She Was His Fathers ConcubineThen Became Chinas Only Female Emperor - Wu Zetian

At Qianling Mausoleum in China's Shaanxi Province stands a massive stone steel without a single official word carved upon it. The woman buried there entered the imperial palace at 14 as a low-ranking concubine of Emperor Taizong. After his death, she was sent to a Buddhist convent and expected to disappear. Instead, she returned as the wife of Taizong's son, took control of the Tang Empire, removed two sons from the throne, founded her own dynasty, and claimed the title Her name was Wu Zetian, the only woman officially recognized in Chinese history as emperor in her own right. She used secret police, destroyed political opponents, kept male favorites, and may have sacrificed members of her own family for power. She also weakened the hereditary aristocracy and expanded the route by which talented men without famous ancestors could enter government. She took the throne from the Li family. A coup returned it to her son near the end of her life. How did an almost forgotten palace woman become the only female emperor in more than 2,000 years of imperial China? The answer begins with a girl who lost her father and learned that protection could disappear overnight. Wu Zetian was born around the year 624. Her father, Wu Sherhua, had made his fortune in the timber business before supporting Li Yuan's rebellion and becoming one of the founders of the Tang Dynasty. Her family had money and access to the upper levels of society, but it did not belong to the small circle of ancient clans that truly dominated the imperial court. Her mother, Lady Yang, came from a respected background and had received an education. Wu Zetian was therefore able to read, study history, and observe politics from an early age. For a girl in 7th century China, this mattered enormously. Her later ability to read state papers, judge officials, and participate in government was not simply a gift of intelligence. Long before she held power, she had begun to understand how power was recorded, justified, and inherited. But her childhood was far from secure. After her father died, Wu Zetian's half-brothers treated Lady Yang and her daughters with hostility. The respect that had existed while her father was alive suddenly vanished. Wu Zetian learned a brutal lesson, if a woman's position came from a man, then all of her security could disappear the moment that man was gone. When she was about 14, Emperor Taizong, better known as Li Shimin, heard that the Wu family had a beautiful daughter and summoned her to the palace. Her mother wept over the fate awaiting her. Wu Zetian reportedly answered with a question, how could anyone know that meeting the emperor would not bring her good fortune? For most girls, entering the palace meant leaving their families and stepping into a prison from which they might never escape. To Wu Zetian, the palace gate was also the first door that led toward power. She was given the rank of Cai Ren, a low-ranking imperial consort. She bore Taizong no children and never became a great favorite. From the age of 14 into her 20s, her position barely changed. Had Taizong lived longer, she might have remained one more forgotten woman in an enormous royal household. But during those years, Wu Zetian saw things that many other palace women did not. She watched the emperor control his ministers. She saw a few words spoken in a private chamber become law across a vast empire. And she watched powerful men, seemingly impossible to touch, lose everything after a single change in imperial favor. Taizong once owned a magnificent horse named Lion Stallion, an animal so fierce that no one could tame it. Wu Zetian claimed she iron whip, an iron club, and a dagger. First she would use the whip. If the horse still resisted, she would strike it with the club. If it refused even then, she would use the dagger and kill it. We cannot know every detail of that story with certainty. But it survived because it sounds so much like the woman Wu Zetian would become. She could wait. She could persuade. She could reward and use a valuable person. But if someone refused to submit and could no longer be useful, she would find a way to remove them. Taizong never raised her beyond a minor rank. The man who changed her fate would be someone whose dependence on her increased over time. That man soon appeared. His name was Li Zhi. He was Taizong's son and the future emperor of China. During the final years of Taizong's life, Crown Prince Li Zhi frequently attended his sick father. Wu Zetian may also have helped care for the dying emperor. Exactly when the two developed feelings for each other is impossible to prove. But soon after Taizong's death, their relationship was already far from ordinary. Today, it might be treated as a royal scandal. In their world, it could have destroyed them both. Wu Zetian legally belonged to Li Zhi's father. For a son to take one of his father's consorts was not simply a private affair. It violated the moral order on which the dynasty claimed to stand. Had the relationship been exposed while Taizong was alive, Wu Zetian could have been killed and Li Zhi might have lost his place as heir. Whatever existed between them had to remain hidden behind palace walls, beside a dying emperor, and beneath the gaze of countless servants and officials. Taizong died in 649. According to imperial custom, consorts who had never given birth were sent to Buddhist convents. Wu Zetian's hair was cut away. Her palace robes were replaced with a nun's clothing, and she was taken to Ganya Temple. She was about 25 years old. For a childless woman confined to a royal convent, life was effectively over. The days ahead promised little more than prayer, temple bells, and a slow descent into old age. Wu Zetian refused to accept that ending. She already knew the next emperor and the political weakness of his position. After taking the throne, Li Zhi, now Emperor Gaozong, found himself surrounded by the great ministers his father had left behind. His uncle, Zhangsun Wuji, was one of the most powerful statesmen in the empire. Other senior officials, including Qiu Suiliang, possessed greater age, experience, and political connections than the new emperor. They treated Gaozong as a young man who needed to be guided, protected, and restrained. He wore the crown, but he did not yet possess the full power of the throne. He needed someone who understood palace politics, supported his independence, and owed nothing to his father's ministers. Wu Zetian was exactly that person. When Gaozong visited Ganya Temple to honor his father, he saw her again. The historical account says that they wept when they met. Whatever the exact nature of their earlier relationship, the reunion reopened Wu Zetian's path to the palace. Yet the person who made her return possible was not Gaozong. It was Gaozong's wife, Empress Wang. Empress Wang had no son, while Gaozong's favorite consort, Lady Xiao, had given birth to a prince. Hoping to divide the emperor's affection and weaken her rival, Empress Wang encouraged Gaozong to bring Wu Zetian back from the convent. Empress Wang intended to use Wu Zetian as a counterweight against Lady Xiao. Instead, she brought a more capable rival back into the palace. After returning to court, Wu Zetian quickly regained Gaozong's affection. She bore him children and was promoted to the rank of Zhaoyi, one of the highest positions among the imperial consorts. At first, Empress Wang's plans seemed to work. Lady Xiao lost Gaozong's attention, and the empress may briefly have believed that her own position was safe. Then she realized that Gaozong no longer needed her, and no longer needed Lady Xiao either. Wu Zetian had replaced both women by herself. Her advantage was political as well as personal. Unlike Empress Wang or Lady Xiao, she could help Gaozong break free from the ministers who still governed in his father's shadow. At the height of this struggle, Wu Zetian's Later historical works recorded a horrifying version of the event. Wu Zetian strangled her own baby and then blamed Empress Wang, who had visited the child shortly before the death. For more than a thousand years, that story has formed one of the darkest accusations against her. But whether it is true remains uncertain. Earlier sources do not provide the same complete account, and it is difficult to explain how an eyewitness could have observed the murder and later survived to report it once Wu Zetian controlled the court. History therefore leaves us with two possible women. One was so determined to become empress that she sacrificed her own daughter. The other seized upon an infant's unexplained death and turned personal tragedy into a political weapon. The truth disappeared inside the palace. The result did not. Gaozong lost all trust in Empress Wang and began to consider replacing her with Wu Zetian. The strongest resistance came not from the women's quarters, but from the imperial government. Zhangsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang, and the old guard opposed Wu Zetian's elevation. They were not merely defending one empress. They were defending an order in which a small group of aristocratic families controlled the highest offices, royal marriages, and access to the emperor. Wu Zetian's family was not prestigious enough. Worse, she had once belonged to the previous emperor. In their eyes, such a woman had no right to become empress, much less enter the government. Zhu Suiliang protested so fiercely before Gaozong that he repeatedly struck his head against the floor until it bled. Wu Zetian was said to be listening from behind a screen. Enraged, she called for his execution. As the court reached an impasse, the famous general Li Ji gave Gaozong one brief answer, this is your majesty's family matter. Why ask outsiders? On the surface, he was speaking about a marriage. In reality, his words confirmed something far greater. If the emperor could not choose his own empress without the approval of his ministers, then he was not truly emperor. In 655, Empress Wang and Lady Xiao were removed. Wu Zetian became empress. It had taken her only a few years to rise from a Buddhist convent to the highest female position in the empire. The two defeated women later died in horrific circumstances. Traditional accounts claim that Wu Zetian had them beaten, mutilated, and thrown into large jars of wine. The details may have been exaggerated by later writers, but both women were indeed killed after Wu Zetian came to power. Her rule was now unmistakable, an enemy who still possessed the possibility of returning was not yet truly defeated. As empress, she joined Gaozong in removing Zhangsun Wuji, Zhu Suiliang, and other senior ministers. Gaozong used her to escape the officials inherited from his father. She used his authority to enter the government itself. This was not yet the story of one woman taking an empire alone. At first, it was the story of two political partners reclaiming the throne from an old aristocratic elite. Over time, the partnership shifted. Wu Zetian moved from supporting Gaozong's authority to exercising much of that authority herself. Gaozong suffered for years from severe headaches, dizziness, and problems with his vision. When his condition worsened, he could not read official reports and began asking Wu Zetian to assist with state business. At first, she read documents for him. Then she began offering advice. Eventually, ministers realized that the person deciding the fate of their proposals was no longer the emperor alone. Wu Zetian was not simply a palace consort skilled in intrigue. She understood finance, appointments, border wars, and court factions. She remembered the abilities and weaknesses of officials throughout the government. Gaozong relied on her so heavily that the pair became known as the two sages, two sovereign authorities ruling the empire together. It was an extraordinary arrangement. The emperor still occupied the throne, but the empress had become an openly acknowledged partner in government. She submitted political proposals on agriculture, labor obligations, access to the throne, and the selection of officials. She participated in the great imperial rituals at Mount Tai and gave the empress a formal place in ceremonies that had previously belonged only to men. But a husband and wife could share power. A mother and son would find it much harder to share a throne. Wu Zetian and Gaozong had four sons. Their eldest, Li Hong, became the first crown prince and earned a reputation for intelligence and compassion, but died suddenly. Later writers accused Wu Zetian of poisoning him. Others point out that he had suffered from poor health for years and that no direct evidence of murder survives. Their second son, Li Xian, became the next crown prince. He was capable and independent, but his relationship with his mother deteriorated. Accused of plotting rebellion, he was removed and exiled, then died while living under guard. Once again, suspicion followed Wu Zetian. Each adult son inherited Gaozong's legitimacy and could become a rallying point for officials who wanted Wu Zetian removed. The succession was therefore both a family matter and a direct political threat. Gaozong died in 683. His final orders placed their third son on the throne while granting Wu Zetian authority over major decisions. This new ruler is best known by his later title, Emperor Zhongzong. Wu Zetian no longer had to sit behind her husband. As Empress Dowager, she openly ruled in the new emperor's name. Zhongzong lasted only 55 days. He attempted to promote his father-in-law, Wei Xuanzhen, and reportedly declared that he could give the entire empire to his wife's family if he wished. When Wu Zetian heard this, she immediately removed her own son and exiled him as the Prince of Luling. She then placed her youngest son, Li Dan, on the throne as Emperor Ruizhong. This emperor could barely meet ministers without his mother's permission. Ruizhong was the name on the throne. Wu Zetian was the ruler of the empire. A woman could be an empress. She could become Empress Dowager. She could even govern on behalf of a sick husband or an inexperienced son. But if Wu Zetian wanted to claim the imperial title in her own name, she had to prove one final thing, the empire obeyed her not because she was connected to the men of the Li family, but because she herself possessed the right to rule. It would be the most dangerous step of her life. In 684, a Tang loyalist named Su Jingye rebelled against The famous poet Luo Binwang wrote a declaration for the rebels, denouncing Wu Zetian for corrupting the royal family and destroying its heirs. According to a popular story, Wu Zetian read the attack and, rather than becoming angry, demanded to know why her ministers had failed to recruit such a talented writer. The rebellion attracted attention, but collapsed within a few months. The rebellion demonstrated that opposition remained widespread. Members of the Li royal family, old aristocratic clans, veteran officials, and defenders of the traditional order could all rise against her the moment she claimed the throne. She answered with two weapons. The first was fear. Officials such as Li Junshin and Zhou Xing became infamous for extracting confessions and manufacturing cases against political enemies. Bronze petition boxes were placed outside the palace, allowing anyone to submit accusations directly to the ruler. The system bypassed the bureaucracy and gave Wu Zetian access to information that officials might otherwise conceal. But it also transformed private grudges into political crimes and spread terror through the court. Many members of the Tang royal family and many genuine opponents were purged. Innocent people also died in cases created by the secret police. When Li Junshin's violence began to threaten the entire governing class, Wu Zetian had him executed. She employed ruthless men, but she never allowed them to become an independent center of power. Her second weapon was belief. The Confucian political tradition offered little justification for a woman claiming the imperial title. Wu Zetian therefore gave enormous support to Buddhism. Monks interpreted and promoted religious texts suggesting that she was the incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha, and that a woman could receive heaven's mandate to a white stone was supposedly discovered in the Luo River. Carved into it were words proclaiming that a sacred mother would rule and that her imperial age would endure forever. Auspicious signs appeared across the country. Officials, monks, and ordinary subjects submitted waves of petitions asking Wu Zetian to take the throne. These miracles were almost certainly arranged. But in politics, the most important question is not whether a miracle is real. It is how many people are willing to behave as though they believe it. In 690, Wu Zetian removed Emperor Rui Zong, declared herself emperor, replaced the Tang dynasty with her own Zhou dynasty, and made Luoyang her imperial capital. She was already in her 60s. Wearing the robes of an emperor, she received the submission of the court. She did not call herself an empress, a title that could still define her as the wife of a male ruler. She claimed the same title used by every sovereign before her, Huang Di, emperor. That distinction mattered. She was no longer presenting herself as a man's wife, a man's mother, or a temporary guardian of the Li family's throne. She would rule the empire in her own name. She even chose a new personal name written with a character created for her, Zhao, formed from the symbols for the sun and moon shining in the open sky. A woman had not only changed the name of a dynasty. She was attempting to rewrite the language and the destiny that men had prepared for her. Yet after taking the throne, Wu Zetian did not simply hand the government to members of her own family. She promoted nephews such as Wu Qingxi and Wu Sanxi, but she also understood that they were not capable of carrying the empire alone. Her most valuable officials were men she had identified and advanced herself. She expanded the imperial examination system, personally tested candidates in the palace, and later created a military examination for men with command ability. The old aristocracy's monopoly on high office weakened. For the first time on a significant scale, talented men without ancient family names could enter the central government and rise through ability as well as birth. Di Renjie, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Zhang Jinzhi were among the important officials who served under her. Wu Zetian could destroy a man because she suspected disloyalty, yet she could also tolerate disagreement from an official whose talent she genuinely needed. This was one of the central contradictions of her reign. She encouraged denunciations and fear while widening the path through which new talent entered government. She eliminated enemies without mercy, yet she did not permanently reject every minister who dared to challenge her. Her attack on the old aristocracy was not motivated by equality alone. The ancient clans had interests and loyalties of their own. Officials whose careers depended on Wu Zetian were far more likely to serve Wu Zetian. Whatever her motives, the result changed Chinese politics. High office became more closely connected to examinations and imperial appointment, and less exclusively controlled by ancestry. She continued policies supporting agriculture and reduced some of the labor demands placed on ordinary households. Her armies did not win every campaign. There were serious failures against the Tibetan Empire and the resurgent Turkic powers in the north. But the country did not collapse because a woman had become emperor. That fact was more powerful than any argument. Wu Zetian proved that the ability to govern was not something that belonged naturally to men. And yet, when later generations discussed her life, they were often less interested in examinations or government than in the young men who entered her bedroom. One of her early favorites was a Buddhist monk known as Xue Huaiyi. Young, physically imposing, and protected by the ruler's affection, he acquired rank and influence, then became increasingly arrogant. When he lost her favor, he was killed. In her later years, Wu Zetian became attached to two handsome brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. Because they had intimate access to the aging emperor, they acquired political influence. Courtiers learned that the brothers had to be flattered, bribed, or approached by anyone hoping to reach the ruler. Traditional historians lingered over Wu Zetian's private life, as though an elderly woman keeping young male favorites were more scandalous than male emperors surrounding themselves with hundreds or even thousands of women. Wu Zetian had desires. She also abused the privileges of power. But the true importance of her so-called male harem was political, not sexual. Imperial affection always created power. When a male emperor favored a concubine, her relatives could dominate the court. When a female emperor favored a man, the same system produced a new political faction. The Zhang brothers became the greatest weakness of Wu Zetian's final years not because they were beautiful, but because the aging ruler increasingly depended on them to control access to her. Ministers could no longer be certain whether an order came from the emperor or from the men standing beside her bed. The woman who had once changed her own fate by gaining access to an emperor now allowed two men to gain power through access to her. History had completed an ironic circle. Wu Zetian still faced a problem that even she could not easily solve, who would inherit the throne. If she was the founding emperor of the Zhou dynasty, logic suggested that the next ruler should come from the Wu family. Her nephews Wu Qingxi and Wu Sanxi both hoped to be named crown prince. But choosing a nephew would permanently disinherit the sons she had born to Gaozong. It would also be politically dangerous. Many officials and ordinary subjects had accepted Wu Zetian herself. That did not mean they would accept an undistinguished Wu nephew in place of the Tang royal family. Di Renjie is said to have offered her a brutally simple argument. If she chose her son, he would honor her in the ancestral temple after her death. But history had never heard of a nephew placing his aunt in his own line of imperial ancestors. The warning struck at the one opponent Wu Zetian could never defeat. She had overcome the rules that excluded women from power, but succession still depended on bloodline and acceptance after her death. In 698, she recalled the son she had deposed and exiled, the former emperor Zhongzong, and once again made him crown prince. From that moment, the future of her Zhou dynasty had already been decided. Wu Zetian had taken the throne from the Li family, but she would not permanently give it to the Wu family. Her sons possessed dynastic legitimacy and broad support. Her nephews did not. Naming Zhongzong as heir was the most stable way to protect both the succession and her own place in history. But Wu Zetian still did not voluntarily surrender power. By 705, she was gravely ill and had withdrawn to Yingzhen palace. Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Chongzong controlled access to her rooms. Senior officials did not know how long she could remain conscious. They feared that after her death, the brothers might conceal the news, forge commands, or determine the succession themselves. The minister Zhang Jianzhi and several allies led imperial guards into the palace. They killed the Zhang brothers and forced Wu Zetian to hand the throne to Crown Prince Zhongzong. Some of the men who carried out the coup had been promoted by Wu Zetian herself. Her examination policies had given them access to the center of power. They used that authority to end her reign. More than 80 years old and seriously ill, Wu Zetian could no longer resist. The coup transferred the throne to Zhongzong, ended her Zhou dynasty, and restored the Tang. Wu Zetian died later that same year at Xiangyang palace. In her final instructions, she abandoned the title of emperor and asked to be remembered as Empress Zetian, the wife of Gaozong. She was buried beside him at Xianling Mausoleum. This final designation made her burial beside Gaozong acceptable to the restored Tang court. It also left an unresolved question, should history remember her as an emperor in her own right or as the wife of a Tang emperor? The great stone steel at Xianling was never given an official inscription. One tradition claims that Wu Zetian ordered it left blank so later generations could judge her. Another suggests that Zhongzong did not know how to describe his mother. To call her emperor would mean admitting that she had taken the Tang empire. To call her empress would erase the 15 years in which she had ruled under her own imperial title. It is also possible that the inscription was simply never completed. The truth remains uncertain, but the blank monument became an appropriate ending to a reign that resists a simple verdict.