The Last Decree: The Night the Emperor Became a Woman Again

The air in the Shangyang Palace—the “Palace of the Rising Sun,” in the eastern capital of Luoyang—was thick with the scent of incense and the silence of a woman who had ruled the world. It was the winter of AD 705, and an old woman of eighty-one lay in her chambers, stripped of her imperial title. Her name was Wu Zhao, and she had been, for fifteen years, the Shengshen Huangdi—the “Holy and Divine Emperor” of the Zhou dynasty. Now, she was simply the Zetian Dasheng Huanghou—the “Empress of the Great Sage.” The son she had deposed, Li Xian, had been restored to the Tang throne. The dynasty she had founded was erased. And she was waiting to die.

She had been born in AD 624—the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang—in the town of Wenshui, in what is now Shanxi Province. Her father, Wu Shiyue, was a timber merchant who had made a fortune supplying the Tang founder with wood for his armies, and had been rewarded with a noble title and a position at court. Her mother, Lady Yang, was a member of the imperial Sui clan, a woman of learning and ambition who raised her daughter to believe that she was the equal of any man[citation:1][citation:7].

She had been a concubine of Emperor Taizong, then a nun, then the empress of Emperor Gaozong, then the de facto ruler of China, and finally, in AD 690, the emperor of a new dynasty. She had killed her rivals, her enemies, and—according to some accounts—her own children. She had reformed the government, expanded the empire, and opened the examination system to commoners. She had ruled for half a century, and she had done it all as a woman in a civilization that believed women had no place in power.

Now, on her deathbed, she made one final decision. She ordered that her title of emperor be revoked. She would die as an empress of the Tang, not as the founder of a failed dynasty. She would be buried beside her husband, Emperor Gaozong, in the Qianling Mausoleum. And her tombstone—the stele that would mark her grave for eternity—would be left blank.

The Jiu Tang Shu records her final words: “I have done nothing for the empire. Let me be buried simply, as an empress.” It was a lie. She had done everything. But the blank stele was her last, most brilliant act of political theatre. She had spent her life being written about by men who hated her. Now, she would force them to write nothing at all.

What drives a woman—a concubine, a mother, a widow—to claim a throne that no woman had ever claimed? The answer lies not in the palace at Luoyang, but in the brutal education of a girl who learned that survival required ambition.

The Concubine’s Ascent: Forged in Blood and Ambition

The Blood of the Merchant

Wu Zhao—her original name is unknown; Zhao was a name she chose for herself, meaning “bright” or “illuminated”—was born into a family of parvenus. Her father, Wu Shiyue, had been a merchant, a social class that was despised by the Confucian elite. He had bought his way into the aristocracy through his service to the Tang founder, but the stigma of trade clung to the family. The Old Book of Tang records that when Wu Zhao entered the palace, the other concubines mocked her as “the daughter of a timber merchant.”

She was fourteen when she was summoned to the palace of Emperor Taizong in AD 637. The emperor, impressed by her beauty and her intelligence, made her a cairen—a “lady of talent,” a low-ranking concubine whose duties included serving the emperor‘s literary needs. She was given the name Wu Mei—“Wu the Charming”[citation:7].

But she was not content to be a decorative concubine. The Zizhi Tongjian records a story from her early years: when Taizong showed her a fierce horse named Shizi Cong (“Lion’s Mane”) that no one could tame, Wu Zhao declared that she could control it with three things—an iron whip, an iron hammer, and a dagger. “If it doesn‘t obey the whip,” she said, “I‘ll hit its head with the hammer. If it still doesn’t obey, I‘ll cut its throat.” Taizong laughed, but the story reveals something essential about Wu Zhao: she believed that power was not given. It was taken[citation:7].

The Three Relationships That Defined Wu Zetian

The Emperor Who Ignored Her: Taizong

For twelve years, Wu Zhao served Taizong. She bore him no children. She was not promoted. The Old Book of Tang suggests that Taizong was wary of her ambition, her ruthlessness, her willingness to use any means necessary to achieve her goals. She was, in the words of one historian, “too much like him”—and that was not a compliment. When Taizong died in AD 649, Wu Zhao was sent to the Ganye Temple to become a nun, as was the custom for concubines without children. She was twenty-six years old. Her career, it seemed, was over[citation:7].

The Son Who Loved Her: Gaozong

But Wu Zhao had made a crucial ally: Li Zhi, Taizong‘s son and successor, who would reign as Emperor Gaozong. Before Taizong’s death, Wu Zhao had caught the young prince‘s eye. The Zizhi Tongjian records that when Gaozong visited the temple after his father’s death, he saw Wu Zhao weeping among the nuns. He was moved. He took her back to the palace.

Within a year, Wu Zhao had become Gaozong‘s favorite. She bore him a son, Li Hong, in AD 652. She was promoted to zhaoyi, the second-highest rank of concubine. But she wanted more. The empress, Lady Wang, was childless and losing the emperor’s favor. Wu Zhao saw her opportunity.

The Zizhi Tongjian records the infamous story: Wu Zhao, after giving birth to a daughter, killed the infant with her own hands and blamed the empress, who had visited the child shortly before its death. Whether the story is true—and some historians doubt it, noting that it first appears in sources written centuries later—it served its purpose. Gaozong, convinced of the empress‘s guilt, deposed her in AD 655 and made Wu Zhao his empress. The Old Book of Tang records the moment: “The emperor issued an edict, deposing Empress Wang and making Wu Zhao empress. The former empress and her ally, Consort Xiao, were imprisoned in a separate palace.”

The Ministers Who Opposed Her: The Old Aristocracy

Wu Zhao‘s rise was not welcomed by the established aristocracy. The great families of the Tang—the guanlong clans who had dominated the court for generations—saw her as an upstart, a merchant’s daughter, a woman who had no business in politics. The chancellor, Zhangsun Wuji, Gaozong‘s uncle and the most powerful man in the empire, led the opposition. Wu Zhao never forgave him. When she consolidated her power, she had him exiled and forced to commit suicide. The Zizhi Tongjian records her purge: “Those who opposed the empress were executed, exiled, or stripped of their offices. The court was emptied of the old aristocracy.”

The Turning Point: The Empress Becomes the Ruler

In AD 660, Gaozong suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and unable to read or write. Wu Zhao, who had been his secretary and advisor for years, took over the administration of the empire. The Old Book of Tang records: “The empress was intelligent and decisive. She knew how to read the memorials and how to manage the officials. The emperor, suffering from illness, could not handle the affairs of state, and so the empress took charge.”

For the next twenty-three years, Wu Zhao ruled alongside her husband—a period the Chinese called “Er Sheng Lin Chao” (“Two Sages Ruling Together”). When Gaozong died in AD 683, she became the Empress Dowager and regent for her son, Emperor Zhongzong. But Zhongzong proved stubborn, and Wu Zhao deposed him after just six weeks. She placed her youngest son, Ruizong, on the throne—a puppet who was forbidden from even meeting with his officials[citation:6].

In AD 690, Wu Zhao took the final step. She forced Ruizong to abdicate, declared the Tang dynasty ended, and proclaimed the new Zhou dynasty. She took the title Shengshen Huangdi—the “Holy and Divine Emperor.” She was sixty-six years old[citation:1][citation:7].

The Architecture of the Zhou: Power, Buddhism, and the Exam

The Ideology: Buddhism as a Woman‘s Mandate

Wu Zetian could not claim the Mandate of Heaven in the traditional Confucian sense. The Confucian classics were clear: women were to be ruled, not to rule. The Book of Documents and the Rites of Zhou described a cosmic order in which the emperor was the yang—the masculine principle—and the empress was the yin. For a woman to claim the throne was to upend the universe itself[citation:12].

Wu Zetian‘s solution was Buddhism. The Mahayana tradition offered a vision of power that was not gendered. The Lotus Sutra told the story of the dragon king‘s daughter, a female who achieved enlightenment and became a Buddha—a female Buddha, a Tathagata. Wu Zetian exploited this tradition brilliantly. She sponsored the translation of Buddhist texts, built temples, and commissioned a commentary on the Mahayana Sutra of the Great Cloud that declared her a reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha who would save the world[citation:12].

The Old Book of Tang records the theological argument: “The empress is a Bodhisattva who has manifested in the world to save all beings. She is not a mere woman; she is a divine being.” It was a radical claim—and it worked. The Buddhist establishment supported her. The people, many of them Buddhist, accepted her. The Confucian scholars might object, but they could not argue with a goddess.

The Reforms: Opening the Doors of Power

Wu Zetian understood that the old aristocracy would never accept her. So she created a new elite. She expanded the imperial examination system—the keju—making it the primary path to official office. She introduced the “palace examination” (dianshi), in which she personally tested the candidates, and the “military examination” (wuju), which allowed men of military talent to compete for positions[citation:6].

The Zizhi Tongjian records the result: “From this time on, men of humble birth could rise to the highest offices. The old families lost their monopoly on power.” Wu Zetian promoted scholars from the south, from the frontier, from families that had never held office before. She created a new class of officials who owed their positions to her—not to their birth.

She also reformed the economy. She lowered taxes on peasants, distributed land through the juntian system, and promoted agricultural innovation. The Old Book of Tang records that “the granaries were full, and the people were content.”

The Military: Expanding the Empire

Wu Zetian was not content to merely rule China. She wanted to expand it. In AD 692, she launched a campaign against the Tibetan Empire, which had seized the Four Garrisons of Anxi—the strategic cities of Kashgar, Khotan, Kucha, and Suyab in the Western Regions. She appointed Wang Xiaojie, a general who had been captured by the Tibetans years earlier and knew their tactics, to lead the campaign. The Jiu Tang Shu records the result: “Wang Xiaojie defeated the Tibetans and recovered the Four Garrisons. He established the Anxi Protectorate at Kucha and stationed troops to defend it.”[citation:3]

The victory was strategic and symbolic. It restored Chinese control over the Silk Road and reasserted China’s position as the dominant power in Central Asia. The Old Book of Tang records that “from this time on, the Western Regions were at peace, and the trade routes were open.”[citation:3]

She also defended the northern frontier against the Eastern Turks, who had grown restive under her rule. In AD 698, the Turkic khan Qapaghan invaded, demanding the return of Chinese territory and a marriage alliance. Wu Zetian sent Zhang Renzhen, a general who had fought the Turks in the northeast, to negotiate. When Qapaghan refused to back down, she authorized a military campaign that pushed the Turks back across the Gobi. The Zizhi Tongjian records that “the Turks did not dare to cross the border again for years.”[citation:4]

The Classic Scene: The Empress and the Examiner

The scene is the palace examination hall in Luoyang, AD 690. Wu Zetian, now emperor, sits on a raised platform, surrounded by scholars. Before her stand the candidates who have passed the preliminary examinations—men from every corner of the empire, from noble families and peasant households alike. She asks them questions about statecraft, about the Book of Songs, about the proper role of the ruler. She listens carefully. She takes notes. And then she makes her decision.

The Zizhi Tongjian records her method: “She examined the candidates herself, and those who pleased her were given the highest offices. Those who did not were dismissed. There was no appeal.” She was, in effect, the ultimate examiner—the woman who decided who would rule the empire, and who would not.

It was a revolutionary inversion of the old order. In the Tang dynasty, power had belonged to the great families, the men whose ancestors had served the empire for generations. Under Wu Zetian, power belonged to her—and she distributed it as she saw fit.

The Man Behind the System: Character and Contradictions

Wu Zetian was not a saint. She was a tyrant, a killer, and a woman who destroyed anyone who stood in her way. She executed her opponents, exiled her rivals, and—if the stories are true—killed her own children to secure her power. She used secret police, informers, and torture to maintain her rule. The Zizhi Tongjian records her reign of terror: “Those who opposed her were executed without trial. The officials lived in fear, never knowing when they would be arrested.”

But she was also a brilliant administrator, a visionary reformer, and a ruler who genuinely cared about the welfare of her people. She lowered taxes, promoted agriculture, and opened the doors of opportunity to those who had been excluded by birth. She was, in the words of one modern historian, “a complex figure—both a monster and a genius, both a tyrant and a reformer.”[citation:12]

She was also, in a very real sense, a survivor. She had been a concubine, a nun, an empress, a widow, a regent, and an emperor. She had outlived her enemies, her rivals, and her own children. She had done what no woman had ever done—and she had done it alone.

The Blank Stele: Death, Legacy, and the Global Stage

The Fall: The Coup of AD 705

In AD 705, Wu Zetian was eighty-one years old. She had ruled for half a century—first as empress, then as regent, then as emperor. But she was old, and she was ill, and her court was divided. The question of succession had become the central crisis of her reign: would she be succeeded by a member of the Wu family, or a member of the Li family—her sons, the heirs of the Tang?

She had never resolved the question. She had promoted her nephews, Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi, to positions of power. But she had also restored her son, Li Xian, as crown prince. The court was split between those who supported the Wu and those who supported the Li.

On February 20, AD 705, a group of officials led by Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, and Jing Hui launched a coup. They entered the palace with soldiers, arrested Wu Zetian‘s favorites—the Zhang brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who had become her lovers and advisors—and forced her to abdicate. The Zizhi Tongjian records the scene: “The empress, awakened by the commotion, asked what was happening. The soldiers told her that the Zhang brothers had been executed and that she was to yield the throne. She said nothing.”

She was moved to the Shangyang Palace, and her son Li Xian was restored as Emperor Zhongzong. The Zhou dynasty was abolished, and the Tang was restored. Wu Zetian was given the title Zetian Dasheng Huanghou—the “Empress of the Great Sage”—and forbidden from participating in politics. She died on December 16, AD 705, just ten months after her abdication[citation:1][citation:6].

The Chinese Gene: The Legacy of the Only Female Emperor

Wu Zetian‘s legacy is one of the most contested in Chinese history. For centuries, she was remembered as a usurper, a tyrant, and a woman who had violated the natural order. The Confucian historians who wrote the official records of the Tang dynasty portrayed her as a monster—a woman who had killed her own children, who had used sex to gain power, who had destroyed the dynasty she had sworn to serve[citation:12].

But modern historians have offered a more nuanced view. They point to her reforms—the expansion of the examination system, the reduction of taxes, the promotion of Buddhism, the military campaigns that secured the frontiers. They note that her reign was a period of peace, prosperity, and cultural flourishing. They argue that she was, in the words of the World History Encyclopedia, “one of the most interesting and complex figures in ancient Chinese history.”[citation:12]

First, the precedent of female rule. Wu Zetian proved that a woman could rule China—and rule it well. No woman has done it since, but her example has haunted the Chinese imagination for over a thousand years. She is the ultimate symbol of female ambition, and the ultimate proof that the Confucian order could be challenged.

Second, the expansion of the examination system. Wu Zetian‘s reforms opened the doors of power to men of talent, regardless of birth. The examination system she expanded would become the defining institution of Chinese governance for over a millennium. The scholars who passed her examinations would shape Chinese culture for centuries[citation:6].

Third, the blank stele. The stele she left at her tomb—empty, waiting for someone else to write her story—is one of the most brilliant acts of self-representation in history. She knew that the historians would condemn her. So she refused to give them the satisfaction of writing her epitaph. She let them say nothing.

Wu Zetian and the World: A Global Perspective

Wu Zetian lived in the same era as the Umayyad Caliphate (AD 661–750), which was expanding across the Middle East and North Africa, and the Byzantine Empire, which was fighting for its survival against the Arabs. In the same years that Wu Zetian was building her Zhou dynasty, the Islamic world was being forged by the conquests of the first caliphs.

But no contemporary ruler—in Europe, in the Middle East, or in India—was a woman. Wu Zetian was unique. She was the only female emperor in a civilization that had never imagined a female emperor. She was a woman who ruled the most powerful empire in East Asia, and she did it on her own terms.

Her achievement, viewed in this global context, is remarkable for its singularity. There had been female rulers before—queens, regents, empresses dowager—but none had claimed the title of emperor. Wu Zetian did not merely rule; she reigned. She founded a dynasty, took a new name, and declared herself a divine being. She did what no woman had done, and what no woman would do again.

The Man Behind the Myth

The historical Wu Zetian is difficult to recover. The Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang were written by officials of the Tang dynasty that she had usurped, and they had every reason to portray her as a monster. The Zizhi Tongjian, written by Sima Guang in the Song dynasty, was even more hostile. The portrait that emerges is a caricature: a woman of insatiable ambition, of monstrous cruelty, of unnatural sexuality.

But the World History Encyclopedia notes that “many historians of the past have just repeated what earlier writers reported without much thought.” Modern scholars like N. Harry Rothschild, author of Wu Zhao: China‘s Only Woman Emperor, have argued that the stories of her killing her children, of her sexual excesses, of her ruthless purges, were exaggerated or invented by her enemies. The truth, Rothschild suggests, is that Wu Zetian was a “brilliant and complex woman” who “refused to be controlled by men or the traditions men forced women to follow.”[citation:12]

She died in AD 705, a woman who had ruled the world and lost it. Her tombstone remains blank—the only emperor in Chinese history without an epitaph. But the blankness is itself a statement. She is the emperor who cannot be written about, the woman who defied the categories, the ruler who refused to be defined by the men who wrote history.

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For the reader who wishes to explore further: the primary sources for Wu Zetian’s life are her biographies in the Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tang Shu) and the New Book of Tang (Xin Tang Shu), as well as the Zizhi Tongjian by Sima Guang. The most accessible English biography is N. Harry Rothschild‘s Wu Zhao: China’s Only Woman Emperor (Pearson Longman, 2008).