Lü Hou, Cixi, and Wu Zetian can be said to be famous figures in Chinese history, all three of them are women who control the court and are in the center of power, but why can Wu Zetian become the only female emperor in Chinese history? For thousands of years, people have had different views on this matter, and even foreigners have been obsessed with this issue. Luo Han, an American sinologist specializing in the history of China's Tang and Song dynasties, made a series of studies on this problem and gave his own explanation. There are three reasons for this, the first being the most important.
First, after the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the world at that time was in chaos, and there was also a situation commonly known as "Wuhu Chaohua", and because of this, the grassland culture began to penetrate into the Central Plains, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties happened to be in this period. Central Plains culture has always not allowed a maid to serve two husbands, not to mention the son to inherit the father and wife, but the grassland culture is different, after the death of the father, the son can take over the wife and concubine left by the father, with the gradual penetration of the grassland culture, the Central Plains people have begun to accept and recognize this practice. Later, as Li Shimin's concubine, Wu Meiniang was recalled by Li Zhi from Ganye Temple and given the title of Wu Zhaoyi, which was a great miracle, and Li Zhi was particularly kind to Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian also began the first step towards the emperor's path, returning to the center of power.
Second, after returning to the palace, the two can be described as he and Meimei, Li Zhi especially trusted and relied on Wu Meiniang, because Li Zhi was not in good health, after weighing, Wu Wu Meiniang began to help Li Zhi deal with government affairs, and in the later stage, there was a situation of "two saints". In addition to the idea of equality between men and women in the steppe culture, this situation also draws on the power of the Shu people. At that time, the power was in the hands of the noble family, especially under the leadership of the eldest grandson Wuji, and the momentum was even sharper.
In such a very unfavorable situation for the Shu people, there was a turnaround. Changsun Wuji's gang strongly opposed Li Zhi's proposal to abolish Empress Wang and make Wu Meiniang empress, and Li Zhi was suffering from no one's support because he was jealous of the power of Changsun Wuji's gang, at this time, the Shu people led by Li Yifu chose to vigorously support Li Zhi, and Wu Meiniang should cooperate with each other, and finally overthrew the eldest Sun Wujie's gang, and after Wu Meiniang was sealed, Wu Zetian took a step closer to the throne.
Third, in the later period, Li Zhi's physical condition did not allow him to bother with political affairs, Wu Meiniang began to monopolize the political power, and also had ideas about the imperial throne, but even under the infiltration of grassland culture, there was still no woman in the Central Plains to call the emperor, and there was no such statement in traditional Confucian culture, Wu Meiniang urgently needed a theory that supported herself and could be accepted by everyone, the "Great Cloud Sutra" as a classic work of Buddhism was learned by Wu Meiniang, one of which was about the bodhisattva incarnation as a pure light goddess, And the story that this pure light goddess will become a king blessed by the Buddha is even more in line with the needs of Wu Meiniang, so she vigorously promotes Buddhism to the public, vigorously promotes the idea that she is a pure light goddess, and finally successfully claims the title of emperor, inherits the throne, and is known as Wu Zetian in history.
To put it simply, the most critical factor in the path of the Chinese empress Wu Zetian can be simply summarized as the infiltration of grassland culture, the replacement of new and old forces, the wide spread of Buddhism, of course, the most important thing is that Wu Zetian has his own skills and ambitions, the current situation is just right, and although Lü Hou and Cixi have ambitions, they still can't get rid of feudal ideas, and the opportunities are not mature.