A Prophetic Beginning: The Girl Destined to Rule
In the fourth year of Emperor Taizong’s Zhenguan era (630 CE), a renowned astrologer named Yuan Tiangang visited the household of Military Governor Wu Shiyue in Lizhou. This encounter would set in motion one of China’s most extraordinary political ascents. Yuan, famous for his physiognomy skills, examined the governor’s family members with growing astonishment. When shown a child dressed in boys’ clothing – actually the infant Wu Zhao (later known as Wu Zetian) – he reportedly turned pale, declaring: “This child has dragon’s eyes and phoenix’s neck, the ultimate signs of nobility! If this is actually a girl, her future cannot be measured – she will become ruler of all under heaven!”
This prophetic moment gained retrospective significance through the controversial “Tui Bei Tu” (Back-Pushing Diagrams), a collection of political prophecies attributed to Yuan and his colleague Li Chunfeng. One verse cryptically referenced “a woman ruler” who would “replace the Li family’s hold on the empire” – predictions that would haunt the Tang dynasty for decades.
From Palace Maid to Imperial Consort
Wu Zhao entered Emperor Taizong’s harem in 638 CE at age 14, initially receiving little attention beyond having her name changed to the more pleasing “Wu Mei” (Enchanting Wu). Her fortunes changed dramatically when she demonstrated extraordinary courage by proposing to tame Taizong’s wildest stallion with three tools: an iron whip, hammer, and dagger – using escalating violence until compliance. This display caught the eye of the crown prince, the future Emperor Gaozong, who would become her path to power.
The political climate grew tense when secret prophecies about a “female ruler replacing the Tang” circulated through the court. Taizong, who had himself benefited from similar prophecies as a youth, grew increasingly paranoid. His purge of officials with names containing “Wu” (martial) – including the unfortunate General Li Junxian whose nickname “Fifth Lady” sealed his fate – failed to stop the inevitable.
The Monk and the Monarch: Wu’s Path to Power
Following Taizong’s death in 649 CE, Wu and other childless concubines were sent to Ganye Temple as Buddhist nuns – normally a political death sentence. But Wu had cultivated Gaozong’s affections, and when he visited the temple during his father’s death anniversary, their emotional reunion became palace gossip. Empress Wang, seeking to undermine her rival Consort Xiao, facilitated Wu’s return to court in 651 CE, unknowingly engineering her own destruction.
Wu’s political genius became immediately apparent. She bore Gaozong two sons (Li Hong and Li Xian) in quick succession while systematically eliminating rivals. The infamous incident where she allegedly smothered her own infant daughter to frame Empress Wang demonstrates her ruthless calculus. When the subsequent investigation revealed Wang’s mother using forbidden witchcraft, Wu seized the moment – Wang and Xiao were demoted to commoners, then brutally executed by dismemberment and immersion in wine vats.
The Two Sage Emperors: Wu’s Co-Reign
By 660 CE, Gaozong’s chronic migraines rendered him increasingly dependent on Wu’s administrative skills. What began as secretarial assistance evolved into joint governance, with officials referring to them as the “Two Sage Emperors.” Wu established networks of informants and patronage, promoting scholar-officials like Xu Jingzong while eliminating threats like Chancellor Zhangsun Wuji. Her political machine reached full strength after Gaozong’s death in 683 CE, when she deposed her own son Emperor Zhongzong after just six weeks for attempting to appoint his father-in-law against her wishes.
Breaking the Ultimate Taboo: The Zhou Dynasty
In 690 CE, aged 65, Wu shattered a millennium of Confucian tradition by declaring herself Emperor of a new Zhou Dynasty. Her reign (690-705 CE) became one of China’s most culturally vibrant periods, marked by several unprecedented developments:
– Religious Innovation: She promoted Buddhism as state ideology, commissioning the monumental Longmen Grottoes statues and declaring herself an incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha.
– Examination System Reforms: Wu expanded the civil service exams, creating opportunities for commoners and establishing the “Palace Examination” format that endured for centuries.
– Cultural Patronage: She sponsored massive literary projects including the “Biographies of Exemplary Women” and “Regulations for Ministers.”
Yet her reign also witnessed extreme violence through notorious officials like Lai Junchen and Zhou Xing, whose torture methods (“The Dying Pig’s Scream,” “Seeking the Ruined Home”) became legendary. The Tang imperial family suffered devastating losses, with only her youngest son Li Dan (the future Emperor Ruizong) surviving her purges.
The Twilight Years: A Woman’s Legacy
Wu’s final years saw her court dominated by the Zhang brothers, beautiful young favorites who headed her controversial “Institute for the Cultivation of Talent” – effectively a male harem. As her health failed in 705 CE, ministers led by Zhang Jianzhi stormed the palace, executed the Zhangs, and forced her abdication. The Tang dynasty was restored under her son Zhongzong, while Wu – now styled “Zetian” (“Model of Heaven”) – died under house arrest later that year at age 81.
Her monumental stone stele at the Qianling Mausoleum remains conspicuously blank – perhaps because no words could adequately capture a woman who dared claim the Mandate of Heaven for herself. Modern reassessments recognize her administrative brilliance in maintaining Tang prosperity while expanding women’s political participation, even as traditional historiography condemns her “unnatural” usurpation. From feminist icon to ruthless autocrat, Wu Zetian’s complex legacy continues evolving, much like the empire she once ruled.