Throughout the ages, the monarch, as the nominal leader of the country, has always played an important role in the course of Chinese history. Since the establishment of the Xia Dynasty in 2070 BC, after thousands of years of ups and downs, it was not until the late Qing Dynasty Emperor Puyi officially announced his abdication in 1912, and ancient Chinese history came to an end.
However, in this long and significant history, there has been a different and controversial empress, Wu Zetian.
This article will take you on a deep dive into the legendary life of this empress and its profound impact on the development of Chinese history.
Traditionally, men are supposed to be leaders and decision-makers, so Wu Zetian's ascension to the throne is seen by many as deviant.
However, she won the hearts and minds of the people by actually governing the country and expanding the imperial power. Under her rule, the Tang Dynasty achieved sustained social and economic development, the population increased significantly, and the national strength was further enhancedAt the same time, Wu Zetian also devoted himself to strengthening the construction of border defense, so that the Western Regions Protectorate and other places were stabilized, and the territory was steadily expanded.
However, Wu Zetian's reign was not without repercussions. Although she made remarkable achievements in the political, military, and economic fields, and ruled the Tang Empire alone for fifteen years, she was still opposed by some subjects and nobles.
Some ministers were dissatisfied with the empress's ** and opposed her heavy use of cool officials, while others feared that the empress's actions would affect the continuity of the dynasty.
Despite all the doubts, Wu Zetian successfully withstood the pressure of the outside world with her indomitable willpower and excellent governing ability, stabilized her position, and became the only female emperor in Chinese history.
Although the long river of history has drowned out the strife of the past, and we cannot be sure of her true influence and contribution, it is undeniable that Wu Zetian is a charismatic and leadership woman, and her story and story have profound inspiration for those who came after her.
With extraordinary courage and wisdom, she showed the possibilities of women's participation in politics, and these positive effects are still worth pondering and reflecting on today.
Wu Cao, the second daughter of Mr. Yan Yan, a warrior with outstanding achievements in the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and her mother is Ms. Yang. In 635 AD, Wu Shi Yan died of illness in the Jingzhou Governor's Office, and since then, Wu Cao's beautiful and sweet childhood has come to an end. Only Wu Cao and his mother, as well as his half-brother, were left in the family.
The elder brother in the family treated Wu Cao's mother and daughter quite ruthlessly, but the little Wu Cao had no effective means to fight back, so Wu Cao and his mother spent a rather bitter time in Chang'an.
However, history tells us that beauty and intelligence are always the double-edged sword of women, and at the same time, they are also an important support for those women who lack power to try to change their own destiny.
Wu Cao, who was only fourteen years old at the time, had already initially shown the style of beauty, and his reputation had gradually spread to the ears of Tang Taizong.
So, Tang Taizong summoned Wu Cao into the palace, although Wu Cao's mother Yang understood that the inner garden of the deep palace was not a good place, so she wept bitterly and admonished her daughter, but Wu Cao was determined, and when she entered the palace, she turned around and smiled, and said: "Isn't it a blessing to meet the saint?"Wu Cao, who had the ideal of changing his own destiny, stepped into the palace gate.
Wu Zetian has a beautiful and lovely face, and was given the nickname of Wu Meiniang by Taizong for his beautiful appearance. However, Wu Zetian at that time had not yet left a deep imprint on Taizong, and with Taizong's heavy government affairs, he gradually forgot about her.
In Taizong's later years, the society was in turmoil, and there was a mysterious prophecy among the people: "In the next three generations of the Tang Dynasty, there will be a female protagonist King Wu to replace the current regime." ”
These words were like a thunderbolt in the clear sky, which made Taizong stunned, and then urgently summoned Taishi to order Li Chunfeng to inquire about it. Li Chunfeng in the prime of life is worthy of the role of today's god arithmetic and enjoys a high status in feudal society.
Li Chunfeng replied in the affirmative, which made Taizong suspicious and wanted to cut off all those related to martial arts in the royal family.
Hearing this news, Li Chunfeng hurriedly advised: "Absolutely not!."This move is bound to endanger His Majesty, and the so-called Lord of Destiny will definitely be replaced by someone else. In fact, although Taizong did not put it into practice, he already had the intention of killing in his heart.
However, an accident happened, and the so-called "scapegoat" jumped into view. This person is Li Junxian, who served as the general of Zuo Wuwei and the guard of Xuanwu Gate, and was named the Duke of Wulian County, and his mansion was located in Wu'an, Zhaozhou.
A certain Taizong held a banquet, which was intended to enhance the relationship with many generals and stimulate the enthusiasm of the soldiers. At the banquet, the generals revealed their names, and the playful and cute names caused laughter in the room.
At this moment, it was Li Junxian's turn, he called himself "Five Niangzi", which made everyone laugh constantly, but one person was always expressionless, and that was Taizong himself.
Many clues such as the Xuanwu Gate guard, General Zuo Wuwei, Wu'an people, Wulian County Duke and Wu Niangzi were concentrated in one person, making Taizong firmly believe that this person was the prophesied woman.
So, soon after the banquet ended, he ordered Li Junxian to be executed. However, the move also dispelled suspicions about Wu Zetian.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, suffered from wind disease in his later years and never received a proper **. In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, he finally died of illness.
At that time, there were three options for the emperor's widows: first, if the concubines were accompanied by their children while they were alive, they would be able to live outside the palace for the rest of their livesSecond, if the concubine has special talents to serve the new emperor, then she will be able to stay in the palace and continue to serve the new emperorThe last option was to send the concubine to a temple built by the new emperor for the previous emperor or to a religious place appointed by the imperial court to serve as a nun or female Taoist.
Wu Zetian, who was well versed in this rule, began to look for a way out for himself in the early days of Taizong's illness. However, in the palace, without reliable relationship support, how should she deal with it?
At this moment, the crown prince Li Zhi went to serve Taizong, and Wu Zetian, who understood the situation, seized the opportunity to quickly establish contact with Li Zhi, and successfully developed a deep friendship with Li Zhi, thus seizing the important opportunity to change his fate.
After the ** people in the court saw that they could get rich rewards for supporting Wu Zetian, they joined the camp of supporting Wu Zetian one after another, which gradually reversed the originally unfavorable situation.
It is particularly noteworthy that Chu Suiliang, the representative of the anti-martial faction who bore the brunt of the suppression, was deposed, resulting in the loss of strong support for the anti-military forces, and they chose to follow the trend for their own interests, and no longer continued to resolutely oppose Wu Zetian's rule, so in December of the sixth year of Yonghui, Tang Gaozong, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, clearly announced that Wu Zetian would be canonized as empress.
Costume stills taken by Wu Zetian and Li Zhi
When he first ascended to the throne of the queen, Wu Zecai was outstanding, and he was in harmony with Tang Gaozong. However, the good times did not last long, only three years later, due to the deterioration of Tang Gaozong's health, Xianqing could not preside over the work of the early dynasty on time, so he entrusted the important task of handling state affairs to his most trusted wife Wu Zetian.
However, the ** of power is like a drug, once addicted to it, it will be difficult to extricate itself. After Wu Zetian gained real power, her desire for power swelled rapidly, and the taste of controlling power also made her want to stop, so the relationship with Tang Gaozong began to crack.
In the second year of Yongchun, when Tang Gaozong's life came to an end, Wu Zetian had been involved in political affairs for twenty years, and her stepson, the crown prince Li Xian, was not only talented, but also established extraordinary prestige inside and outside the court, becoming the biggest obstacle on the road to Wu Zetian's seizure of power.
So in 680 AD, Wu Zetian instructed others to slander him in order to depose him and demote him to a commoner. Soon after, she again ordered her men to kill Li Xian.
After successfully abolishing the throne of Prince Li Xian, Wu Zetian immediately appointed his third son Li Xian as his heir, which later became Tang Zhongzong.
However, Tang Zhongzong served as emperor twice before and after, and only held imperial power for seven years. In 710 AD, Wu Zetian, who had led government affairs for twenty-six years, deposed his other two sons, Tang Zhongzong and Tang Ruizong, and finally ascended the throne of the emperor after many hardships, calling himself the "Holy Spirit Emperor", and changed the Tang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty, becoming the only female emperor unprecedented in Chinese history.
The life of the legendary heroine Wu Zetian is like a biography of ups and downs, she was able to seize the opportunity, ambitiously pursue a higher level of power, and the efforts she put in were naturally far more than the ordinary number of times, accompanied by certain sacrifices, on the road to glory, she endured countless pressures and tribulations, and finally realized her desire to dominate her fate and change history.
After the ** people in the court saw that they could get rich rewards for supporting Wu Zetian, they joined the camp of supporting Wu Zetian one after another, which gradually reversed the originally unfavorable situation.
It is particularly noteworthy that Chu Suiliang, the representative of the anti-martial faction who bore the brunt of the suppression, was deposed, resulting in the loss of strong support for the anti-military forces, and they chose to follow the trend for their own interests, and no longer continued to resolutely oppose Wu Zetian's rule, so in December of the sixth year of Yonghui, Tang Gaozong, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, clearly announced that Wu Zetian would be canonized as empress.
Costume stills taken by Wu Zetian and Li Zhi
When he first ascended to the throne of the queen, Wu Zecai was outstanding, and he was in harmony with Tang Gaozong. However, the good times did not last long, only three years later, due to the deterioration of Tang Gaozong's health, Xianqing could not preside over the work of the early dynasty on time, so he entrusted the important task of handling state affairs to his most trusted wife Wu Zetian.
However, the ** of power is like a drug, once addicted to it, it will be difficult to extricate itself. After Wu Zetian gained real power, her desire for power swelled rapidly, and the taste of controlling power also made her want to stop, so the relationship with Tang Gaozong began to crack.
In the second year of Yongchun, when Tang Gaozong's life came to an end, Wu Zetian had been involved in political affairs for twenty years, and her stepson, the crown prince Li Xian, was not only talented, but also established extraordinary prestige inside and outside the court, becoming the biggest obstacle on the road to Wu Zetian's seizure of power.
So in 680 AD, Wu Zetian instructed others to slander him in order to depose him and demote him to a commoner. Soon after, she again ordered her men to kill Li Xian.
After successfully abolishing the throne of Prince Li Xian, Wu Zetian immediately appointed his third son Li Xian as his heir, which later became Tang Zhongzong. However, Tang Zhongzong served as emperor twice before and after, and only held imperial power for seven years.
In 710 AD, Wu Zetian, who had led government affairs for twenty-six years, deposed his other two sons, Tang Zhongzong and Tang Ruizong, and finally ascended the throne of the emperor after many hardships, calling himself the "Holy Spirit Emperor", and changed the Tang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty, becoming the only female emperor unprecedented in Chinese history.
The life of the legendary heroine Wu Zetian is like a biography of ups and downs, she was able to seize the opportunity, ambitiously pursue a higher level of power, and the efforts she put in were naturally far more than the ordinary number of times, accompanied by certain sacrifices, on the road to glory, she endured countless pressures and tribulations, and finally realized her desire to dominate her fate and change history.