Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian was a ruling empress, one of the concubines of Emperor Taizong and even a nun in the temple at different times of her life. The essay looks at the different facets of Wu Zetian personality and how she ruled as an emperor for a long time and managed to rule China successfully. She was doing a man’s job as the only empress in Chinese history, her contribution to the development of China is significant. This paper examines how Wu Zetian maintained the image of a ruler and a woman. The life of Empress Wu Zetian illustrates how a woman can overcome her societal constraints and go on to rule a complex empire. She may be considered “unwomanly” and many writings tarnish her image, but it is still commendable that she was able to rule for a long period in the male dominated patriarchal society of China.
Wu Zetian became the ruling empress after the death of Tang Emperor Gaozong. In fact, she is the only ruling empress in Chinese history. Under her rule, agricultural production was encouraged. Capable people were appointed to official positions, and military campaigns saw completion. Wu Zetian’s interpersonal relationships, as well as her governance of a vast empire, are given prominence by the historians. Still, what she achieved in the public sphere and how she is shaping the course of history has been overshadowed by the portrayal of her as a ruthless and manipulative ruler. What makes Wu Zetian difficult to compare with other notable women is her unwomanly image1. She did not fit in any of those categories of women in a male-dominated society. The literature is divided on how to look at her and categorize her as she was an “unwomanly” woman.
______________________1 Joshua Fogel, 1999. Asian Female Sovereigns and the Empress Wu1. Senshū University 1(1): 145
When Wu Zetian came to power, it is seen that Tang dynasty became more corrupt. When her name appears in history reference books, she has seen a ruler who wielded corrupt powers. It is strange that her name is not taken for equality between men and women2. There are two reasons behind, first is that when acquiring a new understanding of history, and describing the economic development of the Tang and Sui dynasties, there were more contents related to class contradictions. Thus, against this backdrop, less or nothing was written about emperors and generals. Secondly, even when there was a strong call for gender equality, the government wanted to focus on positive political and economic developments. This is why perhaps Wu Zetian was deleted from the main picture. Wu Zetian, as the only Chinese empress has attracted significant public and critical attention among the literati plus the writers and historians. Some of the Chinese literature paints Wu as the ‘bad unwoman’ who misused her power3 .As the only female emperor, she has more biographies on her than any other historical figure in Chinese history. After all, it would be interesting to write on the only female Empress in China and how she managed to survive and rule over the aristocratic families. She twisted he norms of confusion principles to suit her need. Under her rule, the families of commoners became stronger. She contributed a lot towards the development of China under her rule. Clearly, she meant to rule with a strong hand and was harsh towards her opponents and tolerant to the farmers.
______________________2 Guo Nan. 2003, "Analysis of the Image of Wu Zetian in Junior Middle School Teaching Materials", Chinese Education & Society, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 34-423 Xianlin. Song 2010. Re-gendering Chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor Wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361.
The Confucian society is structured along gender and age lines and supports the male lineage family system where male descendants are all important4. With the Confucian scholar-official class, opposed to any woman interfering in government and public affairs, it is remarkable that she was able to rule for so long. Her exceptional capability and decisiveness emphasize her positive qualities. Her ruthlessness, reputed beauty, and alleged sexual exploits continue to make her a favorite subject among fictional writings. She trusted female confidants, especially her own daughter, and her administrative assistant. Confucianism was the state ideology of the imperial and because of its patriarchal assertions was an obstacle for Wu Ze Tian. In the Confucian ideology, the male was the head of the family and the female rulership was opposed strictly. It was believed that any kind of female intervention in politics would cause disharmony and the Confucian classics heavily criticized empresses. According to Confucianism, women are responsible for their domestic roles. The natural order would be tainted if a woman became the emperor. Wu ZeTian Tian utilized the Buddhism faith to support her claims against Confucianism5, and thus asserted a new model for kingship in Tang China. Her political life was heavily dominated by Buddhism that worked as a supporting force to her political authority. Needless to say, the Confucians continued their aggressive attitude towards Wu Ze Tian in history. Even under the rule of Confucianism, when women confided to the domestic life, they were looked upon to have the same potential as men, and could achieve the highest level of moral and scholarly achievement. What makes Wu Zetian special is that she was the only woman
______________________4 Dora Shu-Fang Dien. 2004. Empress Wu Zetian in Fiction and in History: Female Defiance in Confucian China. Nova 1(1): 1235 Aybike Şeyma Tezel, 2009. A Study On China’s Only Female Ruler Wu Ze Tian. Middle East Technical University 1(1): 113.
____________________6 Guo Nan. 2003, "Analysis of the Image of Wu Zetian in Junior Middle School Teaching Materials", Chinese Education & Society, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 34-427 Xianlin Song,. 2010. Re-gendering chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361.
Wu Zetian entered the Tang Palace as a concubine of Emperor Taizong8 at the age of 14. After the Emperor’s death, she was sent to live her life as a Buddhist nun in Ganye Temple. However, she returned to the Palace, where she served as a concubine and later as the empress of Emperor Gaozong. She founded her own Zhou dynasty in 1690 and ruled under various names for 15 long years. Her unique experience and position have fascinated generations of writers who have written and rewrite on her. In other literature, Wu Zetian stands out as a strong ruler and woman. She is written as an extraordinary woman who carried profound wisdom and overcame the limits of the Confucian feudal ethics. It is remarkable that she became the only female emperor in Chinese history in the male dominated society. When Wu Ze Tian was preparing the conditions to promote her ascendancy to the throne, she showed a relative conformity to the Confucian norms9, but never challenged them. She modified the norms where needed. The problem arose when her dynasty was seen to be unacceptable to Confucian ideology. This is why she found legitimization in Buddhism and found out exceptions whenever she was felt strained by any Confucian principle. She utilized Buddhism, a foreign faith to support her claims against Confucianism. She developed a new model for kingship in Tang China. Buddhism formed the basis of her political propaganda and to gain legal authority.
_________________________________________8 Xianlin Song. 2010. Re-gendering Chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361.9 Aybike Şeyma Tezel, 2009. A Study On China’s Only Female Ruler Wu Ze Tian. Middle East Technical University 1(1): 113.
The aristocrat officials were displeased with Wu Zetian as she did not come from a powerful clan and thus opposed her. In response, Wu Zetian put them to death or demoted them. She is known to be cruel to those who opposed her10, and this led to many people in the Tang imperial clan getting killed. Wu Zetian selected common people from among ordinary landowners and thus, persons with ordinary landowner backgrounds gradually increased in number. Against this social backdrop, the Patriarchal society of China displayed a clear tolerance for the female and related them to power. As holding state power was a male domain, it was natural that Wu Zetian met strong opposition when she was in power. Moreover, unless and until she employed means of violence, she would not have overcome such opposition. Her ruthlessness and unlimited abuse perpetuated the Chinese myth11 that women become less human and more ruthless when they get power. The historical figure disturbs the given social order and thus was not given the title of a proper ruler. She is painted as an anomaly to a woman. Chinese women have been invisible in those thousands of years of Chinese history. Why Wu Zetian attracted an interest can be attributed to the fact that Chinese historians were divided in two12 over categorizing Wu Zetian and how to give her a place in historical annals. After all, it was not easy to categorize her under any known Confucian cultural heritage. She was a woman who didn’t behave like a woman. She was a concubine of both the father and his son and later wife to the son. The female ruler of the country resided both in the space of yin, the dark and
_________________________________________10 Guo Nan 2003, "Analysis of the Image of Wu Zetian in Junior Middle School Teaching Materials", Chinese Education & Society, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 34-4211 Xianlin Song. 2010. Re-gendering Chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor Wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361.12 Xianlin Song. 2010. Re-gendering Chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor Wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361
submissive and Yan, the dominant and strong.
Wu Ze Tian‟s political efforts should not be seen just as a fight for a woman to keep her throne in a patriarchal Chinese environment. She wanted to portray herself as a legitimate ruler and needed political support.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dien, Dora Shu-Fang. 2004. Empress Wu Zetian in Fiction and in History : Female Defiance in Confucian China. Nova 1(1): 123.
Fogel, Joshua.1999. Asian Female Sovereigns and the Empress Wu1. Senshū University 1(1): 145.
Nan, Guo. 2003. Analysis of the image of wu zetian in junior middle school teaching materials. Chinese Education & Society 36 (3): 34-42. Link
Song, Xianlin. 2010. Re-gendering chinese history: Zhao mei's emperor wu zetian. East Asia: An International Quarterly 27 (4): 361.Tezel, Aybike Şeyma, 2009. A Study On China’s Only Female Ruler Wu Ze Tian. Middle East Technical University 1(1): 113.
