WU Zetian: FIRST and ONLY Female emperor of China (Part 1)

WU Zetian: FIRST and ONLY Female emperor of China

Legends have it that fortune-teller Yuan Tiangang visited Wu Shiyue’s estate. A master in face reading, Yuan Tiangang preached that Wu Shiyue’s wife’s facial structure tells she had borne noble children. Wishing to appraise the children of the Wu family, they were all brought out one by one. For the sons of the family, the fortuneteller predicted an honorable life of Rank 3 officials. For the elder daughter, he predicted a noble future but wretched luck for her husband. Finally,  the youngest member of the Wu family was brought out. Upon seeing the child walk, the fortune teller stood stunned. He proclaimed the child had the eyes of a dragon and the neck of a phoenix; if only the child had been a girl, she would have risen to become the ruler of all under heaven.

To the fortune teller’s surprise, the child was nothing short of a girl, her infancy causing him to mistake her for a boy. However, his prophecy held, as she would rise to become the First and the Only Female Emperor of China*, an unprecedented achievement in the 2000 years of history. 

Born in 624 CE, Wu Zetian’s birth witnessed a total eclipse of the sun over China which, historically, is a symbol of great change in folklore. Before we proceed, it is to be noted the original birth name of Wu Zetian is not known. However, it is believed that she was later referred to as Wu Zhao, before the title of ‘Zetian’, translating to ‘Ruler of Heavens, Great Saint Emperor’, was bestowed upon her. Thus, for the time being, we shall refer to her as Wu Zhao.

Born to a wealthy family, Wu Zhao was the daughter of WU Shiyue, a rich merchant who sold lumbar during the Sui Dynasty ( 581-618 CE). The Sui Dynasty had initially been a great empire that united China after centuries of revolts, war, and bloodshed. However, emperor Yang, second in line, in his ambition and greed, conscripted masses for never-ending construction projects. As a result of the rush put on projects, millions of workers perished. Angered and agitated, the people of the country rose against him. 

One of the revolutionary factions that rose against Emperor Yang was led by his maternal cousin, Li Yuan. To enter the wave of revolt, Wu Shihuo, who was also a gifted military strategist, joined Li Yuan’s revolt and supported the uprising by offering him shelter in his home and his wealth so that they could bear the cost. 

In the end, his loyalty paid off as the Li Yuan ended up emerging victorious out of the revolution. Consequently, as the Li clan established the Tang dynasty and Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu, Wu Shihuo landed a job as an honorable Rank 3 official. Given that Wu Shiyue’s first wife had passed away so early, Li Yuan also appointed him a wife of aristocratic blood. Lady Yang, a member of the Sui Dynasty, married Wu Shiyue and bore him three daughters, with Wu Zhao being second in line. 

In her early life, Wu Zeitian spent most of her time reading, writing, and moving around China because of her father’s transfer as a government official. Her father encouraged her to educate herself. Moreover, the Tang dynasty, chronicled to be a relatively liberal period for women, allowed Wu Zhao to pursue politics and other governmental affairs, writing, literature, and music. 

While everything was sound and progressing happily, at the peak of his life, Wu Shihuo died and the family instantly fell apart. Given that all three daughters of Wu Shihuo and Lady Yang were unmarried, they were entitled to inherit his estate and assets. However, this did not appeal to Wu Zhao’s two step-brothers i.e. Wu Shihuo’s sons from his first marriage and they started bullying Lady Yang and their step-sisters.

When the situation persisted for years, 12-year-old Wu Zhao decided to leave for the palace and become a concubine for Emperor Taizong (original name: Li Shimin), the second Tang emperor and entered the harem at the tender age of 14 years. 

Emperor Taizong of Tang, 39 years old at the time, had been at the forefront of the revolution against the Sui dynasty along with his father and was thought to have co-founded the Tang dynasty. People considered him an honorable man and believed that his achievements outshone those of the chosen crown prince. Thus, by killing his brothers in an unforeseen attack and forcing his father to abdicate, Emperor Taizong was able to come into power. Despite the bloodshed witnessed in his coup movement, Taizong was thought to be a level-headed and humble emperor who encouraged the chancellors to criticize him. 

While not many records from Wu Zhao’s time serving as a concubine for Taizong exist, we do know she was awarded the title of a cairen, a fifth-rank concubine in the nine-rank system of imperial officials, nobles, and consorts. While she had been nicknamed Wu Mei-Niang (Charming Lady), Wu Zhao found it difficult to win the favor of Emperor Taizong. Nevertheless, Taizong deeply admired and was often in awe of her spirit and wits.

One of the most famous fables of the time that Wu Zhao’s own accounts reflect involves the Emperor’s ‘Lion stallion’, a majestic beast previously untameable. Having found no one who could master him, the emperor sought the advice of the palace women. While silence seized everyone, Teenage Zhao stepped up confidently and stated she could tame him if she was given three items: A whip, an iron hammer, and a dagger. She said if being struck by the whip does not bring the horse to obedience, she shall bludgeon the horse’s head with the hammer. If the horse still fails to submit, she shall slit his throat with a dagger. Wu Zhao later used this story to issue a warning to her ministers: No matter how talented one might be, they were of no use to her if they wouldn’t obey her.

At the time, however, an impressed Taizong made her his secretary for nearly 10 years allowing her to gain experience working with official documents and learn the skills needed for conducting state affairs.

In 649 CE, at the age of 51,  Emperor Taizong died, leaving his third and youngest son, Li Zhi, from his official wife, Empress Zhangsun, in charge. 22 at the time, Li Zhi was devastated by his father’s passing away but had to assume his position on the throne as Emperor Gaozong. 

Wu Zhao, 26 at the time, in accordance with the imperial law, was required to retire along with all the other consorts, shave her head, and live as a nun in the Ganye Nunnery for the end of her lifetime. This would have, essentially, sealed her life shut.

However, Wu Zhao’s work in the palace had barely started, and she had with her a very important connection in the palace. Not known to anyone else at the time, Wu Zhao had acquainted herself with Emperor Gaozong. While for the time being Wu Zhao had to live in the Nunnery, on Emperor Taizong’s death anniversary a year later, Emperor Gaozong headed to the Ganye Nunnery. When he and Wu Zhao encountered each other, they broke into tears in front of everyone and the news spread like wildfire in the palace. 

However, this incident was quite perfectly timed. At the time, Emperor Gaozong was married to Empress Wang, who was slowly losing his favor as she was yet to give him an heir. Instead, he had started turning to consort Xiao as she bore him two daughters and a son, who was titled the Prince of Yong ( the capital region). This was an alarming development for Empress Wang, as it was a sure short symbol that Consort Xiao’s son would be made crown prince. 

To distract Gaozong from Xiao, Empress Wang expressed her openness to accepting Wu Zetian to the Imperial Court. Obliging happily, Emperor Gaozong accepted Wu Zetian to the court.

While Empress Wang was not threatened by Zhao initially, she found herself alarmed when Zhao gave birth to a boy, Li Hong, and was titled Zhaoyi i.e. a second-rank concubine. To ensure her position as the official wife of Gaozong, Empress Wang adopted the son of a palace maid, Li Zhong, who was then made the crown prince.

However, Lady Wu was herself quite ambitious, ready to climb up the ranks as soon as possible. She knew that if she had to secure herself a position of prestige, she had to get rid of Empress Wang and Consort Xiao. Thus, she started by gaining the favor of Gaozong while simultaneously trying to rip down the image of Wang and Xiao in front of him. Moreover, she was tactful in gaining the support of the eunuchs, palace girls, and service workers and would give away the gifts she received from Emperor Gaozong. As a result, she had set up a network of spies, who would supply her with all the necessary information about what was happening in the harem.

While the atmosphere remained vitiated for a while, the situation escalated almost immediately when Lady Wu’s first daughter passed away in infancy. Blaming Empress Wang and her mother for the death of her daughter, Wu Zhao managed to cut off any contact the Empress had with her relatives outside the palace. Many texts allege that Lady Wu killed her own daughter to frame Empress Wang, but there is no proof of the same. Infact, the apparent accounts of Lady Wu being the murderer only made its debut in texts presented centuries later by Confucian historians. 

Another major thing this incident solidified was Gaozong’s desire to change his official wife from Empress Wang to Lady Wu.  However, a serious pronouncement as such wasn’t going to pass inconspicuously and be accepted by the public and palace chancellors that easily. Thus, Gaozong and Lady Wu embarked on the arduous journey of convincing leaders, chancellors, and officials to accept her as the new official empress. 

This gave rise to riptides in the political atmosphere, with the court officials dividing themselves into the pro-Wu and anti-Wu factions.

The anti-Wu faction consisted of the traditional, older, and high-ranking chancellors and officials. On the other hand, the pro-Wu faction consisted of low-rank officials who saw this as an opportunity to climb the social ladder and receive a higher rank. The first one to show their loyalty to Lady Wu was Li Yifu, a low-ranking official who was being demoted out of the capital region. Flattering and buttering up both the Emperor and Lady Wu in time, he managed to prevent his demotion and instead receive a grand promotion.  

As the pro-Wu faction gathered momentum, the Emperor took his ultimate step to make Empress Wu his official wife and on 1st day of the 9th month of 655 CE, he summoned his chancellors for a private meeting to announce his intentions of deposing Wang and making Lady Wu empress. After three days of intense discussion and stalemates between the Emperor and the Chancellors, led by Chancellor Chu Suiliang, Emperor Gaozong, on the 4th day, took matters into his own hands and issued an edict to honor Lady Wu as Huánghòu i.e. his empress. Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were deposed and banished to the Cold Palace, and their families were exiled to the frontier. They were later executed. Chu Suiliang was demoted out of the capital.

Thus, Lady Wu (hereafter referred to as Empress Wu) had, at the age of 32, finally managed to secure her long-cherished imperial dream of becoming Empress. However, this milestone marks only halfway through the Empress’ story. Likewise, Empress Wu knew that while she had been installed as the official wife now, she would have to constantly be on the lookout to ensure her position wasn’t threatened and her approval ratings improved.

Thus, at her coronation, she broke custom once again and became the first empress to meet with all the officials and tribal envoys at the front gates of the palace. This symbolized that her reign would herald a change in the traditional roles that women before her had been confined to. 

Next, she tried to chip away at the power of the senior Officials and Palace members. Han Yuan, a chancellor, petitioned to install Chu Suiliang back to the capital, Gaozong was irritated at his insistence that the dynasty would collapse without him and demoted Chu Suiliang even further to the southern province. When Xu Jingzong accused them both of planning a coup, Han Yuan was demoted out of the capital and Chu Suiliang was demoted even further to a province in Vietnam.