In China's long history, the position of emperor has been mostly inherited by men, but there is one female emperor who has risen to prominence in the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture: Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian's life is full of legends, with both merit and controversy. She is a good at selecting meritocracy, and has created a prosperous history, but she is also controversial because of her harem disputes and favorites. However, her story has long been a role model for many modern women, proving that women can also achieve in the political arena, and she has become a living example that "women can hold up half the sky".
However, a hundred years later, in China's Shandong Peninsula, a woman who imitated Wu Zetian appeared, who not only called the emperor the founding state, but also recruited male favors to recruit courtiers. This unusual woman, who combines her destiny with feudal ideas, persistently pursues her dream of being an emperor despite the earth-shaking changes of times.
Chao Zhengfang, born in Anqiu, Shandong in the fifties of the last century, has been unwilling to his fate since he was a child. At that time, the ideological emancipation movement arose and called for the advancement of women, and she used the male name "Chao Zhengkun" to demand a change in identity. Although her father did not object to this unusual request from his daughter, her ambitions went far beyond that.
Chao Zhengkun considers herself a descendant of the Chao Gai Chao Heavenly King in the Water Margin, and this fantasy becomes the source of her self-esteem. Although she was considered a bright child in the village, she dropped out of school after only completing her primary education due to her family's patriarchal mentality. However, she refused the arrangement of fate, firmly believing that she was destined to achieve a great career, and was not willing to settle for family farming.
In order to achieve a great career, she began to learn medical skills from the barefoot doctor in the village. Although the barefoot doctor began to teach her, Chao Zhengkun's mind was not limited to medical skills. She dreams of being able to have great skills like the good men in the Water Margin. However, studying medicine and doing big things is not easy, and she gradually realizes the difficulties and challenges in real life, as well as the reality that she needs to make a living.
Over time, China implemented a communalization system, and Chao Zhengkun became the female captain of the production team because of her literacy and medical skills. This new identity gave her a renewed sense of superior satisfaction, but with the collapse of the commune system, she returned to the role of an ordinary woman. This transformation was unacceptable to her, and she firmly believed that she was different and destined for something extraordinary. So she decided to pick up her job as a barefoot doctor again, and despite the meagre income of doctors in poor mountain villages, she did not want to live a mediocre life.
During a medical practice, Chao Zhengkun met a witch who imitated the witch's behavior, pretended to be a ghost, and soon began to defraud the patient's family of money. She began to claim to be the daughter of the Jade Emperor, claiming that she was an immortal who had come to survive the calamity, and that the treatment was only a fate, and the patient's family could voluntarily give rewards. This act of deceiving simple villagers quickly spread her reputation.
Chao Zhengkun also made up a rhetoric for himself to attract more patients. She would sprinkle herbs into the water during the treatment, claiming that it was a special talisman that would ward off evil. If the patient recovers, she proves her mastery; If the patient deteriorates, she declares that it is the fate of the patient and has nothing to do with her.
However, the TV series "Wu Zetian" broadcast in 1984 had a profound impact on Chao Zhengkun. Wu Zetian's power and ambition in the TV series gave Chao Zhengkun his dream of being an emperor. To become an emperor, she needed a mystical identity, a large number of followers, and the support of her subjects.
Chao Zhengkun began to shape his legendary identity, no longer actively asking for money, claiming that he was the daughter of the Jade Emperor to survive the disaster. She treats some poor patients for free.
She treated some poor patients for free, which gradually raised her reputation in the local area. People began to call her a "living bodhisattva" and a "living immortal", willing to believe in her mystical identity and miraculous medical skills.
In order to realize his dream of ascending the throne, Chao Zhengkun wisely founded the Qinghua Shengjiao, bringing together those who believe in her and actively developing believers. Her congregation grew rapidly, reaching more than seven hundred in two years, and she began to believe that she could dominate the world by mobilizing these believers.
However, to become an emperor, the support and trust of his subjects was also required. Chao Zhengkun resorted to various means to win over the followers, and she made a vow to the government, promising that if she became emperor in the future, she would let the believers share power and wealth. She spread this dream among the faithful, making them confident in her and swearing allegiance to the Great Sacred Dynasty.
In 1986, Chao Zhengkun decided that the time was ripe, and she imitated Wu Zetian's ceremony and held an enthronement ceremony in the mountains, establishing the "Great Saint Dynasty". She even adopted a national name similar to Wu Zetian's "Great Sage" to show her worship. However, unlike Wu Zetian, she did not immediately divide the civil and military officials, but held a concubine selection event and began a luxurious harem life.
Her celebration attracted a large number of believers, hundreds of people poured into the mountains, and it seemed that her dream of becoming an emperor had begun to come true. However, her corruption and overindulgence also began to manifest, and she openly demanded that the faithful sacrifice their sons for her to enjoy, and that as long as the children were favored, they would be richly rewarded. This evil deed aroused social anger and antipathy, and Chao Zhengkun's rule gradually became precarious.
In 1987, Chao Zhengkun began to spread rumors, claiming that the world was about to be in chaos, and only by joining the Great Saint Dynasty could he turn the evil into luck. She asked the faithful to erect the banner of the Great Saints in their homes and to perform rituals on specific days for peace and loyalty. These actions alarmed the government, and society gradually became suspicious of her.
Over time, Chao Zhengkun's crazy behavior and the expansion of the cult attracted more attention. Her followers began putting up small advertisements in major cities in an attempt to grow followers and expand their power for her rule. However, government and social regulation gradually strengthened, leading to Chao Zhengkun's rule in crisis.
Finally, in 1988, the county government suppressed the Daisheng Dynasty, destroying it overnight. Chao Zhengkun's followers and guards were unable to resist the government's forces, and she herself was captured alive. During the interrogation, she refused to give the truth, but in the face of abundant evidence, she was eventually sentenced to death and executed in October of the same year.
The demise of the Great Sage Dynasty was a farce and ironic. However, the story also makes people ponder, why would anyone believe such an obvious scam? Compared with Chao Zhengkun and Wu Zetian, the former only learned the latter's extravagant harem life, but did not have the actual ability to rule. Chao Zhengkun's life is full of deception, greed and corruption, and in the end she pays a heavy price, which is also a lesson of history.