Empress Wu of China
Zhou Dynasty
In 690, Empress Zhou ruled as the only female Emperor of China and established her own dynasty for 15 years. She had two sons in line for the palace. She forced her first son to abdicate but allowed her second to rule, though she did most of his ruling. After an attempted uprising, she rearranged succession and completely removed about 15 families from the line through executions and treason charges.
She was known to be the promoter of printing press, the woman who brought china into the new modern age. She was despised by historians for her buddhist views. Buddhism was considered foreign and thus, was regarded as an enemy of confucian values. She is portrayed as cruel and promiscuous. Rumours state she had sexual affairs with the Zhang brothers when she was 72 and supposedly had a harem of young men. While she was known to be wicked, it should be noted that she was no different than any other male ruler. Additionally, it was undeniable that she was a good ruler; rooting out corruption and helping the poor.
Under her rule, Tang dynasty came out of 400 years of war. She was able to submit Korea to the Tang rule, something non of her predecessors were capable of. Women had more power during her rule. Her own daughter was an official adviser who kept her mother’s values alive well after Wu’s death. There was still a powerful female presence after Zhou dynasty.
During her reign, she made a big push to build meritocracy to replace hereditary system of official positions. This threatened to take away the aristocracy’s powers. Any revolts were brutally taken down. She expanded the imperial public examination system significantly, increased frequency of public examinations and built local schools to train up potential scholars. She implemented a system of final interviews to pick best candidate. She also developed an elaborate system of special rewards for cooperation. She appointed non-official advisers called Scholars of the northern gate who designed policies and composed literary works under the empress’s name. Additionally, kept farm taxes low because empire’s well-being depended on farmland proceeds, and encouraged active expansion of cultivable land. Farming households increased almost double while she was in power.
She was later overthrown by her own son, whose concubine was behind the plan. She ruled until 705 when she was 80 (died the year after), buried as an empress and her tomb left unmarked. She may have died quite peacefully.
Women in Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty is depicted as a “golden age” for chinese women, which was not completely true. During this time period, commercial market in women became prominent part of city life, and that transferred to households in the form of concubines. Concubines were frequently bought and sold. This was an era where marriages between the living and ghosts were arranged to appease unhappy spirits. This was the incorporation of Buddhist rituals. The domination of Empresses for half a century gave rise to female prominence in Tang families. But this eventually fell, starting with the fall of the northern Han people (they were nomad warriors) who were known for equality. The early Sui dynasty also saw a prominent Empress figure who was an inseparable advisor to the Emperor. In the northern realm, women actively participated in the affairs of the realm. Political marriages were quite frequent at this time. In fact, when those marriages failed to obtain a perfect reunion, the princesses were blamed. Many were arranged into foreign lands where they could not read or speak the language. Art depicts women to have much more freedom during the Tang dynasty, mostly likely only elite women. Dowry was given to the women’s family during marriages.
References:
Books to read:
Lewis, Mark Edwin (2009). China’s Cosmopolitan Empire. The Tang Dynasty.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2010). Cambridge Illustrated History. China. Pg 105-135
Cawthrone, Nigel (2007). Daughter of Heaven
Articles:
Comic excerpt:
https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/wu-zetian
Informal:
http://aas2.asian-studies.org/EAA/EAA-Archives/20/2/1361.pdf
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-demonization-of-empress-wu-20743091/
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2054886/empress-wu-zetian-example-female-power-which-remains-relevant-today
Academic:
Xianlin Song. (2010). Re-gendering Chinese History: Zhao Mei’s Emperor Wu Zetian
Nan, Guo (2003). Analysis of the Image of Wu Zetian in Junior Middle School Teaching Materials.
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