Empress Wu

Empress Wu (624-705 A.D.)

1. Rise to Power: 

Epitaph for Yang Shun. Late 7th-early 10th century A.D. Limestone. 918.7.129. Royal Ontario Museum.

Wu Zhao later called as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, was the first and only female Emperor in China. In the feudal dynasty of China, where was dominated by Confucian perspective with strong patriarchy, the heir to the throne was limited to royal men. In such a society, Wu Zhao, who is a female and not from a royal family, climbed to the Empress’s throne by primarily using four kinds of power: family, sexual, political, and military power. Firstly, she was born in 624 A.D. as the daughter of a wealthy family. Her family was so wealthy that she was able to receive a high level of education from childhood, which was unusual for females at that time. In addition, her parents had a friend called Li Yuan, who was the first emperor of the Tang dynasty. And thanks to her family power, around the age of 13, she got a position of a fifth rank concubine in the palace of the second Emperor of Tang, and eventually got a higher rank of cairen, which is the fifth of nine ranks of China’s imperial consorts. After that, she used her sexual power to gain more power; she had an affair with one of the Emperor’s sons and the third Emperor od Tang, and during his reign, she got a position of the second-highest rank of imperial consorts, Zhaoyi. Then, she took advantage of the Emperor’s growing love for her to increase her political power; she manipulated the Emperor to make herself an empress consort in 655 A.D. Eventually, she took over political power on behalf of the Emperor, who was too sick to do politics. Finally, this artifact, which was found inside a tomb of Yan Shiwei’s family, who was a senior military official and helped Wu to rise to power, depicts how she used military power to gain more power. According to the epitaph, Wu Zetian declared to get a position of Empress Dowager with her son, the fifth emperor of Tang, after the third Emperor’s death. Shortly after her declaration, there was a rebellion by a duke, and Yan Shiwei showed his royalty to Empress by breaking his arms, he was trusted by her and get a promotion to a senior official. However, after it turns out that Yan Shiwei’s brother turned against the Emperess, she killed all of the family of Yan Shiwei. This story shows that Wu Zetian was willing to use military power to gain her power even to her closest people. 

2. Power Accomplishments: 

Vairocana Buddha, monks, and bodhisattvas. 673-675 A.D. Limestone. Longmen caves.

In 690 A.D., the fifth Emperor of Tang yielded the throne to his mother, and the first and last female Emperor in Chinese history was born, and she declared the establishment of a new dynasty called the Zhou dynasty (690-705 A.D.). In order to maintain her position, she mainly used three kinds of powers: ideological, military, and political power. Firstly, in China, Confucianism has been the main religion, which considers women should not involve in politics, and it was not easy that women became a leader in such a traditional cultural society. Therefore, she first made Buddhism the official religion of the state and built many religious buildings: one of the most famous ones is this artifact, Vairocana Buddha at the Longmen Grottoes, the biggest Buddha statue in the place where only members of the elite in Chinese society is allowed to curve caves and put Buddha figures by investing a massive amount of money. It is said that the face of the statues is modeled on her face. This indicates that she intended to show her power to the people by building it. She also used military power to secure her position. She formed secret police to find out her political opponents and exiled or killed them before a rebellion happens. Also, she formed a military force to expand borders, although it did not work that well, she could represent herself as an influential figure. Furthermore, above all, her political skill was outstanding. She valued education, and she established a system to make herself surrounded with well-chosen and educated officials, which is called civic service examination. This system allows everyone, including the poor peasant family, to have a chance to became wealthy government workers. She did cruel things, but at the same time, she brought stability to society.

3. Cultural Memories of the Dead: 

Uncharactered Stele. Ca. 7th-10th century A.D. Stone. Qianling Mausoleum.

In her later years, she gradually failed her power because of her illness and the imperial succession issues. She had two lovers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and because she relied on them more than her sons, her lovers killed in a coup on 705 A.D. in order to make sure her sons will inherit the throne. On the same day, Emperess Wu was forced to cede the throne to her son. Although she was still given the title of Empress Regnant Zetian Dasheng, Emperor Zhongzong restored the Tang Dynasty, and her Zhou Dynasty was finished. She died in the same year and had buried with Emperor Gaozong with several posthumous empress titles, such as Tianhou Shengdi and Zetian Shunsheng Huanghou. Her tomb is located at Qianling Mausoleum, and there are also tombs of members of the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty. The mausoleum has a spirit way, which is the ornate road leading to a tomb with stone statues, and she and Emperor Gaozong’s has more significance, a better quality of, and a higher number of statues than others. This indicates that Wu Zetian is acknowledged as a more powerful leader than most others and as powerful as Emperor Gaozong. However, there is a difference between Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian in their stele located on the sprit way. Both steles are the same size, shape, and used the same materials, but his stele has a written inscription commemorating his achievements, while hers has no written inscriptions, which is why it is called “Uncharactered Stele,” and this is the only uncarved tablet in Chinese imperial history. This might represent the attempt of wiping her achievements from Chinese history, and disparagement of a female leader in Confusion society. Later generations see her an “evil woman” along with two other women, Empress Lü and Empress Dowager Cixi, more than a successful female politician. She made a stable society by establishing many effective social systems, including recruiting government officials based on their ability as opposed to hereditary status, and decreasing taxes to help poor people, which led to increasing in agricultural production. Moreover, not only she herself became the first female Emperor but also, she built a society where women can get more opportunities. From her tomb, archeologists found many figurines, including the figure of “Horse and Female Ride.” This figure indicates that women in Wu’s reign were free to do things like riding and traveling as men do. Despite all of those accomplishments, she is remembered more as an evil queen than a successful politician because of the dominance of Confucianism in Chinese society, which believes women are lesser than men and should not involve in politics. 

Horse and Female Rider. Late 7th–first half of the 8th century A.D. Earthenware with three-color (sancai) glaze and pigment. 1991.253.10. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Horse and Female Rider. 7th century A.D. Unfired clay with pigment. 51.93a, b. Metropolitan 

Museum of Art. 

by Yui Hirata