Wu Zetian 武則天 (625 - December 16th 705) was the only empress of China to found her own dynasty, the Zhou 周, and reigned under the name of “emperor Shengshen” 聖神皇帝 of 690 with 705. Its rise and its reign were strongly criticized by the historians Confucianists, but certain aspects were revalued by it starting from the Années 1950.

(dates indicated in the Calendar Julien)

Origins

The tradition gives birth to it with Chang' year, capital of the empire, but annals indicating that his/her father was in station in the Sichuan at the time of his birth, the town of Guangyuan was also advanced.

Its first name is not mentioned in official annals. As it gave itself later the name of Wu Zhao 武曌, for which it made create a character hitherto non-existent, one has advanced the assumption that it had been fore-mentioned Zhao 照.

His/her father, Wu Shihuo (577 - 635), a project superintendent, had known to have relations in the exercise of his work. He had thus reached a post of warrant officer, then had been distinguished at the time of the military countryside of 617, finally obtaining the enviable title of Duke of Taiyuan (Shanxi), area of origin of the Wu family. The Gaozu emperor would have made him marry in second weddings a woman approaching forty, girl of a relative of the imperial family Sui named Yangda. She will give the day to three girls of which the future empress. Become widowed, it seems that she hardly received support on behalf of her family of origin and even less of the half-brothers of Wu Zetian.

Of concubine with empress

The Wu family had risen above the ordinary condition, but the rise of the father was too recent to make an authentic big family of it. It is thus as a concubine of modest extraction to the eyes of the court that it enters between 12 and 14 years gynécée of Taizong with the rank of “talented”, one of low. According to the tradition, it receives a new first name; it will be from now on Meiniang. Not knowing to handle its boat nor to like the emperor, it will vegetate twelve years at this station, until the death of Taizong. Nevertheless, it seems that it succeeded in drawing the attention of the crown prince, the future Gaozong. At died of Taizong, it is put at the retirement in the Buddhist temple Ganyesi where it is of tradition to send the “widowed” concubines without child.

Meiniang is drawn from it by Gaozong, with the approval of the empress in title, resulting from the family Wang, which sees in it a flexible subordinate able to divert the emperor of her principal rival, Xiaoshufei. All seems to go as envisaged for a period when Meiniang expresses much attachment to its protective. However, since its return to the palate at 28 years, it expresses an aptitude to be made alliances and to tie intrigues that one did not know time to him of Taizong, as well as an personal ambition which will prove not very common. While its favor at Gaozong grows (it will give him her last six children out of the twelve which it will A), it weaves a network of faithful and rejoins the enemies of the empress. Always concubine, her rank rose considerably. Reaching the row of zhaoyi , it is from now on the fifth lady of the palate in the hierarchy of gynécée, and the first for the influence at Gaozong.

One day, his/her daughter recently born discovered is choked after a visit of the empress. Future Wu Zetian shows it murder and succeeds in convincing the emperor to withdraw his title to him, in spite of the protests of the ministers. In 654, promoted empress, it will make it stop, torture and carry out ansi that Xiaoshufei. According to the Chinese historians, it would have killed itself her daughter to arrive at her ends.

Of empress consorte to reigning empress

The continuation confirms the ascending one of Wuzetian on the emperor, perhaps supported by the declining health of this last following an attack. It sits regularly at its sides (probably dissimulated behind a curtain like wants it the tradition) and advises it. If one believes a document summarizing of it his “twelve proposals”, it shows a certain political wisdom: she recommends a fall of the taxes, efforts in direction of agriculture, the encouragement of the expression of the opinions of various sources.

Carrying on its way towards the capacity, it makes register its clan of birth, Wu, among those of first importance in the official register of the big families. It gets rid successively of the most hostile ministers and advisers. Of the four wire which it gave to Gaozong, the two first are very appreciated of the emperor and the ministers. They will be successively indicated crown prince, but Wuzetian itself will draw aside them from the capacity. Both will die: the elder one, Li Hong, poisoned, the second, Li Xian, assassinated after being degraded and being banished. Just as for his/her daughter, it is it whom the Chinese historians show of these deaths. The third wire, extremely flexible, reaches has its turn with the rank of crown prince. It will become a time emperor with dead of its father in 683 under the name of Zhongzong, but Wu Zetian remains in charge of the policy as Gaozong had stipulated in its last wills. A little later Zhongzong taking too much freedom to the taste of his/her mother, it makes it dislocate and replace by his/her young brother, Ruizong.

Wu Zetian prepares right now its accession with the position of emperor. It changes the name of Luoyang into Shendu (divine city), thus revealing its intention to move the capital of the empire, and allots new titles to the civils servant of the palate. The intention which hides behind these transformations does not escape a certain number of opponents who seek to put an end to it. In 684, it must make repress a revolt carried out by Xujingye, a banished dignitary.

It establishes its reputation to be promised with an exceptional destiny. It is thus made present by a nephew of the Wu clan a stone allegedly discovered in the Luo river (whose the trigrams would have formerly left the Yi Jing ), on which the sentence is engraved: “Advent of a holy mother who will take again with glare the imperial function”. It then changes the name of the era into Yongchang (eternity and prosperity); there will be eighteen changes of era during its reign. It is made allot by Ruizong and the ministers the révérentielle name of “Holy mother and divine emperor”. For better printing its mark, it also makes create by the well-read man Zong Qinke ten new characters which will have to replace the sinogrammes origin.

In 690, the day of the Festival of the new double, it degrades Ruizong as a crown prince and proclaims “emperor of the dynatie Zhou” 周. She claims indeed that her family goes down from the antique dynasty Zhou, of which she promotes the first king, Wenwang, founder of her own dynasty under the name of Shizuwen emperor. The father of Wu Zetian is named on a purely posthumous basis emperor Xiaoming and itself appoints Shengshen emperor. Its preferred nephew, Wu Chengsi, also receive a title.

Its policy

It continues to set up its new policy, in which one as well finds provisions of enlightened government as of despotic and cruel measurements.

It makes return the recruitment of the civils servant to his ideal of origin, the selection of best, by completing the setting-up outlined under the Sui of an impartial system of examinations in which the family origin of the candidate is not any more one criterion. In a general way, it recruits and promotes its advisers and ministers without particular regard to the social position of their clan. This attitude will have probably played in its favor to preserve partisans to him. It supports the expansion of the Bouddhisme; the Buddha Vairocana of the cave of Fengxian is most famous of the statues which it would have financed with Longmen. On the opinion of an adviser, it sets up an information system on the state of the empire, in the shape of four ballot boxes placed at the palate where one can come to deposit messages informing of situations endangering the mode. A document specifies that these advisers must be treated with regard at the time of their voyage towards and since the capital.

On another side, she does not hesitate to employ “inquisiteurs” charged to tap by the torture of information to her enemies, particularly the members and in favor of the clan Li, founder of the Tang, and to carry out them. This mode will remain ten years, at the conclusion which, about removed from the opponents resulting from the big families, Wu Zetian will make carry out the inquisiteurs themselves to wash itself with the eyes of the opinion of its share of responsibility in this extremely criticized institution.

Impossible independence

Nevertheless, its rise towards total imperium runs up against an obstacle inherent in the social and family designs: if a woman can of alive sound get rid of the family of her husband and direct only a country, once died it lines up inevitably among the ancestors of the marital clan and not of his clan of birth. However, Wu Zetian does not aim only the capacity in fact, but the integral recognition of its supreme position, including after its death. It works since its accession with the throne with the obliteration of the family Li. In this logic, it promotes the men of its clan of origin, Wu, at increasingly important stations, and one can think that it is tried one moment to designate a nephew like heir instead of one to his sons. She knows nevertheless that as an ancestor of the clan Li she will never have her place in the line of the emperors founders of a dynasty belonging to Wu. She finally chooses to leave her new Zhou empire with the heirs to the Tang, her sons. 74 years old, it gathers her surviving children and their fact share solemnly of his decision of naming crown prince the elder one to the two surviving wire, which was briefly the Zhongzong emperor (the tradition says that the évincé nephew, Wu Chengsi, died about it of spite).

End

In 704, it falls ill and cannot meet the ministers any more. A new rebellion takes place into 705, carried out by the Prime Minister Zhang Jian who obliges it to abdicate in favor of the heir, who restores the dynasty Tang. An important objective of this coup d'etat was to put an end to the intrigues of two favorites, the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, which one showed to be his lovers. Wu Zetian is withdrawn with the palate of Shangyang in the south-west of Luoyang. His/her son decrees to him as consolation the title of “Large and holy Zetian emperor”.

She dies shortly after. In the document which reports its last wills, which one is unaware of besides if they were really his, she asks that the title of emperor decreed by Zhongzong be transformed into “empress” and that one buries it as such at Gaozong. She returns their position to the families of the Wang empress and Xiaoshufei, like with the civils servant and ministers dislocated during the mode of the inquisiteurs. Its posthumous name will change several times to set in 749: “Empress Zetian Shunsheng”.

Anecdote

According to the legend, the pressing empress ordered with hundred Fleur S to open out by one night of winter about the year 700. Only the Pivoine S remained deaf with its call, which was worth to them to be banished of Chang' year with Luoyang, the secondary capital, of which they became the emblem.

The Judge Ti

The judge and investigating Ti (630 - 700, Hanyu pinyin: Dí Rénjié, Chinese: 狄仁傑), celebrates Détective popularized by the novels of Robert van Gulik continued by Frederic Lenormand, finished his career as minister of Wu Zetian.

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