Before Wu Zetian died, he erected a wordless monument, which no one could understand for thousands of years, but it was cracked by an old farmer
On the Liangshan Mountain of Qianling in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, there is a joint burial tomb of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi, and Wu Zetian, the first female emperor in Chinese history.
In front of the mausoleum, there are two huge stone stele, one is called Shu sheng stele, which has an inscription of more than 5,000 words, summarizing the life and merits of Emperor Gaozong, while the other stone stele, which naturally represents Wu Zetian, has not carved a word on it, which is called a wordless stele by the world. As the first and only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian can be said to be the one who has never come before or since, why did he erect such a wordless monument?
A generation of empresses, achieved great achievements
Wu Zetian was born into a large family and entered the palace at the age of 14 to become a talented person. Wu Zetian was beautiful in appearance and was given the title of "Wu Mei", so many works of art in later generations also called her Wu Mei Niang. After Emperor Taizong of Tang's death, Wu Zetian was incorporated into the harem by Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi and rose to the throne until he ascended to the throne of empress.
Long before Li Zhi's death, Wu Zetian had already assisted him in handling the affairs of the DPRK and China, she was brilliant and knowledgeable, and soon became familiar with government affairs, and even handled them in an orderly manner.
After Li Zhizhi's death, the third son of the two men, Li Xian, took the throne. However, Li Xian reigned for only a year, and Wu Zetian declared that he was in charge of the imperial government, and this year, she was already 67 years old.
Wu Zetian reigned for only 15 years, until her death at the age of 82 and her honorific title of "Emperor Zetian Dasheng", and her political achievements were counted from when she was still empress.
During Wu Zetian's reign, she vigorously developed the imperial examination system, and the "temple examination" system in the imperial examination in later generations was founded by her. Wu Zetian opened up the way of speech, reused talents, recruited talents from all over the country, she attached importance to economic development, reduced the burden of peasants and reused, the social development at that time was stable, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and was known as having the "legacy of Zhenguan".
Later generations have different evaluations of Wu Zetian, but it is undeniable that Wu Zetian did many meritorious and remarkable things during his reign, which had a positive impact on the common people and made great contributions in the history of the Tang Dynasty.
Wordless stone stele, the judgment of future generations is different
The wordless monument left after Wu Zetian's death has attracted many speculations and speculations in later generations, and there are several theories in the folk.
The first is that Wu Zetian believed that her hard work was high, and that the words were not enough to express the political achievements of her administration. This statement is very much in line with everyone's imagination of Wu Zetian, who did not only gain the recognition of imperial court officials and ordinary people at that time, but also in the eyes of posterity, her political ideals and beliefs were very grand, laying a solid political and economic foundation for the later "Kaiyuan prosperous era".
The second theory is that Wu Zetian believed that his sins were so great that he was unwilling to record his deeds on the stone tablets. This statement is not unreasonable. Wu Zetian had done many evil deeds before becoming emperor, and had seized power from his own son, acting violently during his tenure and reusing cool officials.
Even if Wu Zetian's heart is strong, as the first female emperor, when he suffers criticism and rejection, he may also have a relationship, so it is reasonable that he is unwilling to make his mistakes public.
There is also a third theory that Wu Zetian believes that it is difficult for him to judge his own merits and faults, so it is better to leave a blank stone stele, and everything is left to posterity to judge.
As for why Wu Zetian erected this wordless monument, this was originally an unsolved mystery for future generations to speculate and explore, but in the 1980s, the study of Wu Zetian actually made new discoveries, and it was only an ordinary farmer who promoted all this.
Solve the puzzle, and future generations will judge differently
In 1982, a farmer named Qu Xihuai was working in Songshan When he accidentally found a piece of metal in the crevice of a boulder. At that time, Qu Xihuai did not think so, until he took it home to wash it, he found that it was still engraved with words. Qu Xihuai could not distinguish the text on the metal sheet and handed it over to the relevant authorities.
After research, it was found that this metal piece was actually Wu Zetian's exorcism jin jian, which read: "Great Zhou Lord Wu Shuo Hao Le True Dao Immortal Immortal, Zhen Yue Song Mountain Gate, Toss Jin Jian Yi Tong, Beggar Three Officials and Nine Houses to remove Wu Cao's crime, Tai Nian Gengzi July Jia Shen Shuo Seven Days Jia Yin Minor Envoy Hu Chao Ji Shou Shou To Pray again." ”
What does the inscription on this book mean, and why is it left behind on Mount Song? In fact, this is because the Tang Dynasty has always had the tradition of emperors paying homage to and praying for blessings, when Wu Zetian led the people to Songshan to pray for blessings, and the eunuch Hu Chao threw out a book to show respect.
Historically, the book jane has used jade or copper and silver metal as the main material, and the book jane made of pure gold left by Wu Zetian is still the first time in archaeological history, so it also has its special value. From the "removal of Wu Cao's crime" mentioned in the book, it is not difficult to see that Wu Zetian believes that he is guilty, so he prays for forgiveness from the gods.
Even Wu Zetian, who has created a historical precedent and stood at the top of power, may be able to make rational and wise judgments and make wise and decisive decisions when exercising his great ability to govern the country, but when evaluating himself, even if Wu Zetian is so strong in his heart, as an emperor, it may be difficult to get rid of the limitations of the times and withdraw from the role he plays. When Wu Zetian recognized her own merits, she probably also understood that she was not understood by that era, so she begged in the Book of Exoneration that her crimes could be forgiven.
At that time, women's rule was not accepted, not to mention that Wu Zetian still seized power from her son's hands, and there were naturally not a few people behind the criticism, and her political violence and even personal life problems in her later years also attracted a lot of opposition.
But in history, there are not many emperors who are more arrogant and more arrogant, so why should Wu Zetian be prejudiced against her because of her female identity? Wu Zetian's exoneration book briefly writes that she believes she is at fault, while her wordless monument is still left for posterity to judge. Through the long river of history, in the end she will get the most impartial, beyond the evaluation of the times.
In our time, good women abound. Politicians who benefit the people, scientists who devote themselves to scholarship, skilled doctors, and businessmen who specialize in business have long been free from gender restrictions, and perhaps women still have many obstacles in obtaining resources, but women can also create new worlds, unlike in the past, which were criticized and misunderstood. If Wu Zetian were in our current era, he might be an excellent politician.