In the vast history of our country for five thousand years, there are only a few women who can be remembered by future generations, and Shangguan Wan'er is one of them.
Speaking of Shangguan Wan'er, people's impression of her is often "outstanding talent", and it is precisely because she has a hui-quality blue heart that ordinary women do not have, Wu Zetian left Shangguan Wan'er by her side, not only letting her accompany her, but also making her responsible for writing edicts for herself. After that, Shangguan Wan'er was in charge of the palace for many years and enjoyed the title of "Prime Minister".
After the empress abdicated, Shangguan Wan'er married Li Xian, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, and was given the title of Zhaorong. At the height of her power, she was "in the sky", and she held a prominent position in both the political and literary worlds. Until 710 AD, Shangguan Wan'er was killed by Li Longji, the Tang Xuanzong who launched a coup d'état, because she was on the wrong side.
Regarding the life of Shangguan Wan'er, many people know only this. But as recently as 2013, archaeologists discovered Shangguan Wan'er's tomb and Wan'er's epitaph from the Airport New City in Xi'an's Xixian New District. Through this 982-word inscription, we can understand more about the wonderful life of this Talented Woman of the Tang Dynasty.
Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph was originally titled "Epitaph of the Shangguan Clan of the Tang Dynasty", but the epitaph cover was called "The Tomb of the Shangguan Clan of the Tang Dynasty". According to the epitaph, Shangguan Wan'er "was a talented person in the thirteenth year", and in the first year of the Shenlong, that is, in 705 AD, "the book was Zhaorong", and later for some reason, she was demoted to "Jie Yu", from two levels of Zheng Erpin to Zheng SanPin.
According to historical records, Shangguan Wan'er was born in the first year of Linde, that is, in 664 AD. According to this calculation, when Wan Er was 13 years old, it was the second year of Emperor Gaozong Yifeng of Tang (677 AD). Wu Zetian, who entered the palace at the age of 14, was a talented person in the palace of Tang Taizong Li Shimin and was given the title of "Wu Mei". After Emperor Taizong's death, Emperor Gaozong of Tang made Wu Zetian a Zhaoyi.
It can be seen that Shangguan Wan'er, who was later included in the harem by Emperor Zhongzong of Tang,Magdalene Li Xian, had become a concubine of Emperor Gaozong of Tang as early as the age of 13, and had an experience of "serving a husband" with Wu Zetian. Later, when Wu Zetian ascended the throne and became emperor, Shangguan Wan'er, who was aware of the current affairs, was willing to pay for him and became the "female prime minister" of the Wu Dynasty. I have to say that creation is really a trick.
In addition, there was an insoluble blood feud between Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Zetian, and almost all of her family died at the hands of Wu Zetian, and Shangguan Wan'er herself was also assigned to the official palace and became a slave.
In this case, she can still get the trust of Wu Zetian, until she is in a high position, which shows that her heart and skill are not under Wu Zetian, but she has not received a good opportunity. If given a chance, Shangguan Wan'er may be able to become the next female emperor.
Speaking of the revenge between the Shangguan family and Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er's epitaph has this passage: "Zu Yi, the imperial Jinfu army, the Dongge sacrifice wine, the Hongwenguan scholar, the shizhong, the prince washing horses, the Zhongshu Sheren, the secretary Shaojian, the Yinqing Guanglu Doctor, the Xingzhongshu Waiter, the Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin, the Zhongshu Ling, the Governor of Qinzhou, the Shangzhu State, the Duke of Chu, and the three thousand households." ”
The "zuyi" in this passage refers to Shangguan Wan'er's grandfather, Shangguan Yi, who was once the official who worshiped the prime minister. According to the usual view of historians, in the first year of Linde, that is, in 664 AD, Shangguan Yi was one of the key figures. It was also this "post-abolition storm" that directly led to Wu Zetian's full power.
According to the historical records of the New Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was not accustomed to Wu Zetian's arbitrariness, and a contradiction arose between the two, and Emperor Gaozong had the idea of deposing Empress Wu Zetian. However, at this time, Wu Zetian had become a great tail, so Emperor Gaozong found Shangguan Yi and conspired with him to remove Wu Zetian's successor.
However, when the matter was exposed in the middle of the way, Tang Gaozong was afraid of Wu Zetian, so he could shamelessly betray Shangguanyi, and in this way, Shangguanyi, as a scapegoat, became a victim of political struggle and was killed by Wu Zetian with his son Shangguan Tingzhi. From then on, the politics of the Tang Dynasty was completely controlled by Wu Zetian, "from the government of the world to the rear, and the emperor surrendered." ”
In fact, the contradiction between Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian was likely to be a misunderstanding, and after Wu Zetian's explanation, Tang Gaozong was very embarrassed, and in order to ease the relationship between husband and wife, he pushed the pot to poor Shangguan Yi. And Shangguan Yi obviously did not get rid of Wu Zetian's plot before, I am afraid that he only wanted to go along with the emperor and casually expressed his support, who promised to lose his life because of this, and even his friends and family were implicated.
It can be seen from this that Shangguan Yi is politically immature, far inferior to his granddaughter Shangguan Wan'er, not to mention the fierce female emperor Wu Zetian.
The toughness of Wu Zetian's political skills and the cleverness of her struggle tactics can be seen from the position of "Beimen Bachelor" that she tried her best to promote.
According to the Old Book of Tang, "When Emperor Tianhou summoned Emperor Gaozong to the forbidden cultivation ... The imperial court's doubts and the hundred divisions were secretly ordered to participate in the decision, in order to divide the power of the prime minister, and people at the time called it the 'North Gate Scholar'. ”
It can be seen from this that the establishment of the position of Beimen Scholar during the Gaozong period was the result of Wu Zetian's efforts, and the purpose was also to serve Wu Zetian. From then on, Wu Zetian was able to further expand his power through these "North Gate Scholars" under her, "to divide the power of the Prime Minister" and "divide the power of the Prime Minister".
As the only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian contains a lot of mysteries. Influenced by the traditional mainstream historical view, today, most people tend to think that Wu Zetian is ambitious and morally corrupt, that she is "adulterous in the palace, immoral in morality, and difficult to describe", and is a bad woman who is inferior to the beast.
But to evaluate the historical status of a person is not only to criticize from the moral level, but more importantly, to look at her historical creation, that is, what new contributions have been provided to history. It is necessary to study what social class this person represents and what social tendencies it marks.
In this sense, Wu Zetian is indeed a strong woman who is indispensable. The history books record that she was "a man of many wisdoms and was also involved in literary history", and was a figure with strong political influence. By studying the life experience and political qualities of this female emperor, we can completely improve our ability to govern the country, deal with crises, and grasp the situation!
More than a thousand years have passed, and Wu Zetian is still alone. "I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the comers after me." Thinking of heaven and earth, alone but weeping. "What is Chen Ziang writing?" Wilderness landscapes, human emotions? No, neither. He was writing about a man— Wu Zetian!