Born into a famous family, Wu Zetian relied on her extraordinary wisdom and skill to climb step by step in the bloody court struggle, and finally became the only female emperor in Chinese history. Behind the power, however, are countless cruel sacrifices and merciless killings.
She did not hesitate to sacrifice her own children, poison her relatives, and kill dissidents, and the cruelty of her methods was outrageous. However, it was such a controversial empress who also created the palace test, reused talents, rewarded agriculture, and laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty.
What kind of person is Wu Zetian? Why is her life so tortuous and bizarre? Let's step into the world of the legendary empress.
Officially became the Empress
Wu Zetian was born in a meritorious family, and his father, Wu Shitong, was a veteran figure who followed Tang Gaozu in the uprising. She was born in a famous family, beautiful and intelligent, thoughtful, and powerful.
Superior beauty is a prerequisite for Wu Zetian to enter the palace, and it is also a capital that he is good at using in the later palace political struggles.
Her intelligence, thoughtfulness, outstanding insight and excellent skills are all excellent personal qualities that have prompted her step by step from a talented person to Zhaoyi to the empress, and finally to the throne of the empress.
After Wu Zetian entered the palace, he won the battle for the queen with difficulty, and experienced decades of internal auxiliary national politics, and the power was no different from the emperor, which was called the "two saints" of the auxiliary government period, after the death of Gaozong, nominally the queen mother, in fact, "both will usurp, is the day from the dynasty to weigh the system." ”
"In December of the first year of Hongdao, the emperor collapsed, the crown prince ascended the throne, and the queen of heaven was honored as the queen mother. It will be usurped, and it will be called the dynasty on the same day. ”
Zhongzong was soon abolished by Wu Zetian with an excuse, Li Dan succeeded him, and the Empress Dowager Wu Zetian still came to the dynasty to control the system and held real power. Wu Zetian began to reform the old system on a large scale according to his own wishes.
In the first year of Guangzhai (684), in May, the Empress Dowager Wu Zetian was called the Holy Mother of God. Later, Wu Zetian took the word "Cao" as his name, and then changed the edict to a book.
On the ninth day of September in the first year of Tianzhu (690), "the Tang Dynasty ordered to change the name of the country to Zhou." The word "Heavenly Grant" shows that Wu Zetian's ascension to the throne is a divine right of the monarchy, and Wu Zetian officially became the only orthodox female emperor in Chinese feudal society.
The era name is used the most
The era name is the name used by the emperors of the Chinese dynasties to mark the change of fortune, and generally the new monarch will change the name of the year to show the new atmosphere of the change of the yuan.
In addition, whenever there is an auspicious, disaster and landmark event, the emperor often changes the era name. The era name is a sign of imperial orthodoxy and is called "Fengzhengshuo".
In Chinese history, the most used era names are Tang Gaozong Li Zhi and Wu Zetian and his wife, and Gaozong's frequent change of era names is also indirectly influenced by Wu Zetian.
During his 34-year reign from 650 to 683, Li Zhi used 14 era names. Wu Zetian reigned for 21 years from 684 to 704, and used 17 era names, and 684 AD was the year with the most era names.
In this year, Tang Gaozong's year name changed from "long live" to "ten thousand years", and then Wu Zetian established the prince Li Xian as Zhongzong, and set the era name as "Hei Sheng", and it didn't take long to abolish Zhongzong and set up Li Dan as Ruizong, and changed the era name to "civilization".
Later, Wu Zetian changed to "Light House" and grasped the actual ruling power. The frequent change of the era name reflects the fierce struggle for imperial power and the changes in the political situation of that year.
Since the first year of Hongdao in December Ding Si, Gao Zong collapsed, Wu Zetian since the Linzhao Dynasty, the change of the year name is very frequent.
Wu Zetian changed the era name, and the number of years and the diligence of the change were on the one hand to enhance the self-confidence of the ruler, because the era name is often accompanied by auspiciousness.
In order to better consolidate his rule, Wu Zetian showed the people's self-confidence in ruling by changing the era name, so as to achieve national peace and security and win the support of the people.
There is also a saying that Wu Zetian likes to make words, attaches importance to the magic of words, and once something important happens, he often changes the era name to make himself smoother.
Loss of motherhood in order to achieve the purpose
Wu Zetian's life was tortuous and bizarre, and the road of struggle was cruel and bloody. The negative image of her in history books focuses on her viciousness, cruelty, tyranny, and fornication.
From the "Two Sages in the Dynasty" to the deposition of Zhongzong and Ruizong, Wu Zetian gradually grasped power, usurped the Tang Dynasty as Zhou, and became the "Chicken Si Chen" under the feudal orthodox consciousness, a great rebel.
In order to achieve his political goals, Wu Zetian did not hesitate to sacrifice and kill his own children, and lost his motherhood under the control of power.
As a mother, Wu Zetian's attitude towards her children "depends on her overall situation and how she reacts to it...... There are infinite changes in this, and the crown prince Li Hong also died at the hands of Wu Zetian.
In order to achieve his political goals, Wu Zetian did not hesitate to use his daughter's death to bring down his opponent. When a good son threatens his rule, he will also kill him brutally.
In addition, Wu Zetian also successively abolished Zhongzong as the king of Luling, and secluded in other places. The youngest son Li Dan, named the Queen Mother, actually holds real power.
Although Wu Zetian's strangulation of the little princess and the deaths of Li Hong and Li Xian are inconsistent in the history books, later Tang history researchers have also questioned them.
However, through the record of Wu Zetian's sacrifice of his own children in the history books, it is fully demonstrated that Wu Zetian strangled his mother's love and lost his motherhood for his political future, and the rationality of a politician overwhelmed Wu Zetian's sensibility and family consciousness as a mother.
Wu Zetian also poisoned his sister Mrs. Han and his niece Mrs. Wei Guo, and used the death of Mrs. Wei to frame his disgusted cousin, and got rid of his nephew He Lanmin, who was suspicious of the cause of Mrs. Wei's death, Wu Zetian killed about 20 people of his own family, and even his own family members did not let go, which shows how far his family affection has been extinguished under the control of power desire!
Since Wu Zetian tried his best to ascend to the throne of the queen, he began to brutally and bloodily kill dissidents. She brutally killed Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu, who entered the cold palace.
Later, he instructed Li Yifu, Xu Jingzong, and other ministers to degrade and kill Chu Suiliang, Lai Ji, and Han Ming, the central figures of the anti-military forces, in the name of "rebellion."
In July of the fourth year of Xianqing (659), he finally forced the Guanlong forces, who were also the biggest pillar of the opposition to Wu Zetian's forces, to hang himself in Qianzhou.
During the reign of Wu Zhou, Wu Zetian reused cool officials to severely crack down on the old nobles and elders who were unfavorable to her, and launched a nationwide whistleblowing campaign, which framed countless people for a while, and fueled the wind of villains.
Wu Zetian's original intention may have been to become a master of humble advice and insight into the people's livelihood, but under the use of cool officials, this copper box has increasingly become a tool to completely eliminate dissidents.
In order to consolidate his hard-won position, Wu Zetian worked hard to cultivate his own power. "The Queen Mother did not hesitate to take the title, and helped herself with the heroes of the cage Quartet."
Wu Zetian was also afraid of rebellion, and all officials who were accused of being secrets were punished, and whistleblowing became a common practice inside and outside the entire imperial court, and the political atmosphere was unprecedentedly tense.
Acquaintance Yoshito
However, Guo Moruo once commented on Wu Zetian's "political enlightenment of the Yuan Dynasty and the governance of the grand concept of chastity", believing that her rule inherited the rule of the concept of chastity and the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty.
It is recorded in the history books that Wu Zetian opened the imperial examination and reduced talents without sticking to one pattern. knows people and is good at their duties, and they can use both loyal ministers like Di Renjie and cool officials like Lai Junchen.
While consolidating political rule, he did not forget to develop the economy, reward farmers and mulberry crops, and increase the number of household registrations, which laid a good political and economic foundation for the later "prosperous era of the new century".
Wu Zetian carried out a series of major political, economic, and cultural measures before and after taking power, such as the political aspect, strengthening the centralization of power, perhaps her methods were too cruel, but no one can deny that her political acumen is outstanding.
In the economic aspect, she comprehensively implemented the uniform land system, developed the economy, advocated commerce, handicrafts, commerce, etc., and also made outstanding historical achievements in the cultural aspect.
First of all, the most commendable thing in the history books is Wu Zetian's reuse of talents, eclecticism, and knowing people well. Whether it was to deal with the gate lord clan or not, it was a fact that Wu Zetian reused the disciples of the Hanmen.
An important characteristic of Wu Zetian as an outstanding politician is that he knows people well and is good at his duties, and he has the wisdom and mind of useful people. She is also very knowledgeable and talented, and has a sense of love and appreciation for capable ministers and talents.
For example, she tolerated Su Lianghe, who beat Zhang Changzong, Wei Yuanzhong was offended by loyalty and was about to be executed, and she flew a book to identify his crimes, and so on. Wu Zetian attaches great importance to the selection of talents, and believes that "the breadth of the nine domains, how strong is one person, must be talented, and become wings together".
Wu Zetian not only advocated the system of self-recommendation and examination of officials, but also created the palace examination to eliminate the malpractice of the ordinary examination system. In the second year of Chang'an (702), Wu Zetian "set up the first martial arts", and selected people with military talents from them, which was also of great significance for stabilizing national defense.
Therefore, in the years when she was in power, there were always a group of capable ministers who were like Di Renjie and Wu Lou Shide, and these people effectively defended the stability of Wu Zetian's regime.
The rebellion was quickly put down
Second, as an outstanding statesman, Wu Zetian effectively maintained the stability of the political situation, quelled the rebellion, and promoted the reunification of the country.
During the reign of Wu Zetian, the society was relatively stable, and it can even be said that it was the most stable period in the history of the chaotic Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian had excellent military insight and quickly quelled the rebellion of Xu Jingye and others.
In every battle against the anti-armed forces, they always win very quickly. This is not only due to the leadership of Li Xiaoyi and other military generals, but also proves that Wu Zetian has a certain military talent.
In addition, during Wu Zetian's reign, he also strengthened the country's border defense and improved relations with various ethnic groups in the northwest. Wu Zetian inherited the ethnic policy of Tang Taizong, resolutely maintained the unity of the country, and had the mind and courage to surpass ordinary women.
In the process of quelling the rebellion and promoting reunification, she adopted the policy of appeasing them if they surrendered and retributing them if they rebelled, thus reducing the losses of military strength to the greatest extent.
She also used some literati as military leaders to avoid cultivating the dominance of military generals, such as Lou Shide and others, and abolished the imperial history supervision system to allow generals to give full play to their talents in order to win battles.
Wu Zetian's military policy consolidated his rule and demonstrated his national prestige. Thirdly, in terms of economy, Wu Zetian rewarded farmers and mulberries, reduced forced labor, and promoted economic development.
Wu Zetian attaches great importance to agricultural production, on March 13 of the second year of Shangyuan (675), Wu Hou worships silkworms in the south of Bishan. In the first year of Tianzhu (690), she issued an edict of "the world's salty and military service", and Wu Zetian ordered several times to reduce taxes and levy labor.
During the Wu Zetian period, a series of policies to secure the people promoted the growth of household registration at that time. During the Wu Zetian period, it basically reached the level of national peace and security.
epilogue
Although Wu Zetian's methods are too layoff, it is undeniable that her outstanding political achievements are undeniable, all in all, during Wu Zetian's reign, talents were valued and social development was rapid.
During her reign, the politics were relatively clear, the economy was developed, the culture was very developed, and it was a period of strong national strength. Wu Zetian's outstanding reign laid the foundation for the emergence of the "Kaiyuan Dynasty", and she can be said to be one of the pioneers of the Tang Dynasty civilization.
Resources:
(Later Jin) Liu Yun et al., eds., Old Tang Dynasty Books, Zhonghua Book Company, 1975 edition.
Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi wrote New Tang Dynasty Book, Zhonghua Book Company, 1975 edition.
(Song) Sima Guang, (Yuan) Hu Sanxingyin annotation "Zizhi Tongjian", Zhonghua Book Company, 1956 edition.
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, translated by Tao Tiezhu, China Book Publishing House, 1998.
Cen Zhongmian, History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Hebei Education Publishing House, 2002.
Written by Lin Yutang and translated by Zhang Zhenyu, "The True Biography of Wu Zetian", Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House, 2009 edition.
Huang Renyu, The Great History of China, Life, Reading, New Knowledge, 1997 edition.