The Shadow of Empress Wu’s Favor

In the twilight years of Empress Wu Zetian’s reign (690–705 CE), two figures emerged as both symbols of imperial favor and objects of courtly hatred: the Zhang brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. Young, handsome, and fiercely loyal to the aging empress, they became the most powerful—and controversial—men in the Zhou dynasty’s inner circle. Their rapid ascent was fueled not just by personal charm, but by Wu Zetian’s calculated patronage. As the only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu relied on them to counterbalance traditional power structures dominated by aristocratic clans. Yet their influence sowed division, exposing the fragile alliances and moral compromises of a court in transition.

The Art of Survival: A Court Divided

The Zhang brothers’ dominance created stark factions. On one side stood opportunistic sycophants like Yang Zaisi, the Minister of the Interior, whose theatrical flattery became legendary. When mocked for resembling a Korean, Yang donned paper Korean robes and danced; when others compared Zhang Changzong’s beauty to a lotus, Yang inverted the praise: “No—the lotus resembles Lord Six!” Such performances secured his position but eroded court integrity.

Opposing them were principled officials like Li Chengjia and Huan Yanfan, who risked their lives to expose the Zhang family’s corruption. In 704 CE, they prosecuted Zhang Yizhi’s relatives for embezzling 4,000 strings of cash—a bold move against Wu’s favorites. Yet the empress’s response was puzzling: while she had executed her own grandson for criticizing the Zhangs, she merely demoted the corrupt relatives and spared the brothers. This paradox revealed her deeper strategy: protecting the Zhangs from future vengeance by the Li family, whom she expected to reclaim power.

The Powder Keg Ignites

By 705 CE, Wu Zetian’s failing health turned the Zhangs’ position precarious. Isolating themselves in her sickroom, they became targets of a coup led by 80-year-old statesman Zhang Jianzhi. The plotters, including generals and chancellors, framed their revolt as a restoration of the Tang dynasty, but their immediate goal was eliminating the Zhang brothers.

On January 22, 705, rebels stormed the palace. The Zhangs were beheaded in a hallway, their heads later displayed at Tianjin Bridge. Wu, confronted in her bedchamber, capitulated within days, transferring power to her son Li Xian (Emperor Zhongzong). The Zhou dynasty collapsed, and the Tang was restored—yet the coup’s narrow focus on the Zhangs left Wu’s broader network, including her daughter Princess Taiping and the powerful Wu clan, intact.

The Unraveling Legacy

The Zhang brothers’ downfall failed to purge deeper tensions. Wu Zetian’s relatives, particularly Wu Sansi, retained influence through marital ties to the new emperor and Empress Wei. Even Yang Zaisi survived, his sycophancy now directed at Zhongzong. Meanwhile, Princess Taiping and Empress Wei’s faction, including the ambitious Princess Anle (who aspired to be “Crown Princess”), plotted their own ascendancy.

The Zhangs’ legacy was one of destabilization. Their rise exemplified how personal favoritism could distort governance, while their fall exposed the unresolved conflict between Li and Wu factions. The 705 coup, though dressed as a Tang restoration, merely shifted power without addressing systemic rot—a foreshadowing of the An Lushan Rebellion decades later.

Echoes in the Modern World

The Zhang brothers’ story resonates as a cautionary tale about unchecked favoritism and the fragility of power built on personal loyalty. In an era where leaders often surround themselves with unaccountable inner circles, their narrative underscores the dangers of conflating proximity to authority with competence. Meanwhile, figures like Yang Zaisi embody the moral compromises endemic to autocratic systems—a theme as relevant today as in eighth-century Luoyang.

Ultimately, the Zhangs were less architects of their destiny than pawns in Wu Zetian’s grand experiment. Their tragedy lay in being both beneficiaries and victims of a system that elevated individuals only to discard them when the political winds shifted. In this, they remain haunting mirrors to the perennial dance of power and peril.