56 Facts About Wu Zetian

Wu Zetian ruled as empress consort through her husband Emperor Gaozong and later as empress dowager through her sons Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, from 660 to 690.

Wu Zetian was the only female sovereign in the history of China who is widely regarded as legitimate.

Wu Zetian was eventually removed from power during a coup and died a few months later.

Wu Zetian took the throne in 690 by officially changing the name of the country from Tang to Zhou, changing the name of the royal family from Li to Wu, and holding a formal ceremony to crown herself as emperor.

Wu Zetian was a mother of four sons, three of whom carried the title of emperor, although one held that title only as a posthumous honor.

Wu Zetian's birthplace is not documented in preserved historical literature and remains disputed.

Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang.

Wu Zetian's mother was from the powerful Yang family, distant relatives of the imperial family of the Sui dynasty.

Wu Zetian read and learned about many topics, such as music, calligraphy, literature, history, politics, and other governmental affairs.

Wu Zetian was given the title of cairen, the title for one of the consorts with the 5th rank in Tang's nine-rank system for imperial officials, nobles, and consorts.

Wu Zetian was regarded as ruthless in her endeavors to grab power, and was believed by traditional historians to have killed her own children.

Wu Zetian was not the first choice, as he was inexperienced and frequently incapacitated with a sickness that caused him spells of dizziness.

Wu Zetian placed them under arrest and made Wu empress.

Wu Zetian changed Li Zhong's status to Prince of Liang and designated Empress Wu's son, Li Hong as the title of Prince of Dai and crown prince.

Wu Zetian first had Xu and Li Yifu, who were by now chancellors, falsely accuse Han Yuan and Lai Ji of being complicit with Chu Suiliang in planning treason.

Wu Zetian began to have Empress Wu make rulings on daily petitions by officials.

Wu Zetian consulted the chancellor Shangguan Yi, who suggested that he depose Wu.

Wu Zetian went to the emperor to plead her case just as he was holding the edict that Shangguan had drafted.

Wu Zetian did not immediately do so, as he feared that Empress Wu would be displeased.

Wu Zetian had her niece poisoned, by placing poison in food offerings that Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun had made and then blaming them for the death of the Lady of Wei.

Wu Zetian had been displeased at the favor that Emperor Gaozong had shown his aunt, Princess Changle.

Wu Zetian had the power to remove and install emperors.

Wu Zetian did not follow the customary pretense of hiding behind a screen or curtain and, in whispers, issued commands for the nominal ruler to formally announce.

Wu Zetian held the title of emperor, but Wu firmly controlled the imperial court, and officials were not allowed to meet with Ruizong, nor was he allowed to rule on matters of state.

Wu Zetian sent General Li Xiaoyi to attack Li Jingye, and while Li Xiaoyi was initially unsuccessful, he pushed on at the urging of his assistant Wei Yuanzhong and eventually crushed Li Jingye's forces.

Wu Zetian summoned senior members of Tang's Li imperial clan to Luoyang.

Wu Zetian grasped the powers of punishment and award, controlled the state, and made her own judgments as to policy decisions.

Wu Zetian was observant and had good judgment, so the talented people of the time were willing to be used by her.

Wu Zetian's reign was a pivotal moment for the imperial examination system.

Wu Zetian, who officially took the title of emperor in 690, was a woman outside the Li family who needed an alternative base of power.

Wu Zetian officially sanctioned Buddhism by building temples named Dayun Temple in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals, Luoyang and Chang'an, and created nine senior monks as dukes.

Wu Zetian enshrined seven generations of Wu ancestors at the imperial ancestral temple, while continuing to offer sacrifices to the Tang emperors Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong.

Wu Zetian was tempted to do so, and when the chancellors Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan opposed sternly, they, along with fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, were executed.

Wu Zetian ultimately declined Wang's request to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but for a time allowed Wang to freely enter the palace to see her.

Wu Zetian agreed, and for some time did not reconsider the matter.

At Li Zhaode's warning that Wu Chengsi was becoming too powerful, Wu Zetian stripped Wu Chengsi of his chancellor authority and bestowed on him largely honorific titles without authority.

Wu Zetian utilized the imperial examination system to find talented poor people or people without backgrounds to stabilize her regime.

Also in 692, Wu Zetian commissioned the general Wang Xiaojie to attack the Tibetan Empire.

Wu Zetian was supported in this by fellow chancellors Wang Fangqing and Wang Jishan, as well as Wu Zetian's close advisor Ji Xu, who further persuaded the Zhang brothers to support the idea.

Wu Zetian soon changed his name back to Li Xian and then Wu Xian.

Wu Zetian then defeated Trinring in battle, and Trinring committed suicide.

Wu Zetian made him, Li Dan, Princess Taiping, Princess Taiping's second husband Wu Youji, the Prince of Ding, and other Wu clan princes to swear an oath to each other.

Wu Zetian increasingly relied on them to handle the affairs of state.

Wu Zetian ordered the three of them to commit suicide.

Zhang Tongxiu and Zhang Changyi were demoted, but even though the officials Li Chengjia and Huan Yanfan advocated that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong be removed as well, Wu Zetian, taking the suggestion of the chancellor Yang Zaisi, did not do so.

In winter 704, Wu Zetian became seriously ill for a period, and only the Zhang brothers were allowed to see her; the chancellors were not.

In 690, Wu Zetian founded the Wu Zhou dynasty, named after the historical Zhou dynasty.

Wu Zetian used informants to choose people to eliminate, a process that peaked in 697 with the wholesale demotion, exile, or killing of various aristocratic families and scholars, furthermore prohibiting their sons from holding office.

Wu Zetian was determined that free, self-sufficient farmers continue to work their own land, so she periodically used the juntian, equal-field system, together with updated census figures to ensure fair land allocations, reallocating as necessary.

Wu Zetian pursued a policy of military action to expand the empire to its furthest extent ever up to that point in Central Asia.

Wu Zetian used her political powers to harness from Buddhist practices a strategy to build sovereignty and legitimacy to her throne while decisively establishing the Zhou dynasty in a society under Confucian and patriarchal ideals.

Wu Zetian's narrative was intentionally crafted to persuade the Confucian establishment, circumvent the Five Impediments that restricted women from holding political and religious power, and gain public support.

Wu Zetian quickly dispelled the accusation against Wei Yuanzhong, comforted Di Renjie with kind words, respected the will of the times and suppressed her favorites, and listened to honest words and ended the terror of the secret police officials.

Wu Zetian was an extraordinary woman, attractive, exceptionally gifted, politically astute and an excellent judge of men.

Wu Zetian's rise and reign was criticized harshly by Confucian historians like Liu Xu and Yuan Shu, But, some of those had praises for Wu Zetian like Liu Xu, Sima Guang.

Wu Zetian had many chancellors during her reign as monarch of her self-proclaimed Zhou dynasty, many of them notable in their own right.