From Concubine to Empress: The Early Life of Wu Zetian

Born in 625 AD during the Tang Dynasty’s formative years, the woman history remembers as Wu Zetian entered the imperial palace at age 14 as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Taizong. Her given name remains unknown to history – the name “Wu Zetian” derives from an honorific title she adopted late in life, while she chose the name “Wu Zhao” (武曌) when assuming imperial duties, its characters symbolizing the sun and moon shining over the earth.

As a fifth-grade cairen (才人) in the elaborate Tang palace hierarchy, young Wu Zhao’s duties involved managing imperial banquets and the emperor’s leisure activities. For eleven years, she remained in this minor position, observing court politics while developing the political acumen that would later serve her so well. When Emperor Taizong died in 649, tradition required his childless concubines to enter Buddhist nunneries. Wu Zhao thus began her monastic life at Ganye Temple, seemingly marking the end of her political aspirations.

The Path to Power: Wu’s Political Ascension

Wu Zhao’s fortunes changed dramatically when the new emperor, Gaozong (Taizong’s son), visited Ganye Temple in 651. Historical accounts suggest a prior relationship between the two, and Gaozong promptly recalled her to court. This began Wu’s remarkable second act – within five years, she rose from nun to zhaoyi (the highest concubine rank) to empress in 655, displacing Empress Wang through a combination of political maneuvering and ruthless tactics.

When Gaozong suffered debilitating strokes in the 660s, Wu Zhao assumed increasing governmental responsibilities in a period historians call “political authority returning to the central palace.” By 674, the imperial couple took the titles “Heavenly Emperor” and “Heavenly Empress,” with Wu issuing twelve major policy proposals that demonstrated her sophisticated grasp of statecraft. After Gaozong’s death in 683, Wu initially ruled through her sons Zhongzong and Ruizong before deposing them and declaring herself emperor in 690 – the only woman in Chinese history to hold that title.

The Zhou Dynasty Revolution and Imperial Rule

At age 66, Wu Zhao launched her revolutionary act – abolishing the Tang Dynasty to establish her own Zhou Dynasty in 690. This unprecedented move by a woman required ideological justification, which Buddhist monks provided by interpreting the Mahāmegha Sūtra (Great Cloud Sutra) as prophesying female rule. Wu embraced this symbolism, adopting titles like “Golden Wheel Emperor” that cast her as a Buddhist universal monarch.

Her 15-year reign saw significant cultural achievements alongside political repression. She promoted literary arts (famously praising the anti-Wu polemicist Luo Binwang for his talent despite his opposition), reformed the examination system to recruit talent beyond aristocratic circles, and commissioned grand architectural projects like the 98-meter-tall Mingtang palace. Yet this period also witnessed the notorious “terror politics” of her cruel officials (酷吏) like Lai Junchen and Zhou Xing, who employed brutal methods to suppress opposition until Wu eventually turned against them.

Gender, Image, and Cultural Legacy

Wu Zetian carefully crafted multiple public images to navigate the profound gender barriers of her era. Scholars debate whether the majestic Luoshana Buddha at Longmen Grottoes (commissioned with Wu’s donated “cosmetics funds”) bears her likeness, following descriptions of her “square forehead and broad jaw.” Similarly, a controversial statue at Huangze Temple in Sichuan may represent elderly Wu as a Maitreya incarnation.

Her cultural policies reflected this multifaceted identity. While distrusting Confucian scholars for their gender conservatism, Wu pragmatically employed both Buddhist and Daoist symbolism. She invented over a dozen Chinese characters, including her chosen name “Zhao,” believing in the transformative power of language. These “new characters” spread remarkably far across her empire and beyond.

The Final Years and Historical Assessment

In her seventies, Wu faced succession dilemmas before reluctantly restoring the Tang heir. Forced to abdicate in 705 at age 81, she died months later after renouncing her imperial title to die as “Empress Zetian.” This symbolic return to traditional gender roles reflects the constraints even this extraordinary ruler ultimately faced.

Historical evaluations of Wu Zetian have fluctuated dramatically. Tang and Five Dynasties chroniclers treated her reign matter-of-factly, while Neo-Confucian scholars like Zhu Xi condemned her gender transgression. Modern assessments increasingly recognize both her administrative competence and the systemic misogyny shaping her reception. The 1982 discovery of her Daoist “golden tablet” confession on Mount Song reveals a ruler wrestling with her bloody path to power in old age.

Wu Zetian’s life – from concubine to nun to empress to emperor – remains unparalleled in Chinese history. Her reign challenges traditional narratives about gender and power while demonstrating both the possibilities and limits of female authority in imperial China. Whether viewed as a ruthless usurper or visionary ruler, her impact on Tang politics, Buddhist art, and Chinese cultural memory endures as a testament to one of history’s most remarkable political careers.