Wu Zetian: The Only Female Emperor in Chinese History

Wu Zetian: The Only Female Emperor in Chinese History

On September 9, 690 in Luoyang, China, a 67-year-old woman ascended Zetian Gate and declared a change of dynastic name to Zhou, proclaiming herself emperor. With that, she became the only woman in Chinese history ever to formally hold the title of emperor. Her birth name was Wu Zhao; after enthronement she changed her name to Wu Zhao (written with a new character), known to history as Wu Zetian. She reigned for 15 years and completed a 50-year path to power that took her from Tang Taizong's concubine to Tang Gaozong's empress, to empress dowager, and finally to emperor. This is the most extraordinary political achievement by a woman in Chinese history.

Wu Zetian's life was full of drama. She entered the palace as a junior concubine at 14, was forced to become a nun at 22, returned to the palace as a Zhaoyi at 28, became empress at 32, became empress dowager at 57, and became emperor at 67. Each step was a barrier that women in her society could barely cross, and she crossed every one. Her story is not just a personal legend but the ultimate case study of female political power in ancient China.

The 14-Year-Old Concubine Who Entered the Palace

Wu Zetian's birth name was Wu Zhao. She was born in 624 in Wenshui County, Shanxi. Her father Wu Shihuo was a founding official of the Tang Dynasty, and her mother Lady Yang was a descendant of the Sui imperial house. This background ensured a fine education from an early age. At 14, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin heard of her beauty and summoned her into the palace as a Cairen, a sixth-rank concubine with a fixed monthly stipend.

Wu Zetian spent 12 years as a Cairen serving Emperor Taizong, from age 14 to 26. In those years she enjoyed little favor, because Taizong preferred mature and gentle women, and her fierce temperament did not suit his taste. But the 12 years gave her the chance to observe the politics of the Tang court up close and to learn how to handle state affairs. This early political education was a crucial foundation for her later rise. While most other consorts cared only about winning favor, Wu Zetian was learning statecraft, and this difference determined her fate.

Becoming a Nun

Emperor Taizong died in 649. Under Tang custom, concubines who had not borne children all had to become nuns to pray for the late emperor. The 26-year-old Wu Zetian shaved her head and entered Ganye Nunnery. The fall from imperial palace to nunnery was a massive blow to any politically ambitious woman. Under normal circumstances, she might have spent the rest of her life in the convent and quietly disappeared from history.

But Wu Zetian had a chance opportunity. Taizong's son Li Zhi had known her when he was still crown prince and may have developed feelings for her then. After Li Zhi became emperor in 651, he visited Ganye Nunnery one day to pray, saw Wu Zetian, and his old feelings rekindled. She seized the chance to court his favor. Li Zhi's wife Empress Wang, seeing this, thought she could use Wu Zetian as a weapon against her chief rival Consort Xiao, and personally suggested that Li Zhi bring Wu Zetian back to the palace. This suggestion would prove to be the greatest mistake of Empress Wang's life.

The Coup That Brought Down the Empress

After returning to the palace, Wu Zetian was named Zhaoyi, second in rank only to Empress Wang. But Wu Zetian's goal was the empress's seat itself, not second place beneath her. She began systematically squeezing Empress Wang out. Wu Zetian used her own daughter in a horrifyingly cruel act that remains a historical mystery. Her newborn daughter died in the cradle, and Wu Zetian used the death to frame Empress Wang, claiming the empress had murdered the princess out of jealousy.

Li Zhi had never been deeply attached to Empress Wang, and Wu Zetian's manipulation pushed him toward considering deposition. Some officials objected, arguing that Empress Wang was the rightful wife and could not be removed lightly. Li Zhi convened a meeting of senior ministers. Zhangsun Wuji and others strongly opposed, but Li Ji said, "This is the emperor's family matter for Your Majesty to decide." That one sentence sealed Wu Zetian's fate. In 655 Li Zhi formally deposed Empress Wang and made Wu Zetian empress. In four years she had risen from Zhaoyi to empress, completing the first great political leap.

The "Two Sages" Reign

After becoming empress, Wu Zetian immediately began interfering in state affairs. Li Zhi had always been frail; from 660 he suffered from a wind-stroke disorder that caused headaches and blurred vision, leaving him unable to handle government. This gave Wu Zetian her opening to take over. Whenever he fell ill, she would help review memorials, and gradually she came to control court decisions. By 664 the "Two Sages reigning" arrangement was formalized: Li Zhi and Wu Zetian sat together at audiences to receive ministerial respects.

This arrangement lasted nearly 20 years. During this time Wu Zetian handled state affairs almost on her own. Li Zhi was emperor in name but rarely intervened in concrete decisions. Wu Zetian used the period to build her own political base, promoting many officials of humble origins who had risen through the examinations, breaking the monopoly of the Guanlong aristocratic group. She also waged several frontier campaigns, consolidating Tang territory. This long political apprenticeship gave her complete executive experience and prepared her thoroughly for the throne.

The Drama of Formal Enthronement

Li Zhi died in 683. Wu Zetian's son Li Xian succeeded as Emperor Zhongzong. But Li Xian was emperor for only 55 days before being deposed by Wu Zetian, because he tried to use his father-in-law's clan to oppose her. Wu Zetian then enthroned another son, Li Dan, as Emperor Ruizong. But Li Dan never truly held power; all matters of state were handled by his mother.

By 690 Wu Zetian judged the time was ripe and decided to take the throne herself. She had ministers organize repeated petitions urging her to ascend, while she feigned refusal. She finally accepted and proclaimed at Zetian Gate in Luoyang that the Tang dynasty was being replaced by the Zhou, with herself as emperor. Such a transition from dowager to emperor was unprecedented in Chinese history. Wu Zetian spent seven years preparing the formal enthronement, with every step meticulously planned. She chose the dynastic name Zhou because her surname was Wu, and the Wu clan was traditionally said to descend from a cadet branch of the Ji clan of ancient Zhou. She also created 18 new Chinese characters for use in imperial documents, including the character zhao she chose for her own name, meaning "sun and moon together in the sky."

The Politics of Cruel Officials

After taking the throne Wu Zetian faced enormous legitimacy problems. Tradition held that a woman should not be emperor, and many officials and Tang princes opposed her. She used the politics of "cruel officials" to suppress dissent. Appointing such figures as Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, she built a complete system of informants and interrogators. Anyone suspected of opposing her could be arrested by these officials, often tortured with extreme cruelty until a confession was forced, and eventually executed.

This era is known as the harsh politics of Wu Zhou. Many innocent people were framed and killed. But Wu Zetian's political skill was formidable; while suppressing enemies, she also promoted talented officials. She reformed the imperial examinations by introducing palace exams, name-concealment, and recopying of answer sheets, giving young men of humble background more access to the bureaucracy. Wise officials like Di Renjie and Zhang Jianzhi were elevated by her in this era. This carrot-and-stick approach stabilized her rule and at the same time nurtured the forces that would one day overthrow her.

The Shenlong Coup and Abdication

In 705 the 82-year-old Wu Zetian was gravely ill. Chancellor Zhang Jianzhi joined forces with other ministers to launch a coup forcing her to abdicate in favor of her son Li Xian. The event is known as the Shenlong coup. Wu Zetian did not resist, knowing her time was short. Before abdicating she gave one striking instruction: she demanded a wordless stele be erected over her tomb after her death. The Wordless Stele still stands at Qianling, leaving everyone to guess what she wanted to say.

Wu Zetian died in December 705 at age 82. Her final edict ordered the restoration of the Tang dynastic title, the removal of her imperial title, and her burial at Qianling as Empress to Li Zhi. The edict positioned her in history as a Tang empress rather than a Zhou emperor. The Wu Zhou dynasty she founded lasted 15 years and vanished with her death. But her influence on Chinese history was hardly limited to those 15 years. Her examination reforms, talent-selection systems, and the awakening of female political consciousness she encouraged all had far-reaching effects on later eras.

Wu Zetian's Legacy to History

Wu Zetian's greatest legacy is the proof that a woman could rule as emperor. Before her, Chinese history had seen powerful women like Empress Lu and Empress Deng Sui, but none had taken the imperial title. Wu Zetian shattered that ceiling. After her, women like Empress Dowager Cixi, though they did not formally take the throne, all looked to her as a precedent. Her contribution to the awakening of female political consciousness in China is immense.

The Tang remained strong during her reign. Many feel she set the Tang back, but the data show otherwise: during her rule the Tang population grew from about 30 million to 45 million, the economy continued to prosper, and examination reform increased social mobility. These are concrete achievements. Until her abdication in 705, the Tang remained at its historic peak. The controversy around Wu Zetian was not about her abilities but about the legitimacy of a woman holding imperial power. That controversy itself reflects the deeply rooted male-dominated society's prejudice against female political authority. Wu Zetian's life tells later generations that gender is never the limit of political capacity; what limits women is the system itself.

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