Before we dig into the knots and bolts of Wu and how she created her legacy (good or bad as some people may see fit), we’ve put together a brief overview of our infamous empress. We know you want to get into the juicy stuff, so we’ll keep this short and sweet!
Wu Zetian was born in Wenshi County in 624 ce, into a wealthy family and was the daughter of a general. At the age of 14 (yikes), she was selected by emperor Taizong as one of his concubines. An important fact to note here is that she was a low ranking concubine, 5th tier to be precise, and so her duties primarily consisted of those of a maid. Wu became an immediate favourite of emperor Taizong, so much so that he made her a secretary. She was even involved in affairs of state at the highest level.
However, a stroke of unfortunate events unwind for Wu Zetian. Emperor Taizong dies and so Wu and his other concubines had their head shaved off and sent to a temple to begin their new lives as nuns, as per tradition. Back then, it was seen as a disgrace for another man to touch a deceased emperor’s concubines. So what did Wu do? She escapes. She returned to the palace where she was favoured by the new ruler, Taizong’s son, emperor Gaozong. This favoritism likely sprouted from the affair the pair had while his father was still alive – Wu Zetian knew had to play her cards right eh.
At the time, emperor Gaozong’s wife, empress Wang, was worried her husband was too preoccupied with consort xiao, one of the concubines with whom Gaozong had three children with. She believed the newly arrived Wu would distract her husband – however the plan backfired and Wu was now the emperor’s top woman.
Now this is where it gets interesting. Wu Zetian recognised the opportunity when she saw it, she knew she had to get rid of the other two love interests. Wu gave birth to a daughter who died in infancy. Historians today have agreed that she most likely strangled the baby to death to place blame on empress Wang, well… it worked. Consort Xioa, and Wang were both stripped of their titles. With both of them out of the way, Wu Zetian was now promoted to empress. Eventually when Gaozong died, she would force her youngest son – who replaced his exiled brother to abdicate the throne.
She would be proclaimed Wu Zetian, emperor of China.
We hope that gave you a nice background to the very very interesting and intriguing character that is Wu Zetian, we hope you enjoy the rest of our posts! 🙂
Gabriel
When Hens Announce the Dawn 