WU ZETIAN

 

Wu Zetian saw off rivals, her husband and even her own children to seize power for herself and become Empress of China.

YOUNG WU ZETIAN

Wu Zetian (also known as Wu Hou and Wu Zhao) was born in 624 into a fairly rich Chinese family. When she was 14 she was sent to the palace of Emperor Taizong to be his concubine – a sort of second-class wife (emperors had lots of concubines as well as a wife). When the emperor died in 649 she was sent to live in a Buddhist convent, along with the emperor’s other concubines who didn’t have children.

RIVALS

The new emperor was Taizong’s son, Gaozong. His wife, Empress Wang, had a rival: Gaozong’s favourite concubine, Consort Xiaou. Wang didn’t want Xiaou taking her place, and thought that having the beautiful Wu Zetian at the palace might make things better. But her plan backfired. Wu Zetian quickly became Gaozong’s favourite. Empress Wang and Consort Xiaou were both arrested and Wu Zetian had them cruelly executed. Not long after, Wu Zetian was made Empress Wu.

EMPRESS WU TAKES CHARGE

Empress Wu also got rid of many senior politicians who didn’t think she was posh enough to be Empress of China. By 660 she’d managed to get them dismissed, sent into exile or executed. Gaozong was unwell so Wu Zetian was able to rule in his place for the last 23 years of his life. Under her leadership, the Chinese conquered Korea. But she was also ruthless: she had her son’s wife starved to death and her parents exiled because she thought her husband favoured the family too much.

 

UNSATISFACTORY EMPERORS

Gaozong died in 683 and Wu Zetian’s son became emperor – but he disagreed publicly with his mother, and his wife was ambitious, so Empress Wu had them both sent into exile and made another of her sons emperor instead. She ruled in his place, and when a revolt took place she crushed it at once. In 690, she decided to do without an emperor altogether and took the throne herself. She ruled for fifteen years.

Empress Wu’s End

Finally Empress Wu became too old and sick to keep hold of her power. In 705 a group of generals and politicians executed her allies, and made the empress hand over power to one of her sons. She died five years later.