking official, Wu Shihuo, and his aristocratic wife; married Emperor Taizong (r. 626649), in 640 (died 649); married Emperor Gaozong (r. 650683), in 654; children: (second marriage) Crown Prince Li Hong; Crown Prince Li Xian; Emperor Zhongzong; Emperor Ruizong; Princess Taiping ; another daughter (died in infancy). However, the date of retrieval is often important. Empress Wu Zetian (r. 683-704 CE) of the Tang Dynasty. She ruled China with complete authority and no one dared to challenge her when she was in control. But several years later, she returned to the palace as Gaozong's concubine and gave birth to sons. It could also be, like it was in Egypt after Queen Hatshepsut's reign, that no one in power wanted to record the reign of a woman and hoped that Empress Wu would be forgotten. . Throughout 15 dismal years in exile, her sons consort had talked him out of committing suicide and kept him ready to return to power. Naples: Institute Universitario Orientale, 1976. The historians always portray Wu as ruthless, conniving, scheming, and bloodthirsty, and she may have been all of these things, she may have even murdered her daughter to gain the throne, but any of these claims should only be accepted after considering their source. 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. When Empress Wu was the empress of the Tang Dynasty, she created a system of secret police to watch her opponents and killed or put anyone in . This particular minister was silenced but that did not silence the rest; they just were more careful not to speak their mind in front of her. Kannon embodies compassion, and when seen as female is venerated as a patron of motherhood and fertility. From 697 onward she found it so diffi-cult to win support that she attempted to return the throne to her son Zhongzong. Scanned using Book ScanCenter 5033 - Western Washington University Sources about Wu Zetian's life are a hodgepodge, which some condemning her as the devil himself and others testifying she was an absolute angel. Wu Zetian was in effect taking the unprecedented step of transforming her position from empress dowager to emperor. Yet Wu has had a pretty bad press. Mutsuhito Even her gravesite is remarkable. 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). Mutsuhito (also known as Meiji Tenno; 1852-1912) was a Japanese emperor, who became the symbol for, and encouraged, the dramatic, Quin Shi Huang-Di 1 minutes de lecture . Historical Significance: Empress Wu was very significant in the Tang Dynasty. A brother or a clan grandson at times ascended the throne during usurpation or when the emperor died without issue, but female succession through descent from a daughter was never permitted. 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. Hauppauge : Nova Science Publishers, 2003; Richard Guisso, Wu Tse-Tien and the Politics of Legitimation in Tang China. Wu is said to have potentially killed her own. In 654 CE, Wu had a daughter who died soon after birth. In her seventies, Wu showered special favor on two smooth-cheeked brothers, the Zhang brothers, former boy singers, the nature of whose private relationship with their imperial mistress has never been precisely determined. Nationality/Culture Any historian who has written on Lady Wu has followed the story set down by the later Chinese historians without question, but these historians had their own agenda which did not include praising a woman who presumed to rule like a man. The woman who believed she was as capable as any man to lead the country continues to be vilified, even if writers now qualify their criticisms, but there is no arguing with the fact that, under Wu Zetian, China experienced an affluence and stability it had never known before. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. To entrench her biological family as the imperial house, she bestowed imperial honors to her ancestors through posthumous enthronement and constructed seven temples for imperial sacrifices. 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. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1977. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Historians remain divided as to how far Wu benefited from the removal of these potential obstacles; what can be said is that her third son, who succeeded his father as Emperor Zhongzong in 684, lasted less than two months before being banished, at his mothers instigation, in favor of the more tractable fourth, Ruizong. Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) | Encyclopedia.com Guisso, Richard W.L. The answer was to proclaim another dynasty, not by military conquest, but by interpreting omens that favored her to carry out a change of dynasties and become enthroned as a woman emperor. Guisso, Richard W. Empress Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T'ang 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. The most spectacular are the stone temples and statues chiseled into grottoes at Longmen, near her capital. She graduated from SUNY Delhi in 2018. R. W. L. Guisso, Wu Tse-ten and the Politics of Legitimation in Tang China (Bellingham: Western Washington University, 1978). Empress Wu (Song dynasty) - Wikipedia The Controversial Empress Wu - Travel Through Time The system of Neo-Confucianism of which Chu Hsi is regarded as the spo, Mutsuhito Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. Unlike most young girls in China at this time, Wu was encouraged by her father to read and write and develop the intellectual skills which were traditionally reserved for males. Justinian. While serving as his concubine, she risked a death penalty in engaging in an incestuous affair with the crown prince and her stepson, the later Emperor Gaozong (r. 649683). World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Amherst : Prometheus Books, 1990; T.H. She thus arranged marriages between her children and grandchildren with her brothers' sons and their grandchildren. After Mount Felicity appeared, and Wu claimed it as an omen favoring her, one of her ministers wrote: Your Majesty, a female ruler improperly has occupied a male position, which has inverted and altered the hard and soft, therefore the earth's emanations are obstructed and separated. Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources With her exceptional intelligence, extraordinary competence in politics, and inordinate ambition, she ruled as the "Holy and Divine Emperor" of the Second Zhou Dynasty (690-705) for fifteen years. Vol. The political success of Wu Zetian indicates that the attributes needed in diplomacy and rulership were not restricted to men. Wu Zetian's SteleI, (GJGY.com) (CC BY-SA).
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