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武周则天皇后[查看正文] [修改] [查看历史]ctext:636060
| 关系 | 对象 | 文献依据 |
|---|---|---|
| type | person | |
| name | 武周则天皇后 | default |
| name | 则天皇后 | |
| name | 武曌 | |
| name | 武则天 | |
| died-date | 神龙元年十一月壬寅 705/12/16 | 《旧唐书·卷六 本纪第六 则天皇后》：是日，崩于上阳宫之仙居殿，年八十三，谥曰则天大圣皇后。 |
| born | 624 | |
| died | 705 | |
| father | person:武士彠 | 《新唐书·本纪第四 则天皇后 中宗》：父士彠，官至工部尚书、荆州都督，封应国公。 |
| ruled | dynasty:武周 | |
| from-date 天授元年九月壬午 690/10/16 | ||
| to-date 神龙元年正月癸卯 705/2/20 | ||
| authority-cbdb | 93663 | |
| authority-ddbc | 2099 | |
| authority-viaf | 64806992 | |
| authority-wikidata | Q9738 | |
| link-wikipedia_zh | 武则天 | |
| link-wikipedia_en | Wu_Zetian | |
武曌（624年2月17日 - 705年），中国历史上因执掌君权而得到正史唯一承认的女性皇帝与女性太上皇。武氏是唐高宗的皇后、武周开国皇帝，当代称则天顺圣皇后，或武后，后代通称武则天。武氏为并州文水县人，十四岁入宫为唐太宗才人，十二年不得迁。唐高宗时复为昭仪，谋废得到唐太宗托付于重臣褚遂良的「佳儿佳妇」王皇后与淑妃，得立为皇后（655年－683年）。一时尊号为天后，与唐高宗天皇李治并称「二圣」。由于唐高宗患风眩病，无力听政，660年11月武氏开始临朝，史载「自此内辅国政数十年，威势与帝无异」，683年12月27日－690年10月16日作为唐中宗、唐睿宗的皇太后临朝称制，后改名曌；因为武氏认为自己好像日、月一样崇高，凌挂于天空之上。后利用酷吏集团屡次屠杀唐室诸王大臣以求立威，终于自立为武周皇帝（690年10月16日－705年2月21日在位），称帝后上尊号「圣神皇帝」，退位后中宗上尊号「则天大圣皇帝」，武氏遗制去帝号，称「则天大圣皇后」。武氏另有废除的尊号「圣母神皇、圣神皇帝、金轮圣神皇帝、越古金轮圣神皇帝、慈氏越古金轮圣神皇帝、天册金轮圣神皇帝」等。。于在位期间喜土木作造，尤喜造国字改年号，一年一号。传说洛阳龙门石窟的奉先寺大佛是模仿其面容而作。晚年惑于内宠，不知当立侄或立子。705年元月，被宰相狄仁杰举荐的后任张柬之与禁卫军背叛，被迫还位。退位以后，成为中国历史上唯一一位女性太上皇，同年崩于洛阳上阳宫仙居殿。唐高宗死后从683年实际真正掌权前后22年（如从高宗辅政起计，掌权年期更长，长达46年）。武则天是即位年龄最大（67岁即位）、寿命第三长的皇帝（终年81岁），仅次于清高宗（87岁）和梁武帝（84或85岁）。
显示更多...: 入宫 出家与再入宫 武氏立后 并称「二圣」 参政 废立与称制 建国称帝 神龙政变 评价 盖棺无字碑 一家言 个人缺失 絮语 諡号 家人 丈夫 子 女 孙 孙媳妇 杂录 相关作品与大众文化 电视剧／电影／戏剧/ 游戏 注释
入宫
武氏本名无记载，为唐开国勋旧武士获次女，母亲杨氏为隋朝宗室杨达之女是武士获继室，不见礼于正室诸子。祖籍并州文水县（今山西省文水县），637年十四岁时（贞观十一年十一月）因貌美而入后宫封为五品才人，唐太宗赐号武媚，后世讹称武媚娘。武氏入宫之前向寡居的母亲杨氏告别时说：「侍奉圣明天子，岂知非福？为何还要哭哭啼啼、作儿女之态呢？」
武才人与太宗的三位妃嫔燕德妃、杨婕妤、巢王妃杨氏俱为表亲。而对于太宗时期武氏在宫中的生活细节，史书并没有详细的描述。仅见武氏在晚年时回忆自己为太宗驯马一事。当时，太宗有名马狮子骢，又肥又暴躁没有能调教它的人。武氏在太宗身边侍候，对太宗说：「我能制服它，但是须要三件东西：一是铁鞭，二是铁楇，三是匕首。用铁鞭打它不服，就用楇打它的头；再不服，就用匕首割断它的喉咙。」武氏称太宗壮其之志。复自称尝侍太宗，得其书法之妙。
贞观十七年（643年），太子李承乾被废，晋王李治被立为太子。此后，在太子侍奉太宗汤药之际，李治见到武才人并悦之。
出家与再入宫
贞观二十三年（649年），唐太宗驾崩。武才人依唐后宫之例，入感业寺剃发出家。永徽元年（650年）五月，唐高宗在太宗周年忌日入感业寺进香之时，与身为比丘尼的武氏相遇。当时与萧淑妃争宠的王皇后知悉后，便主动向高宗请求将武氏纳入宫中，企图以此打击萧淑妃。唐高宗早有此意，当即应允。永徽二年（651年）五月，唐高宗的孝服已满，二十七岁的武氏还俗，再度入宫。入宫前武氏已经怀孕，入宫后生下儿子李弘。次年五月，被拜为二品昭仪。
永徽六年（655年）六月，后宫中有人放出不利王皇后之谣言，流传王皇后与其母柳氏（宰相柳奭之姊，柳宗元同族）请来巫师，企图用魇镇之术将武昭仪诅咒而死亡。这谣言在无证据下传到高宗之耳，高宗大怒，并将其母柳氏赶出皇宫，而且欲将武昭仪升为一品宸妃（唐朝后宫四夫人中本来并无宸妃此封号，而原本的四夫人名额已满，唐高宗为了武氏，才创宸妃封号），受到宰相韩瑗和来济的反对，最后不能成事。不久，中书舍人李义府等人勾结武氏，得知高宗欲行废皇后而立武昭仪消息，联络本已贬官不得再进的许敬宗、崔义玄、袁公瑜等人向唐高宗不断请求立武昭仪为R|后，造成群臣支持的表象，废立之意遂再次萌生。
武氏立后
永徽六年(655年）十月十三日，唐高宗又在李世绩等朝廷武勋的模棱两可下，终于颁下诏书：以「阴谋下毒」的罪名，将王皇后和萧淑妃废为庶人，并加囚禁；她们的父母、兄弟等也被削爵免官，流放岭南。七天以后，唐高宗再次下诏，将武昭仪立为皇后；与此同时，又将反对最大的宰相褚遂良贬为外州都督。因为忌讳武氏曾为父亲太宗才人的事实，唐高宗在立后诏书中，称武氏为父亲所赐，「事同政君」。
显庆四年（659年）四月，武后与唐高宗达成共识：将长孙无忌、于志宁、韩瑗、来济等人削职免官，贬出京师。
并称「二圣」
参政
显庆五年（660年），唐高宗患上风疾之症，头晕目眩，不能处理国家大事，遂命皇后武氏代理朝政。在麟德元年（664年），高宗与宰相上官仪商议，打算废掉武氏皇后之位。但上官仪的废后诏书还未草拟好，武后即已从宦官亲信接到消息。她直接来到高宗面前追问此事，唐高宗不得已，便把责任推到上官仪身上。十二月，上官仪被逮捕入狱，不久，即被灭族。
乾封二年（667年）高宗因久疾，命太子弘监国。上元元年（674年）秋八月，武后和高宗并称天皇天后，名为避先帝、先后之称，实欲自尊。十二月，武后上表建议十二事：「一、劝农桑，薄赋徭。二、给复三辅地（免除长安及其附近地区之徭役）。三、息兵，以道德化天下。四、南、北中尚（政府手工工场）禁浮巧。五、省功费力役。六、广言路。七、杜谗口。八、王公以降皆习《老子》。九、父在为母服齐衰（丧服）三年（过去是一年）。十、上元前勋官已给告身（委任状）者，无追核。十一、京官八品以上，益禀入（增加薪水）。十二、百官任事久，材高位下者，得进阶（提级）申滞。」高宗诏皆施行之。武则天能够重视农业生产，规定各州县境内，「田畴垦辟，家有馀粮」者予以升奖；「为政苛滥，户口流移」者必加惩罚。所编《兆人本业》农书，颁行天下，影响很大。而武则天执政期间，其宗教政策乃以佛教在道教之上。
上元二年（675年）三月，武后召集大批文人学士，大量修书，先后撰成《玄览》、《古今内范》、《青宫纪要》、《少阳正范》、《维城典训》、《紫枢要录》、《凤楼新诫》、《孝子传》、《列女传》、《内范要略》、《乐书要录》、《百僚新诫》、《兆人本业》、《臣轨》等书。且密令这批学者参决朝廷奏议，以分宰相之权，时人谓之「北门学士」。时高宗风眩更甚，拟使武后摄政，宰相郝处俊说：「陛下奈何以高祖、太宗之天下，不传之子孙而委之天后乎！」高宗才罢摄政之意。太子李弘深为高宗锺爱，高宗欲禅位于太子，武后不满；刚好太子因为萧淑妃之女义阳、宣城二公主因母得罪武后而被幽禁掖庭宫中、年逾21而未嫁，奏请出阁，高宗许之，武后甚怒。不久太子死于合璧宫，时人以为武后所毒杀，但亦有说法称李弘本来病弱而早夭。
废立与称制
弘道元年（683年）十二月，唐高宗病逝，临终遗诏：太子李显于柩前即位，军国大事有不能裁决者，由武氏决定。四天以后，李显即位，是为唐中宗。武后被尊为皇太后。
光宅元年（684年）二月，中宗欲以韦后父韦玄贞为侍中（宰相），裴炎力谏不听，武后遂废唐中宗为庐陵王，并迁于房州。立第四子豫王李旦为帝，是为唐睿宗，武后临朝称制，自专朝政。同年九月，徐敬业、徐敬猷兄弟联合唐之奇、杜求仁等以扶支持庐陵王为号召，在扬州举兵反武，十多天内就聚合了十万部众。武后当即以左玉钤大将军李孝逸为扬州道大总管，率兵三十万，前往征讨。十一月，徐敬业兵败自杀。
垂拱二年（686年）三月，武后下令制造铜匦（铜制的小箱子），置于洛阳宫城之前，随时接纳臣下表疏。同时，又大开告密之门，规定任何人均可告密。凡属告密之人，国家都要供给驿站车马和饮食。即使是农夫樵人，武后都亲自接见。所告之事，如果符合旨意，就可破格升官。如所告并非事实，亦不会问罪。同时，武后又先后任用索元礼、周兴、来俊臣、侯思止等一大批酷吏，掌管制狱，如果被告者一旦被投入此狱，酷吏们则使用各种酷刑审讯，能活著出狱的百无一二。这样，随著告密之风的日益兴起，被酷吏刑讯拷打致死的人日渐增多。为奖励告密，若有属实，武后对告密者破例授官，以卖饼为生的侯思止，因举发舒王李元名与恒州刺史裴贞谋反，被任命为游击将军、侍御史。王弘义，以无德行见称，告乡里谋反，擢授游击将军、殿中侍御史。
武后掌管李唐的社稷，翦除唐宗室，诸王不自安，欲起兵对抗。还未有共识的时候，博州刺史琅邪王李冲，垂拱四年（688年）八月于博州（今山东聊城东北）举兵。豫州刺史越王李贞起兵豫州（今河南汝南）呼应。武后分遣丘神绩、魏崇裕击之。琅邪王李冲起兵七日败死；九月，越王李贞兵败自杀。武后想尽除李氏诸王，使周兴等审讯之，迫韩王李元嘉、鲁王李灵夔、黄国公李撰、东莞郡公李融、常乐公主等自杀，亲信等均被诛。
这年命令僧薛怀义率令万多人，毁乾元殿，建明堂，花了近一年落成，高二百九十四尺，阔三百尺。共三层，上为圆盖，有条九龙作捧著的姿态。上有铁凤，高一丈。饰以黄金，称为「万象神宫」。明堂既成，又命僧薛怀义铸大像，大像的小指也可以容纳数十人，于明堂北起五层高的天堂来收纳这个大像。所花费用以万亿计，政府财政为之枯竭。是年武承嗣命人凿白石为文曰：「圣母临人，永昌帝业。」号称在洛水中发现，献给武后，武后大喜，命其石曰「宝图」。之后武后加尊号为「圣母神皇」。
武后当政期间为了打击门阀豪族对官位的垄断，进一步发展收拢民心的科举制度。唐太宗共录取进士205人，高宗和武后统治期间共录取一千馀人。平均每年录取人数比贞观时增加一倍以上。武后载初元年（690年）武后在洛城对贡士亲发策问，是「殿试」之始。是年遣「存抚使」十人巡抚诸道，推举有才之人，一年后共举荐一百馀人，武后不问出身，全部加以接见，自称量才任用，或为试凤阁（中书省）舍人、给事中，或为试员外郎、侍御史、补阙、拾遗、校书郎，试官制度自此始，时人有「补阙连车载，拾遗平斗量，把推侍御史，腕脱校书郎。」之语。武后虽以官位收买人心，但对不称己意的人亦会加以罢黜；号称明察善断，故当时一部份士大夫亦乐于为武后效力。
建国称帝
次年（690年）七月，僧法明等撰《大云经》四卷，说武后是弥勒菩萨化身下凡，应作为天下主人，武后下令颁行天下。命两京诸州各置大云寺一所，藏《大云经》，命僧人讲解，并提升佛教的地位在道教之上。是年九月侍御史傅游艺率关中百姓九百人上表，请改国号为周，赐皇帝姓武。于是百官及帝室宗戚、百姓、四夷酋长、沙门、道士共六万馀人，亦上表请改国号。武后准所请，改唐为周。在神都则天门登基即位，改元天授，加尊号圣神皇帝，以睿宗为皇嗣，赐姓武氏，以皇太子为皇孙。立武氏祖宗七庙于神都洛阳，追尊周文王庙号曰始祖，諡号文皇帝。立武承嗣为魏王，武三思为梁王，其馀武氏多人为王及长公主。
同年九月，武则天派右鹰扬卫将军王孝杰为武威军总管，与武卫大将军阿史那忠节率兵赴西域征讨吐蕃。十月，唐军大胜，连克于阗、疏勒、龟兹、碎叶等安西四镇，仍置安西都护府于龟兹，发兵戍守。
长寿三年（694年）武三思率四夷首领请以铜铁铸天枢，立于端门外，以歌颂武则天的功德。武则天亲题曰：「大周万国颂德天枢」。天枢铸造历时八月而成，其形制若柱，高一百零五尺，直径十二尺，八面，每面各五尺，下为铁山，周一百七十尺，以铜为蟠龙、麒麟环绕之；上为腾云承露盘直径三丈，盘上四龙直立捧火珠，高一丈。工人毛婆罗造模，武三思为文，刻百官及四夷首领之名于其上。用铜铁二百万斤，「请胡聚钱百万亿，买铜铁不能足，赋民间农器以足之。」
万岁通天元年（696年）五月，契丹首领李尽忠和孙万荣率兵起义，攻陷营州，杀都督赵文翽。武则天派将军曹仁、张玄遇、李多祚等率兵征讨。由于伏兵，全军覆没。接著，武则天再派武攸宜、王孝杰等率兵讨伐，均大败而归。神功元年（697年）四月，武则天又派武懿宗、娄师德、沙吒忠义率兵二十万，讨伐契丹。六月，孙万荣兵败被杀，契丹馀众归降于突厥。
神功元年（697年）武则天使武懿宗审讯刘思礼谋反事，武懿宗说只要刘思礼指出哪些朝士有分谋反，就免其死罪，于是刘思礼诬告宰相李元素、孙元亨等三十六家「海内名士」，皆遭灭族，亲旧连坐流窜者千馀人。时人以为武懿宗之残暴仅次于周兴、来俊臣。
是年，来俊臣欲罗告武氏诸王及太平公主（中宗之妹，武则天唯一长大成人的亲生女儿），又欲诬皇嗣李旦及庐陵王李显与南北衙共同谋反，拟一网打尽。武氏诸王与太平公主都十分害怕，共同揭发其罪行，下狱处以极刑。仇家争食其肉，不一会就食尽。来俊臣凶狡贪暴网罗无辜，织成反状，杀人不可胜计。「赃贿如山，冤魂塞路」，武则天亦知天下愤怨，下令数他的罪状，并没收其家财。
圣历元年（698年）武承嗣、武三思谋求当太子，几次使人对武则天说：「自古天子未有以异姓为嗣者。」武则天犹豫未决，狄仁杰对武后说：「姑侄之与母子，哪个比较亲近？（武承嗣、武三思皆武后之侄，中宗、睿宗则武后之子）陛下立子，则千秋万岁后，祭祖于太庙；立侄则未闻侄为天子祭姑于太庙者」。又劝武则天召还庐陵王（中宗）。武后由是无立武承嗣、武三思之意。乃召庐陵王还东都，皇嗣（睿宗）请逊位于庐陵王，武后立庐陵王为皇太子，命为元帅，狄仁杰为副元帅率兵击突厥。武则天信重狄仁杰，常谓之「国老」而不呼其名。狄仁杰好诤谏，武则天每屈意从之。狄仁杰死后，武则天泣曰：「朝堂空矣！」常叹：「天夺吾国老何太早邪！」
武则天晚年张易之、张昌宗兄弟迅速崛起，成为武则天的新宠，张易之、张昌宗兄弟年少美姿容，入侍武则天。二人常傅朱粉、穿著华丽的衣服。武承嗣、武三思等都争著追捧他们，甚至为他们执鞭牵马。
中宗长子邵王李重润（中宗第二次为太子时封为邵王）与其妹永泰郡主及郡主婿武延基窃议张易之兄弟「何得任意入宫」，易之投诉于武则天，武则天敕李重润、永泰郡主、武延基皆赐死。
神龙政变
神龙元年（705年）正月，武则天病笃，卧床不起，只有宠臣张易之、张昌宗兄弟侍侧。宰相张柬之、崔玄暐与大臣敬晖、桓彦范、袁恕己等，交结禁军统领李多祚，佯称张易之、张昌宗兄弟谋反，于是发动兵变，率禁军五百馀人，冲入宫中，杀死二张兄弟，随即包围武则天寝宫，要求武则天退位，史称「神龙政变」。
武氏被迫禅让帝位予儿子李显，是为唐中宗，迁居上阳宫。中宗上尊号为「则天大圣皇帝」。
神龙元年十一月十六日（705年12月16日），武曌崩逝于洛阳上阳宫仙居殿内，享寿八十一岁。遗制去帝号，称「则天大圣皇后」。神龙二年（706年）五月，武则天与唐高宗李治合葬于唐乾陵，留无字碑。
评价
盖棺无字碑
历代对武则天有各种不同的评价。唐代前期，由于所有的皇帝都是她的直系子孙，所以当时对武则天的评价相对比较宽容，但唐国史通过对后宫嫔妃与诸王公主的描叙凄惨地予以了无情揭露。随著时间的推移，特别是司马光所主编之《资治通鉴》，对武氏进行严正批判。到了南宋期间，程朱理学在中国思想上占据了主导地位，舆论决定了对武则天的长久评价。譬如明末清初的时候，著名的思想家王夫之，就曾评价武则天「鬼神之所不容，臣民之所共怨」。惟不可否认的是，武后重视延揽，首创钳制文网式的考试，而且知人善任，能重用狄仁杰、张柬之、桓彦范、敬晖、姚崇等中兴名臣。国家在武则天主政期间，文化承贞观之模、百姓尚称富庶。故享「贞观遗风」之誉，亦及于其孙唐玄宗（其母死于武后手）的开元盛世。
武则天的形象源于历史，唐宋时的正史对武则天的家世出身、宫廷生活及掌权执政等状况都有详细的记载。从总体上看，武则天的形象可以分为四个发展阶段。唐五代是发轫期，显示出「本色化」的特点；宋元是沿承期，武则天被「异族化」；明代是转折期，武则天被「艳情化」；清代为繁荣期，出现了两种截然相反的倾向，一种是被「妖魔化」，另一种则是被「理想化」。这与当时的时代特点紧密相关。
一家言
武则天对历史发展做出的第一个贡献是，她打击了保守的门阀世族。武则天被立为皇后以后，把反对她做皇后的长孙无忌、褚遂良等人一个一个的都赶出了朝廷，贬逐到边远地区。这对于武则天来说，是杀鸡儆猴，但这些关陇集团和他们的依附者，在当时已经成为一种既得利益的保守力量。把他们赶出政治舞台标志著关陇集团从北周以来长达一个多世纪统治的终结，也为社会进步和经济发展创造了一个良好的条件。
第二是促进了经济的发展。武则天在建言十二事中就建议「劝农桑，薄赋役」。在她掌权以后，又编撰了《兆人本业记》颁发到州县，作为州县官劝农的参考。她还注意地方吏治，加强对地主官吏的监察。对于土地兼并和逃亡的农民，也采取比较寛容的政策。因此，武则天统治时期，社会是相当安定的，农业、手工业和商业都有了长足的发展，户口也由唐高宗永徽三年（652年）的380万户增加到唐中宗神龙元年（705年）的615万户，平均每年增长0.721%。这在中古时代，是一个很高的增长率，也是反映武则天时期经济发展的客观数据。
第三个贡献是推动了文化的发展。唐人沈既济在谈及科举制度时说到：「太后颇涉文史，好雕虫之艺。」「太后君临天下二十馀年，当时公卿百辟，无不以文章达，因循日久，浸已成风」。一是当时进士科和制科考试主要都是考策问，也就是申论。文章的好坏是录取的主要标准。二是武则天用人不看门第，不问是否为高级官吏的子孙，而是看有否政治才能。因此特别注意从科举出身者中选拔高级官吏。科举出身做到高级官吏的越来越多。这就大大刺激了仕人参加科举的积极性，更刺激了一般人读书学习的热情。这就是沈既济所说的「浸已成风」。开元、天宝年间「父教其子，兄教其弟」，「五尺童子耻不言文墨焉」的社会风气，就是从武则天时期开始的。正是文化的普及，推动了文化的全面发展。著名的诗人和文学家崔融、李乔都是这个时期涌现出来的。雕塑、绘画也达到了前所未有的水平。
个人缺失
另外武则天也有不少负面评价，岑仲勉说，「武后任事率性，好恶无定，终其临朝之日，计曾任宰相七十三人」。其主政初期，由于大兴告密之风，重用酷吏周兴、来俊臣等，加上后世史学家不齿于她违反传统的礼教，身为女子，竟然拥有不少男性嫔妃（称为「男宠」）。但赵翼为武则天的私生活辩护，说：「人主富有四海，妃嫔动千百，后既为女王，而所宠幸不过数人，固亦未足深怪，故后初不以为讳，而且不必讳也。」
武则天统治的缺失主要是丢失安北领土，她将大部份的精力用于对内，因此对外军事，屡有失策。首先在686年一度丢弃了安西四镇，在692年才派王孝杰收复; 696年任用郭元振使反间计令吐蕃内乱，除掉吐蕃名将论钦陵，削弱吐蕃实力。另外又在696年激起孙万荣、李尽忠的叛乱，使武周期间契丹一度落入突厥人手中。安北都护府在高宗死时尚处在中国统治，而滥杀程务挺、弃用王方翼等名将更使东突厥复国; 但在她执政后期已大致平复边疆对外用兵的不利局面，并留下后代一个国力尚强的唐朝。然而，唐太宗和唐高宗辛苦经营的安北领土始终没有再收复过，使唐朝曾经过千万平方公里的江山永远丢失了五分之二，即使是唐玄宗开元盛世也没有恢复安北任何领土，而是被回纥取代。
絮语
• 《旧唐书》：「治乱，时也，存亡，势也。使桀、纣在上，虽十尧不能治；使尧、舜在上，虽十桀不能乱；使懦夫女子乘时得势，亦足坐制群生之命，肆行不义之威。观夫武氏称制之年，英才接轸，靡不痛心于家索，扼腕于朝危，竟不能报先帝之恩，卫吾君之子。俄至无辜被陷，引颈就诛，天地为笼，去将安所？初虽牝鸡司晨，终能复子明辟，飞语辩元忠之罪，善言慰仁杰之心，尊时宪而抑幸臣，听忠言而诛酷吏。有旨哉，有旨哉！」赞曰：「龙漦易貌，丙殿昌储。胡为穹昊，生此夔魖？夺攘神器，秽亵皇居。穷妖白首，降鉴何如。」
• 《新唐书》：「昔者孔子作《春秋》而乱臣贼子惧，其于杀君篡国之主，皆不黜绝之，岂以其盗而有之者，莫大之罪也，不没其实，所以著其大恶而不隐欤？自司马迁、班固皆作《高后纪》，吕氏虽非篡汉，而盗执其国政，遂不敢没其实，岂其得圣人之意欤？抑亦偶合于《春秋》之法也。唐之旧史因之，列武后于本纪，盖其所从来远矣。夫吉凶之于人，犹影响也，而为善者得吉常多，其不幸而罹于凶者有矣；为恶者未始不及于凶，其幸而免者亦时有焉。而小人之虑，遂以为天道难知，为善未必福，而为恶未必祸也。武后之恶，不及于大戮，所谓幸免者也。至中宗韦氏，则祸不旋踵矣。然其亲遭母后之难，而躬自蹈之，所谓下愚之不移者欤！」
• 沈既济：「太后颇涉文史，好雕虫之艺。」「太后君临天下二十馀年，当时公卿百辟，无不以文章达，因循日久，浸已成风。」
• 崔融：「英才远略，鸿业大勋。雷霆其武，日月其文。洒以甘露，覆之庆云。制礼作乐，还淳返朴。宗礼明堂，崇儒太学。四海慕化，九夷禀朔。沈璧大河，泥金中岳。巍乎成功，翕然向风。」
• 鲁宗道：「唐之罪人也，几危社稷。」
• 洪迈《容斋随笔》：「汉之武帝、唐之武后，不可谓不明」。
• 司马光：「虽滥以禄位收天下人心， 然不称职责，寻亦黜之，或加刑诛，挟刑赏之柄以驾御天下，政由己出，明察善断，故当时英贤亦竞为之。」
• 赵翼：「女中英主。」「人主富有四海，妃嫔动千百，后既为女王，而所宠幸不过数人，固亦未足深怪，故后初不以为讳，而且不必讳也。」
• 翟蔼：「武氏以一妇人君临天下二十馀年，是不比于母后之称制者，而直自帝自王也，此其智有过人者。」
• 岑仲勉：「武后任事率性，好恶无定，终其临朝之日，计曾任宰相七十三人。」
• 郭沫若：「政启开元，治宏贞观；芳流剑阁，光被利州。」
• 宋庆龄：「武则天是封建时代杰出的女政治家。但就家庭角色而言，不难看出武则天也是个好妻子。」
• 毛泽东：「武则天确实是个治国之才，她既有容人之量，又有识人之智，还有用人之术。她提拔过不少人，也杀了不少人。刚刚提拔又杀了的也不少。」
• 翦伯赞：「武则天的打击门阀贵族和提拔普通地主做官的政策，是符合当时社会发展趋势的，因此她的作用是积极的……武则天在巩固封建国家的边疆方面，也做了不少工作。」
• 江青对武则天的评价很高，认为武则天是中国妇女中最杰出的人物。
諡号
虽然唐室依照她的遗诏諡号，后来仍有数次修改:
• 殇帝唐隆元年（710年），改为天后。
• 睿宗景云元年（710年），加諡大圣天后。
• 延和元年（712年），改为天后圣帝，未几，改为圣后。
• 玄宗开元四年（716年），改为则天皇后。
• 天宝八载（749年），加諡则天顺圣皇后。
家人
丈夫
• 唐太宗（封为才人）
• 唐高宗（封为才人、昭仪、宸妃、皇后）
子
• 孝敬皇帝李弘（652年－675年）
• 章怀太子李贤（654年－684年）
• 唐中宗李显（旧名李哲）（656年11月26日－710年7月3日）
• 唐睿宗李旦（旧名李旭轮）（662年6月22日－716年7月13日）
女
• 安定公主
• 太平公主
• 千金公主：千金公主为唐高祖之女，于武则天大杀唐朝宗室时为求自保，自请降为武则天义女，武则天改封其为安定公主。
孙
• 唐玄宗李隆基（又称唐明皇）
孙媳妇
• 王皇后 王氏
杂录
• 相传唐太宗在世时，曾请天文师算命，天文师认为，不出三十年，李氏皆亡于一个姓武的人手里了。于是太宗屠杀武氏朝臣，没想到篡位者竟是他身边的武才人。
• 相传在感业寺时期，李治有次前往祭拜，看到武氏后便魂不守舍。当时，与萧淑妃争宠的王皇后，便趁此纳武氏为自己派系，跟萧淑妃对抗，没想到两人皆亡于武氏之手。武自排除萧妃后竟始怕猫，怕猫被萧妃魂魄附身。
• 武则天称帝后，亦有多名男宠，此段为妄说。其中最出名者乃冯小宝（薛怀义），武则天后派他在洛阳东的白马寺出家，法名怀义，但仍与武则天私通。某年盂兰盆节，当时已经逐渐失宠的怀义，为讨武则天注意，火烧明堂，火势蔓延整个洛阳。
• 武则天为了夸饰武周革命，创造了则天文字。部分的则天文字还传到日本、韩国，甚至成为某些日本礼遇中国文化人的人名用字。
• 武则天著有《垂拱集》百卷，《金轮集》十卷，已散佚。今存诗四十六首，《全唐文》编其文为四卷。有《石榴裙》之思。
• 武则天称帝前掌握实权的6年，使用了3个年号，称帝的15年使用了16个年号，合19个年号，是中国皇帝中用年号最多和密度最高的皇帝。居于第二的是西晋皇帝晋惠帝司马衷，除了时间最长的元康年号（9年），9年间用了8个年号。
• 武则天为佛经「开经偈」的撰写者。"无上甚深微妙法，百千万劫难遭遇，我今见闻得受持，愿解如来真实义"。武则天是真正的大修行人，做此偈时感得天女散花，流传迄今。很多评论均是不符合事实的妄说，因不符合统治者利益和伦理习俗之故。但武则天问心无愧，立无字碑任凭人解读。
相关作品与大众文化
电视剧／电影／戏剧/
• 天子寻龙
• 大明宫词
• 武则天 (影视作品)
• 武媚娘传奇
• 一代女皇
• 武则天秘史
• 美人制造
• 通天神探狄仁杰
• 狄仁杰之神都龙王
• 风起霓裳
游戏
• Fate/Grand Order
• 配音：井泽诗织。作为4星Assassin出场。宝具是B级对人宝具「告密罗织经」。
• 王者荣耀
• 配音：周帅
注释
Wu Zhao, commonly known as Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), alternatively Wu Hou, and during the later Tang dynasty as Tian Hou, was the de facto ruler of the Tang dynasty, first through her husband the Emperor Gaozong and then through her sons the Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, from 665 to 690. She subsequently became empress regnant of the Wu Zhou dynasty of China, ruling from 690 to 705. She was the only legitimate female sovereign in the history of China. Under her 40-year reign, China grew larger, corruption in the court was reduced, its culture and economy were revitalized, and it was recognized as one of the great powers of the world.Wu was the concubine of Emperor Taizong. After his death, she married his successor—his ninth son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's huanghou (皇后), empress consort, title for the reigning emperor's main consort) in 655, although having considerable political power prior to this. After Gaozong's debilitating stroke in 660, Wu Zetian became administrator of the court, a position equal to the emperor's, until 705.
After re-entering the Emperor Gaozong's harem, she clashed with Empress Wang and Consort Xiao to gain the emperor's affection, and eventually expelled and killed them in a series of her skillful sedition. After her wedding to Emperor Gaozong in 655, Empress Wu's rise to power was swift. A strong, charismatic, cunning, vengeful, ambitious and well-educated woman who enjoyed the absolute interest of her husband, Empress Wu was the most powerful and influential woman at court during a period when the Tang Empire was at the peak of its glory. She was more decisive and proactive than her husband, and she is considered by historians to have been the real power behind the throne for more than eighteen years and she supervised the court on a daily basis. She was often present when the Emperor held court, and even held court independently when the Emperor was unwell. She was given charge of his Imperial Seal, implying that her perusal and consent were necessary before any document or order received legal validity. The Emperor Gaozong sought her views on all matters before issuing orders. Empress Wu was granted certain honors and privileges which were not enjoyed by any Chinese empresses before or after. After Gaozong's death, Empress Wu as Empress dowager and regent conquered power independently and uniquely, and seven years later, she seized the throne in the Zhou dynasty, becoming the only empress regnant in Chinese history. Wu Zetian is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (无双谱, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.
The importance to history of Wu Zetian's period of political and military leadership includes the major expansion of the Chinese empire, extending it far beyond its previous territorial limits, deep into Central Asia, and engaging in a series of wars on the Korean Peninsula, first allying with Silla against Goguryeo, and then against Silla over the occupation of former Goguryeo territory. Within China, besides the more direct consequences of her struggle to gain and maintain supreme power, Wu's leadership resulted in important effects regarding social class in Chinese society and in relation to state support for Taoism, Buddhism, education, and literature. Wu Zetian also had a monumental impact upon the statuary of the Longmen Grottoes and the "Wordless Stele" at the Qianling Mausoleum, as well as the construction of some major buildings and bronze castings that no longer survive.
Besides her career as a political leader, Wu Zetian also had an active family life. Wu was a mother of four sons, three of whom also carried the title of emperor, although one held that title only as a posthumous honor. One of her grandsons became the renowned Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
显示更多...: Names and titles Names Titles "Empress" Background and early life Rise to power Imperial consort and palatial intrigue Empress consort Changes at court and intervention in politics Ruling with Emperor Gaozong Fighting in power and remove heirs Empress dowager Plenipotentiary regent for Emperor Zhongzong Plenipotentiary regent for Emperor Ruizong Reign as Empress regnant Early reign (690–696) Middle reign (696–701) Late reign (701–705) Removal and death Wu Zhou dynasty Religion The Great Cloud Sutra Sacrifice on Mount Tai Literature North Gate Scholars The "Twelve Suggestions" Modified Chinese characters Poetry Literary allusions Evaluation Quotes Confucian viewpoints Era names Chancellors during reign Family Ancestry Modern depictions Television Films Video games
Names and titles
In Chinese history and literature, Wu Zetian (ù tsɤ̌ tʰjɛ́n) was known by various names and titles. Mention of her in the English language has only increased their number. A difficulty in English translations from Chinese is that English translations tend to specify gender (as in the case of "emperor" versus "empress" or "prince" versus "princess"); whereas, in Classical Chinese, words such as hou (后, "sovereign", "prince", "queen") or huangdi (皇帝, "imperial supreme ruler", "royal deity") are of a grammatically indeterminate gender.
Names
In Wu's time, women's birth-names were rarely recorded. She changed her name to Wu Zhao after rising to power, often written as 武曌, (曌 has also been written as 瞾 on occasion, and both are derivatives of 照, which possibly is her original name), with 瞾 being one of the invented characters by Wu. Wu was her patronymic surname, which she retained, according to traditional Chinese practice, after marriage to Gaozong, of the Li family. Emperor Taizong gave her the art name Wu Mei (武媚), meaning "glamorous". (Thus, today Chinese people often refer to her as Wu Mei or Wu Meiniang (武媚娘) when they write about her youth, whereas they refer to her as Wu Hou (武后) when referring to her as empress consort and empress dowager, and Wu Zetian (武则天) when referring to her reign as empress regnant.)
Titles
During her life, and posthumously, Wu Zetian was awarded various official titles. Both hou (后) and huangdi (皇帝) are titles (modifications, or added characters to hou are of lesser importance). Born Wu Zhao, she is not properly known as "Wu Hou" (Empress Wu) until receiving this title in 655, nor is she properly known as "Wu Zetian", her regnal name, until 690, when she took the title Emperor.
• During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang (618-626):
• Lady Wu (from 624)
• During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang (626-649):
• Talented Lady (才人; from 637), 17th rank consort
• During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (649-683):
• Imperial Concubine Zhaoyi (昭仪; from 650), 6th rank consort
• Empress (皇后; from 655), 1st rank consort
• Heavenly Empress (天后; from 674), 1st rank consort
• During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (684-684):
• Empress Dowager Wu (武皇太后; from 683)
• During the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang (684-690)
• Empress Dowager Wu (武皇太后; from 684)
• During her reign as the Empress Regnant of the Zhou Dynasty (690-705):
• Holy Emperor (圣神皇帝; from 690)
• Holy Golden Emperor (金轮圣神皇帝; from 693)
• Holy Golden Goddess Emperor (越古金轮圣神皇帝; from 694)
• Holy Golden Emperor (金轮圣神皇帝; from 695)
• Emperor Tiance Jinlun (天策金轮大帝; from 695)
• Emperor Zetian Dasheng (则天大圣皇帝; from 705)
• During the second reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (705-710):
• Empress Zetian Dasheng (则天大圣皇后; from 705)
• During the second reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang (710-712):
• ''Heavenly Empress (天后; from 710)
• Holy Empress (大圣天后; from 710)
• Empress of Heaven (天后圣帝; from 712)
• Holy Empress (圣后; from 712)
• During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (713-756):
• Empress Zetian (则天皇后; from 716)
• Holy Empress Zetianshun (则天顺圣皇后; from 749)
"Empress"
Various Chinese titles have been translated into English as "empress", including "empress" in both the sense of empress consort and empress regnant. Generally, the monarch was male and his chief spouse was given a title such as huanghou (皇后), often translated as "empress" or more specific "empress consort". Upon the death of the emperor, the surviving empress consort could become empress dowager, sometimes wielding considerable political power as regent during the minority of the (male) heir to the position of emperor.
Since the time of Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC) the Emperor of China used the title huangdi (皇帝, translated as "emperor" or "empress (regnant)" as appropriate), Wu Zetian was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of huangdi. Her tenure as de facto ruler of China and officially regent Tang dynasty (first through her husband and then through her sons, from 665 to 690) was not without precedent in Chinese history; however, she broke precedent when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhou (周) (interrupting the Tang dynasty), ruling personally under the name Sacred and Divine Huangdi (圣神皇帝), and variations thereof, from 690 through 705.
Wu Zetian and Empress Dowager Liu of the Song Dynasty are said to be the only women in Chinese history to have worn a yellow robe, ordinarily reserved for the sole use of the emperor, as a monarch or co-ruler in their own right.
Background and early life
The Wu family clan originated in Wenshui County, Bingzhou (an ancient name of the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi). The birthplace of Wu Zetian is not documented in preserved historical literature and remains controversial. Some scholars argue that Wu Zetian was born in Wenshui, and some argue it's Lizhou (利州) (modern-day Guangyuan in Sichuan), while some others insist she was born in the imperial capital of Chang'an (today known as Xi'an).
Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang. In the same year, a total eclipse of the sun was visible across China. Her father Wu Shiyue was engaged in the timber business and the family was relatively well off. Her mother was from the powerful Yang family. During the final years of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan (李渊) (who would go on to become Emperor Gaozu of Tang) stayed in the Wu household many times and became close to the Wu family, whilst holding appointments in both Hedong and Taiyuan. After Li Yuan overthrew Emperor Yang, he was generous to the Wu family, providing them with money, grain, land, and clothing. Once the Tang dynasty became established, Wu Shihou held a succession of senior ministerial posts including the governor of Yangzhou, Lizhou, and Jingzhou (荆州) (modern-day Jiangling County, Hubei).
Wu was from a wealthy family, and she was encouraged by her father to read books and pursue her education. He made sure that his daughter was well-educated, a trait that was not common among women, much less encouraged by their fathers. Wu read and learned about many different topics such as politics and other governmental affairs, writing, literature, and music. At age fourteen, she was taken to be an imperial concubine (lesser wife) of Emperor Taizong of Tang. It was there that she became a type of secretary. This opportunity allowed her to continue to pursue her education. She was given the title of cairen, the title for one of the consorts with the fifth rank in Tang's nine-rank system for imperial officials, nobles, and consorts. When she was summoned to the palace, her mother, the Lady Yang, wept bitterly when saying farewell to her, but she responded, "How do you know that it is not my fortune to meet the Son of Heaven?" Lady Yang reportedly then understood her ambitions, and therefore stopped crying.
Consort Wu, however, did not appear to be much favored by Emperor Taizong, although it appeared that she did have sexual relations with him at one point. According to her own account (given in a rebuke of the Chancellor Ji Xu during her reign), there was an occasion during the time she was concubine when she impressed Taizong with her fortitude:
When Emperor Taizong died in 649, his youngest son, Li Zhi (whose mother was the main wife Wende), succeeded him as Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Li and Wu had had an affair when Taizong was still alive.
Taizong had fourteen sons, including three to his beloved Empress Zhangsun (601–636), but none with Consort Wu. Thus, according to the custom by which consorts of deceased emperors who had not produced children were permanently confined to a monastic institution after the emperor's death, Wu was consigned to Ganye Temple (感业寺), with the expectation that she would serve as a Buddhist nun there for the remainder of her life. Wu was to defy expectations, however and left the convent for an alternative life. After Taizong's death Li Zhi came to visit her and, finding her more beautiful, intelligent, and intriguing than before, decided to bring her back as his own concubine.
Rise to power
By early 650, Consort Wu was a concubine of Emperor Gaozong, and she had the title Zhaoyi (昭仪) (the highest ranking concubine of the nine concubines in the second rank). Wu progressively gained immeasurable influence over the governance of the empire throughout Emperor Gaozong's reign. Over time, she came to control most major decisions made. Even in the absence of Emperor Gaozong, she personally held the court to decide on the day-to-day running of civil or military responsibilities. After Emperor Gaozong's death in 683, Empress Wu became the Empress Dowager and Regent. She proceeded to depose Emperor Zhongzong, for displaying independence. She then had her youngest son Emperor Ruizong made emperor. Furthermore she was ruler not only in substance but in appearance as well. She presided over imperial gatherings and prevented Emperor Ruizong from taking an active role in governance. In 690, she had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her and established the Zhou Dynasty. She was regarded as ruthless in her endeavors to grab power, and was believed by traditional historians to have killed her own children. This was later proven false, as these rumors seem to have surfaced 400 years after her death. This was likely due to the belief in ancient China that a woman wasn't suited to hold the power of the emperor.
Imperial consort and palatial intrigue
Gaozong became emperor at the age of 21. Gaozong was not the first choice as he was inexperienced and frequently incapacitated with a sickness that caused him spells of dizziness. Gaozong was only made heir to the empire due to the disgrace of his two older brothers. On or after the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Emperor Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to offer incense. When he and Consort Wu saw each other, both of them wept. This was seen by Emperor Gaozong's wife, Empress Wang. At that time, Emperor Gaozong did not favor Empress Wang. Instead, he favored his concubine Consort Xiao. Furthermore, Empress Wang did not have any children, and Consort Xiao had one son (Li Sujie) and two daughters (Princesses Yiyang and Xuancheng). Empress Wang, seeing that Emperor Gaozong was still impressed by Consort Wu's beauty, hoped that the arrival of a new concubine would divert the emperor from Consort Xiao. Therefore, Empress Wang secretly told Wu to stop shaving her hair and, at a later point, the Empress welcomed her to the palace. (Some modern historians dispute this traditional account. Some think that Consort Wu never left the imperial palace and might have had an affair with Emperor Gaozong while Emperor Taizong was still alive.)
Consort Wu soon overtook Consort Xiao as Emperor Gaozong's favorite. In 652, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Li Hong. In 653, she gave birth to another son, Li Xián. Neither one of these sons was in contention to be Emperor Gaozong's heir because Emperor Gaozong, at the request of officials influenced by Empress Wang and her uncle (the chancellor Liu Shi), had designated his eldest son Li Zhong as his heir. Li Zhong's mother, Consort Liu, was of lowly birth. Empress Wang did this in order to receive Consort Liu's gratitude.
By 654, both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao had lost favor with Emperor Gaozong, and these two former romantic rivals joined forces against Consort Wu, but to no avail. For example, as a sign of his love for Consort Wu, Emperor Gaozong conferred posthumous honors on her father Wu Shiyue in 654.
In the same year, Consort Wu gave birth to a daughter. However, shortly after birth, her daughter died with evidence suggesting deliberate strangulation. The evidence include allegations made by Consort Wu herself, and she accused Empress Wang of murder. Empress Wang was accused of having been seen near the child's room, with corroborating testimony by alleged eyewitnesses. Emperor Gaozong was led to believe that Empress Wang, motivated by jealousy, had most likely killed the child. Additionally, Empress Wang lacked an alibi and was unable to clear her name.
Scientifically credible forensic pathology information about the death of the Consort Wu's daughter does not exist, and scholars lack real, concrete evidence about her death. However, there are many theories and speculations made by scholars. Because traditional folklore tend to portray Wu as a power hungry woman with no care for whom she hurt or what she did, the most popular theory is that Wu killed her own child in order to implicate Empress Wang. Other schools of thought argue that Empress Wang indeed killed the child out of jealousy and hatred toward Consort Wu. The third argument is that the child died of asphyxiation or crib death. The ventilation systems of the time were non-existent or of poor quality, and the lack of ventilation combined with using coal as a heating method could have led to carbon monoxide poisoning due to a build up of fumes. No matter what caused the death of the child, Consort Wu blamed Empress Wang for it, and as a result, tried to find a way to remove Empress Wang from her position.
Because the death of the child, an angry Emperor Gaozong also wanted to depose Empress Wang and replace her with Consort Wu. But first, he needed to make sure that he had the support of the government chancellors. So, Gaozong met with his uncle Zhangsun Wuji, the head chancellor. During the meeting, Gaozong brought up the topic of Empress Wang's childlessness several times. Childlessness was a sufficient excuse to depose Empress Wang. However, Zhangsun repeatedly found ways to divert the conversation. Subsequent visits made by Consort Wu's mother, Lady Yang and an official allied with Consort Wu, Xu Jingzong to seek support from Zhangsun were met with disappointment.
In summer 655, Consort Wu accused Empress Wang and her mother, Lady Liu, of using witchcraft. In response, Emperor Gaozong barred Lady Liu from the palace and demoted Empress Wang's uncle, Liu Shi. Meanwhile, a faction of officials began to form around Consort Wu, including Li Yifu, Xu, Cui Yixuan (崔义玄), and Yuan Gongyu (袁公瑜). On an occasion in the autumn of 655, Emperor Gaozong summoned the chancellors Zhangsun, Li Ji, Yu Zhining, and Chu Suiliang to the palace. Chu had deduced that the summoning was regarding changing the Empress. Li Ji claimed an illness and refused to attend. At the meeting, Chu vehemently opposed deposing Empress Wang, while Zhangsun and Yu showed their disapproval by silence. Meanwhile, other chancellors Han Yuan and Lai Ji also opposed the move. When Emperor Gaozong asked Li Ji again, Li Ji's response was, "This is your family matter, Your Imperial Majesty. Why ask anyone else?" Emperor Gaozong, therefore, became resolved. He demoted Chu to be a commandant at Tan Prefecture (roughly modern Changsha, Hunan), and then deposed both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao. He placed them both under arrest and making Consort Wu empress to replace Empress Wang. (Later that year, after Emperor Gaozong showed signs of considering their release. Because of this, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were killed on orders by the new Empress Wu. After their deaths, Empress Wu was often haunted by them in her dreams.)
For the rest of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Wu and Emperor Gaozong often took up residence at the eastern capital Luoyang and only infrequently spent time in Chang'an.)
Empress consort
Changes at court and intervention in politics
In 655, Wu became Tang Gaozong's new empress consort (皇后, húanghòu).
In 656, on the advice of Xu Jingzong, Emperor Gaozong deposed Consort Liu's son Li Zhong from being his heir apparent. He changed Li Zhong's status to Prince of Liang and designated Empress Wu's son, Li Hong as the title of Prince of Dai and crown prince (that is, Heir Apparent).
In 657, Empress Wu and her allies began reprisals against officials who had opposed her ascension. She first had Xu and Li Yifu, who were by now chancellors, falsely accuse Han Yuan and Lai Ji of being complicit with Chu Suiliang in planning treason. The three of them, along with Liu Shi, were demoted to being prefects of remote prefectures, with provisions that they would never be allowed to return to Chang'an. In 659, she had Xu accuse Zhangsun Wuji of plotting treason with the low-level officials Wei Jifang (韦季方) and Li Chao (李巢). Zhangsun was exiled and, later in the year, was forced to commit suicide in exile. Xu further implicated Chu, Liu, Han, and Yu Zhining in the plot as well. Chu, who had died in 658, was posthumously stripped of his titles, and his sons Chu Yanfu (褚彦甫) and Chu Yanchong (褚彦冲) were executed. Orders were also issued to execute Liu and Han, although Han died before the execution order reached his location. It was said that after this time, no official dared to criticize the emperor.
In 660, Li Zhong, Gaozong's first-born son (to consort Liu) also was targeted. Li Zhong had feared that he would be next and had sought out advice of fortune tellers. Wu had him exiled and placed under house arrest.
Ruling with Emperor Gaozong
In 660, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu toured Bian Prefecture (modern-day Taiyuan), and Empress Wu had the opportunity to invite her old neighbors and relatives to a feast. Later that year, Emperor Gaozong began to suffer from an illness that carried the symptoms of painful headaches and loss of vision, generally thought to be hypertension-related. He began to have Empress Wu make rulings on petitions made by officials. It was said that Empress Wu had quick reactions and understood both literature and history, and therefore, she made correct rulings. Thereafter, her authority rivaled Emperor Gaozong's, from this point on, Empress Wu became the undisputed power behind the throne for twenty-three years.
During these years, Li Yifu had been, due to favors from Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, exceedingly powerful, and he grew particularly corrupt. In 663, after reports of Li Yifu's corruption were made to Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Gaozong had Liu Xiangdao and Li Ji investigate, finding Li Yifu guilty. Li Yifu was removed from his post and exiled, and would never return to Chang'an.
During the years, Empress Wu had repeatedly, in her dreams, seen Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, in the states they were after their terrible deaths, and she came to believe that their spirits were after her. For that reason, Emperor Gaozong started remodeling a secondary palace, Daming Palace, into Penglai Palace, and when Penglai Palace's main hall, Hanyuan Hall (含元殿), was completed in 663, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu moved to the newly remodeled palace (which was itself later renamed to Hanyuan Palace). (However, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao continued to appear in her dreams even after this, and therefore, late in Emperor Gaozong's reign, he and Empress Wu were often at the eastern capital Luoyang, not at Chang'an.)
By 664, Empress Wu was said to be interfering so much in the day-to-day administration of the imperial governance that she was angering Emperor Gaozong. Furthermore, she had engaged the Taoist sorcerer Guo Xingzhen (郭行真) in using witchcraft—an act that was prohibited by regulations and led to Empress Wang's downfall—and the eunuch Wang Fusheng (王伏胜) reported this to Emperor Gaozong which angered him even more. He consulted the chancellor Shangguan Yi, who suggested that he depose Empress Wu. He had Shangguan draft an edict. But as Shangguan was doing so, Empress Wu received news of what was happening. She went to the emperor to plead her case, just as he was holding the edict that Shangguan had drafted. Emperor Gaozong could not bear to depose her and blamed the episode on Shangguan. As both Shangguan and Wang had served on Li Zhong's staff, Empress Wu had Xu falsely accuse Shangguan, Wang, and Li Zhong of planning treason. Shangguan, Wang, and Shangguan's son Shangguan Tingzhi (上官庭芝) were executed, while Li Zhong was forced to commit suicide. (Shangguan Tingzhi's daughter Shangguan Wan'er, then an infant, and her mother, Lady Zheng, became slaves in the inner palace. After Shangguan Wan'er grew up, she eventually became a trusted secretary for Empress Wu.)
For eighteen years, Empress Wu would sit behind a pearl screen behind Emperor Gaozong at imperial meetings. She heard all the reports and ruled on all the important matters of state, and since then Empress Wu became the actual power. Imperial powers often fell into her hands; she was effectively making the major decisions and even held court independently when the Emperor was unwell. In the absence of her husband, she gained vast powers and became a controversial and formidable figure with far-reaching influence. She and Emperor Gaozong were thereafter referred to as the "Two Saints." (二圣, Er Sheng).
Meanwhile, on Empress Wu's account, her mother Lady Yang had been made the Lady of Rong, and her older sister, now widowed, the Lady of Han. Her half-brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang and cousins Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun, despite the poor relationships that they had with Lady Yang, were promoted. But at a feast that Lady Yang held for them, Wu Weiliang offended Lady Yang by stating that they did not find it honorable for them to be promoted on account of Empress Wu. Empress Wu, therefore, requested to have them demoted to remote prefectures—outwardly to show modesty, but in reality to avenge the offense to her mother. Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang died in effective exile. Meanwhile, in or before 666, Lady of Han died as well. After Lady of Han's death, Emperor Gaozong made her daughter the Lady of Wei and considered keeping her in the palace—possibly as a concubine. He did not immediately do so, as he feared that Empress Wu would be displeased. It was said that Empress Wu heard of this and was nevertheless displeased. She had her niece poisoned, by placing poison in food offerings that Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun had made and then blaming them for the death of the Lady of Wei. Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun were executed.
In 670, Wu's mother, Lady Yang, died and by Emperor Gaozong's orders, all of the imperial officials and their wives attended her wake and mourned her. Later that year, with the realm suffering from a major drought, Empress Wu offered to be deposed which Emperor Gaozong rejected. He further posthumously honored Wu Shiyue (who had previously been posthumously honored as the Duke of Zhou) and Lady Yang by giving them the titles of the Prince and Princess of Taiyuan.
Meanwhile, the son of Empress Wu's older sister, the Lady of Han, (Wu's nephew) Helan Minzhi (贺兰敏之) had been given the surname of Wu and allowed to inherit the title of Duke of Zhou. However, as it was becoming clear to Empress Wu that he suspected Empress Wu of murdering his sister, the Lady of Wei, Empress Wu began to take precautions against him. (Helan was also said to have had an incestuous relationship with his grandmother Lady Yang.) In 671, Helan Minzhi was accused of disobeying mourning regulations during the period of mourning for Lady Yang and raping the daughter of the official, Yang Sijian (杨思俭), whom Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu had previously selected to be the wife and crown princess for Li Hong. Helan Minzhi was exiled and either was executed in exile or committed suicide. In 674, Empress Wu had Wu Yuanshuang's son Wu Chengsi recalled from exile to inherit the title of Duke of Zhou.
Fighting in power and remove heirs
In 675, as Emperor Gaozong's illness worsened, he considered having Empress Wu formally rule as regent. The chancellor Hao Chujun and the official Li Yiyan both opposed this, and he did not formally make her regent. However, Empress Wu had accrued more political power than the Emperor Gaozong due to his absence.
Also in 675, a number of people would fall victim to Empress Wu's ire. Empress Wu had been displeased at the favor that Emperor Gaozong had shown his aunt, Princess Changle. Princess Changle was married the general, Zhao Gui (赵瓌) and had a daughter who became the wife and princess consort of Wu's third son Li Xiǎn, the Prince of Zhou. Princess Zhao was accused of unspecified crimes and placed under arrest, eventually starving to death. Zhao Gui and Princess Changle were exiled. Meanwhile, later that month, Li Hong, the Crown Prince—who urged Empress Wu not to exercise so much influence on Emperor Gaozong's governance and offended Empress Wu by requesting that his half-sisters, Consort Xiao's daughters, Princess Yiyang and Xuancheng (under house arrest) be allowed to marry—died suddenly. Traditional historians generally believed that Empress Wu poisoned Li Hong to death. Li Xián, then carrying the title of Prince of Yong, was created crown prince. Meanwhile, Consort Xiao's son Li Sujie and another son of Emperor Gaozong's, Li Shangjin (李上金), were repeatedly accused of crimes by Empress Wu and were subsequently demoted.
Soon, Empress Wu's relationship with Li Xián also deteriorated because Li Xián had become unsettled after hearing rumors that he was not born to Empress Wu—but to her sister, the Lady of Han. When Empress Wu heard of his fearfulness, she became angry with him. Furthermore, the sorcerer Ming Chongyan (明崇俨), whom both she and Emperor Gaozong respected, had stated that Li Xián was unsuitable to inherit the throne and was assassinated in 679. The assassins were not caught—causing Wu to suspect that Li Xián was behind the assassination. In 680, Li Xián was accused of crimes and during an investigation by the officials Xue Yuanchao, Pei Yan, and Gao Zhizhou, a large number of weaponry was found in Li Xián's palace. Empress Wu formally accused Li Xián of treason and the assassination of Ming. Li Xián was deposed and exiled.
After the exile of Li Xián, his younger brother Li Xiǎn name but different Chinese characters (now renamed Li Zhe) was named crown prince.
In 681, Princess Taiping was married to Xue Shao (薛绍), the son of Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Chengyang, in a grand ceremony. Empress Wu, initially unimpressed with the lineages of Xue Shao's brothers' wives, wanted to order his brothers to divorce their wives—stopping only after it was pointed out to her that Lady Xiao, the wife of Xue Shao's older brother Xue Yi (薛顗), was a grandniece of the deceased chancellor Xiao Yu.
In late 683, Emperor Gaozong died while at Luoyang. Li Zhe took the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong), but Empress Wu retained the real authority as empress dowager and regent.
Empress dowager
Plenipotentiary regent for Emperor Zhongzong
Upon the death of her husband Emperor Gaozong, Wu became empress dowager (皇太后, húangtàihòu) and then regent and she automatically gained full power over the empire. She had the power to remove and install emperors. Just as before, government decisions were made by her. Wu had already poisoned the crown prince Li Hong and had enough other princes exiled that her third son, Li Zhe, was made heir apparent. Furthermore, Gaozong's will included provisions that Li Zhe should ascend immediately to the imperial throne, he should look to Empress Wu in regards to any important matter, either military or civil, and Empress Wu should claim the senior authority in the Empire for herself. In the second month of 684, Li Zhe ascended to the imperial throne, known as his temple name Zhongzong, for a short six weeks.
The new emperor was married to a woman of the Wei family. Because Zhongzong was as weak and incompetent as his father, the new Empress sought to place herself in the same position of great authority that Empress Wu had enjoyed.
Immediately, Emperor Zhongzong showed signs of disobeying Empress Dowager Wu. Emperor Zhongzong was under the thumb of his wife, Empress Wei. Under her influence, the Emperor, appointed his father-in-law as prime minister. He also tried to make his father-in-law Shizhong (侍中, the head of the examination bureau of government, 门下省, Menxia Sheng, and a post considered one for a chancellor) and gave a mid-level office to his wet nurse's son—despite stern opposition by the chancellor Pei Yan, at one point remarking to Pei:
Pei reported this to Empress Dowager Wu, and she, after planning with Pei, Liu Yizhi, and the generals Cheng Wuting (程务挺) and Zhang Qianxu (张虔勖) deposed Emperor Zhongzong and replaced him with her youngest son Li Dan, the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). Empress Dowager Wu had Zhongzong's father-in-law, Wei Xuanzhen (韦玄贞), brought up on charges of treason. Wei Xuanzhen was sent into seclusion. Emperor Zhongzong was reduced to the title of Prince of Luling and exiled. Empress Dowager Wu also sent the general, Qiu Shenji (丘神绩) to Li Xián's place in exile and forced Li Xián to commit suicide.
Plenipotentiary regent for Emperor Ruizong
Wu had her youngest son Li Dan made emperor, known as his temple name Ruizong. She was the ruler, however, both in substance and appearance. Wu did not even follow the customary pretense of hiding behind a screen or curtain and, in whispers, issued commands for the nominal ruler to formally announce. Ruizong never moved into the imperial quarters, appeared at no imperial function, and remained a virtual prisoner in the inner quarters.
Although Emperor Ruizong held the title of emperor, Empress Dowager Wu firmly controlled the imperial court, and the officials were not allowed to meet with Emperor Ruizong, nor was he allowed to rule on matters of state. Rather, the matters of state were ruled on by Empress Dowager Wu. At the suggestion of her nephew Wu Chengsi, she also expanded the ancestral shrine of the Wu ancestors and gave them greater posthumous honors.
In 686, Empress Dowager Wu offered to return imperial authorities to Emperor Ruizong, but Emperor Ruizong, knowing that she did not truly intend to do so, declined, and she continued to exercise imperial authority.
Soon thereafter, Li Ji's grandson Li Jingye, the Duke of Ying, who had been disaffected by his own exile, started a rebellion at Yang Prefecture (扬州, roughly modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu). The rebellion initially drew much popular support in the region, however, Li Jingye progressed slowly in his attack and did not take advantage of that popular support. Meanwhile, Pei suggested to Empress Dowager Wu that she return imperial authority to the Emperor and argued that doing so would cause the rebellion to collapse on its own. This offended her, and she accused him of being complicit with Li Jingye and had him executed; she also demoted, exiled, and killed a number of officials who, when Pei was arrested, tried to speak on his behalf. She sent a general, Li Xiaoyi (李孝逸), to attack Li Jingye, and while Li Xiaoyi was initially unsuccessful, he pushed on at the urging of his assistant Wei Yuanzhong and eventually was able to crush Li Jingye's forces. Li Jingye fled and was killed in flight.
By 685, Empress Dowager Wu began to carry on an affair with the Buddhist monk Huaiyi and during the next few years, Huaiyi would be bestowed with progressively greater honors.
Meanwhile, she installed copper mailboxes outside the imperial government buildings to encourage the people of the realm to report secretly on others, as she suspected many officials of opposing her. Exploiting these beliefs of hers, secret police officials, including Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, and Lai Junchen, began to rise in power and to carry out systematic false accusations, tortures, and executions of individuals.
In 688, Empress Dowager Wu was set to make sacrifices to the deity of the Luo River (洛水, flowing through the Henan province city of Luoyang, then the "Eastern Capital"). Wu summoned senior members of Tang's Li imperial clan to Luoyang. The imperial princes worried that she planned to slaughter them and secure the throne for herself: thus, they plotted to resist her. Before a rebellion could be comprehensively planned out, however, Li Zhen and his son Li Chong, the Prince of Langye rose first, at their respective posts as prefects of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan) and Bo Prefecture (博州, roughly modern Liaocheng, Shandong). The other princes were not yet ready, however, and did not rise, and forces sent by Empress Dowager Wu and the local forces crushed Li Chong and Li Zhen's forces quickly. Empress Dowager Wu took this opportunity to arrest Emperor Gaozong's granduncles Li Yuanjia (李元嘉) the Prince of Han, Li Lingkui (李灵夔) the Prince of Lu, and Princess Changle, as well as many other members of the Li clan and she, forced them to commit suicide. Even Princess Taiping's husband Xue Shao was implicated and starved to death. In the subsequent years, there continued to be many politically motivated massacres of officials and Li clan members.
In 690, Wu took the final step to become the empress regnant of the newly proclaimed Zhou dynasty, and the title Huangdi. Traditional Chinese order of succession (akin to the Salic law in Europe) did not allow a woman to ascend the throne, but Wu Zetian was determined to quash the opposition and the use of the secret police did not subside, but continued, after her taking the throne. While her organization of the civil service system was criticized for its laxity of the promotion of officials, nonetheless, Wu Zetian was considered capable of evaluating the performance of the officials once they were in office. The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang, in his Zizhi Tongjian, commented:
Reign as Empress regnant
In 690, Wu had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her and established the Zhou dynasty, with herself as the imperial ruler (Huangdi).
The early part of her reign was characterized by secret police terror, which moderated as the years went by. She was, on the other hand, recognized as a capable and attentive ruler even by traditional historians who despised her, and her ability at selecting capable men to serve as officials was admired throughout the rest of the Tang dynasty as well as in subsequent dynasties.
Early reign (690–696)
Shortly after Wu Zetian took the throne, she elevated the status of Buddhism above that of Taoism, officially sanctioning Buddhism by building temples named Dayun Temple (大云寺) in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals Luoyang and Chang'an, and created nine senior monks as dukes. She also enshrined seven generations of Wu ancestors at the imperial ancestral temple, although she also continued to offer sacrifices to the Tang emperors Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong.
She faced the issue of succession. At the time she took the throne, she created Li Dan, the former Emperor Ruizong, crown prince, and bestowed the name of Wu on him. The official Zhang Jiafu, however, convinced the commoner Wang Qingzhi (王庆之) to start a petition drive to make her nephew Wu Chengsi crown prince, arguing that an emperor named Wu should pass the throne to a member of the Wu clan. Wu Zetian was tempted to do so, and when the chancellors Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan opposed sternly, they, along with fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, were executed. Nevertheless, she declined Wang's request to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but for a time allowed Wang to freely enter the palace to see her. On one occasion, however, when Wang angered her by coming to the palace too much, she asked the official Li Zhaode to batter Wang as punishment—but Li Zhaode exploited the opportunity to batter Wang to death, and his group of petitioners scattered. Li Zhaode then persuaded Wu Zetian to keep Li Dan as crown prince—pointing out that a son was closer in relations than a nephew, and also that if Wu Chengsi became emperor, Emperor Gaozong would never again be worshiped. Wu Zetian agreed, and for some time did not reconsider the matter. Further, at Li Zhaode's warning that Wu Chengsi was becoming too powerful, Wu Zetian stripped Wu Chengsi of his chancellor authority and bestowed on him largely honorific titles without authority.
Meanwhile, the power of the secret police officials continued to increase, until they appeared to be curbed starting in about 692, when Lai Junchen was foiled in his attempt to have the chancellors Ren Zhigu, Di Renjie, Pei Xingben, and other officials Cui Xuanli (崔宣礼), Lu Xian (卢献), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (李嗣眞) executed, as Di, under arrest, had hidden a secret petition inside a change of clothes and had it submitted by his son Di Guangyuan (狄光远). The seven still were exiled, but after this incident, particularly at the urging of Li Zhaode, Zhu Jingze, and Zhou Ju (周矩), the waves of politically motivated massacres decreased, although they did not end entirely. Wu Zetian is famous for utilizing talents. She utilized imperial examination system to find talents from poor people or people without backgrounds. Hence, she could stabilize her regime.
Also in 692, Wu Zetian commissioned the general Wang Xiaojie to attack the Tibetan Empire, and Wang recaptured the four garrisons of the Western Regions that had fallen to the Tibetan Empire in 670 – Kucha, Yutian, Kashgar, and Suyab.
In 693, after Wu Zetian's trusted lady-in-waiting Wei Tuan'er (韦团儿), who hated Li Dan because he rejected her advances, falsely accused Li Dan's wife Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou of using witchcraft, Wu Zetian had Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou killed. Li Dan, fearful that he was to be next, did not dare to speak of them. When Wei further planned to falsely accuse Li Dan, however, someone else informed on her, and she was executed. Wu Zetian nevertheless had Li Dan's sons demoted in their princely titles, and when the officials Pei Feigong (裴匪躬) and Fan Yunxian (范云仙) were accused of secretly meeting Li Dan, she executed Pei and Fan and further, barred officials from meeting Li Dan. There were then accusations that Li Dan was plotting treason, and under Wu Zetian's direction, Lai launched an investigation. Lai arrested Li Dan's servants and tortured them—and the torture was such that many of them were ready to falsely implicate themselves and Li Dan. One of Li Dan's servants, An Jincang, however, proclaimed Li Dan's innocence and cut his own belly open to swear to that fact. When Wu Zetian heard of what An did, she had doctors attend to An and barely save his life, and then ordered Lai to end the investigation, thus saving Li Dan.
In 694, Li Zhaode, who had become powerful after Wu Chengsi's removal, was thought to be too powerful and Wu Zetian removed him. Also around this time, she became highly impressed with a group of mystic individuals—the hermit Wei Shifang (on whom she bestowed a chancellor title briefly), who claimed to be more than 350 years old; an old Buddhist nun who claimed to be a Buddha and capable of predicting the future; and a non-Han man who claimed to be 500 years old. During this time, Wu briefly claimed to be and adopted the cult imagery of Maitreya in order to build popular support for her reign.
In 695, however, after the imperial meeting hall (明堂 ) and the Heavenly Hall ( 天堂 ) were burned by Huaiyi (who was jealous at Wu Zetian's taking on another lover, the imperial physician Shen Nanqiu (沈南璆), Wu Zetian became angry at these individuals for failing to predict the fire; the old nun and her students were arrested and made into slaves; Wei committed suicide; and the old non-Han man fled. Subsequently, she also put Huaiyi to death. After this incident, she appeared to pay less attention to mysticism and became even more dedicated than before to the affairs of state.
Middle reign (696–701)
Wu Zetian's administration was soon in for various troubles on the western and then northern borders. In spring 696, an army she sent, commanded by Wang Xiaojie and Lou Shide against the Tibetan Empire, was soundly defeated by Tibetan generals, the brothers Gar Trinring Tsendro (论钦陵 ) and Gar Tsenba ( 论赞婆 ), and as a result, she demoted Wang to commoner rank and Lou to be a low level prefectural official, although she eventually restored both of them to general positions. In April of the same year, Wu Zetian recast the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, the symbol of ultimate power in ancient China, to reinforce her authority.
A much more serious threat arose in summer 696. The Khitan chieftains Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong, brothers-in-law, angry over the mistreatment of the Khitan people by the Zhou official Zhao Wenhui (赵文翽), the prefect of Ying Prefecture (营州 , roughly Zhaoyang County, Liaoning), rebelled, with Li assuming the title of Wushang Khan (无上可汗). Armies that Wu Zetian sent to suppress Li and Sun's rebellion were defeated by Khitan forces, which in turn attacked Zhou proper. Meanwhile, Qapaghan Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate offered to submit, and yet was also launching attacks against Zhou and Khitan. The attacks included one against the Khitan base of operations during the winter of 696, shortly after Li's death, which resulted in capturing Li's and Sun's families and temporarily halted Khitan operations against Zhou. Sun, after taking over as khan and reorganizing Khitan forces, again attacked Zhou territory and had many victories over Zhou forces, including a battle during which Wang Shijie was killed. Wu Zetian tried to allay the situation by making peace with Ashina Mochuo at fairly costly terms—the return of Tujue people who had previously submitted to Zhou and providing Ashina Mochuo with seeds, silk, tools, and iron. In summer 697, Ashina Mochuo launched another attack on Khitan's base of operations, and this time, after his attack, Khitan forces collapsed and Sun was killed in flight, ending the Khitan threat.
Meanwhile, also in 697, Lai Junchen, who had at one point lost power but then had returned to power, falsely accused Li Zhaode (who had been pardoned) of crimes, and then planned to falsely accuse Li Dan, Li Zhe, the Wu clan princes, and Princess Taiping, of treason. The Wu clan princes and Princess Taiping acted first against him, accusing him of crimes, and he and Li Zhaode were executed together. After Lai's death, the reign of the secret police largely ended. Gradually, many of the victims of Lai and the other secret police officials were exonerated posthumously. Meanwhile, around this time, Wu Zetian began relationships with two new lovers—the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who became honored within the palace and were eventually created dukes.
Around 698, Wu Chengsi and another nephew of Wu Zetian's, Wu Sansi, the Prince of Liang, were repeatedly making attempts to have officials persuade Wu Zetian to create one of them crown prince—again citing the reason that an emperor should pass the throne to someone of the same clan. Di Renjie, who by now had become a trusted chancellor, was firmly against the idea, however, and proposed that Li Zhe be recalled instead. He was supported in this by fellow chancellors Wang Fangqing and Wang Jishan, as well as Wu Zetian's close advisor Ji Xu, who further persuaded the Zhang brothers to support the idea as well. In spring 698, Wu Zetian agreed and recalled Li Zhe from exile. Soon, Li Dan offered to yield the crown prince position to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian created Li Zhe crown prince. She soon changed his name back to Li Xiǎn and then Wu Xian.
Later, Ashina Mochuo demanded a Tang dynasty prince for marriage to his daughter, part of a plot to join his family with the Tang, displace the Zhou, and restore Tang rule over China (under his influence). When Wu Zetian sent a member of her own family, grandnephew Wu Yanxiu (武延秀), to marry Mochuo's daughter instead, he rejected him. Ashina Mochuo had no intention to cement the peace treaty with a marriage; instead, when Wu Yanxiu arrived, he detained Wu Yanxiu and then launched a major attack on Zhou, advancing as far south as Zhao Prefecture (赵州, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) before withdrawing.
In 699, however, at least the Tibetan threat would cease. Emperor Tridu Songtsen, unhappy that Gar Trinring was monopolizing power, took an opportunity when Trinring was away from the capital Lhasa to slaughter Trinring's associates. He then defeated Trinring in battle, and Trinring committed suicide. Gar Tsenba and Trinring's son, Lun Gongren (论弓仁), surrendered to Zhou. After this, the Tibetan Empire was under internal turmoil for several years, and there was peace for Zhou on the border.
Also in 699, Wu Zetian, realizing that she was growing old, feared that after her death, Li Xian and the Wu clan princes would not be able to have peace with each other, and she made him, Li Dan, Princess Taiping, Princess Taiping's second husband Wu Youji (a nephew of hers), the Prince of Ding, and other Wu clan princes to swear an oath to each other.
Late reign (701–705)
As Wu Zetian grew older, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong became increasingly powerful, and even the princes of the Wu clan flattered them. She also increasingly relied on them to handle the affairs of state. This was secretly discussed and criticized by her grandson Li Chongrun, the Prince of Shao, (Li Xian's son), granddaughter Li Xianhui (李仙蕙) the Lady Yongtai (Li Chongrun's sister), and Li Xianhui's husband Wu Yanji (武延基) the Prince of Wei (Wu Zetian's grandnephew and Wu Chengsi's son), but somehow the discussion was leaked, and Zhang Yizhi reported this to Wu Zetian. She ordered the three of them to commit suicide.
Despite her old age, however, Wu Zetian continued to be interested in finding talented officials and promoting them. Individuals she promoted in her old age included, among others, Cui Xuanwei and Zhang Jiazhen.
By 703, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong had become resentful of Wei Yuanzhong, who by now was a senior chancellor, for dressing down their brother Zhang Changyi (张昌仪) and rejecting the promotion of another brother Zhang Changqi (张昌期). They also were fearful that if Wu Zetian died, Wei would find a way to execute them, and therefore accused Wei and Gao Jian (高戬), an official favored by Princess Taiping, of speculating on Wu Zetian's old age and death. They initially got Wei's subordinate Zhang Shuo to agree to corroborate the charges, but once Zhang Shuo was before Wu Zetian, he instead accused Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong of forcing him to bear false witness. As a result, Wei, Gao, and Zhang Shuo were exiled, but escaped death.
Removal and death
In autumn of 704, there began to be accusations of corruption levied against Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, as well as their brothers Zhang Changqi, Zhang Changyi, and Zhang Tongxiu (张同休). Zhang Tongxiu and Zhang Changyi were demoted, but even though the officials Li Chengjia (李承嘉) and Huan Yanfan advocated that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong be removed as well, Wu Zetian, taking the suggestion of the chancellor Yang Zaisi, did not remove them. Subsequently, charges of corruption against Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were renewed by the chancellor Wei Anshi.
In winter 704, Wu Zetian became seriously ill for a period, and only the Zhang brothers were allowed to see her; the chancellors were not. This led to speculation that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were plotting to take over the throne, and there were repeated accusations of treason. Once her condition improved, Cui Xuanwei advocated that only Li Xian and Li Dan be allowed to attend to her—a suggestion that she did not accept. After further accusations against the Zhang brothers by Huan and Song Jing, Wu Zetian allowed Song to investigate, but before the investigation was completed, she issued a pardon for Zhang Yizhi, derailing Song's investigation.
By spring 705, Wu Zetian was seriously ill again. Zhang Jianzhi, Jing Hui, and Yuan Shuji, planned a coup to kill the Zhang brothers. They convinced the generals Li Duozuo, Li Dan (李湛, note different character than the former emperor), and Yang Yuanyan (杨元琰) and another chancellor, Yao Yuanzhi, to be involved. With agreement from Li Xian as well, they acted on 20 February, killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then they had Changsheng Hall (长生殿), where Wu Zetian was residing, surrounded. They then reported to her that the Zhang brothers had been executed for treason, and they then forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian. On 21 February, an edict was issued in her name that made Li Xian regent, and on 22 February, an edict was issued in her name passing the throne to Li Xian. On 23 February, Li Xian formally retook the throne, and the next day, Wu Zetian, under heavy guard, was moved to the subsidiary palace, Shangyang Palace (上阳宫), but was nevertheless honored with the title of Empress Regent Zetian Dasheng (则天大圣皇帝). On 3 March, the Tang dynasty was restored, ending the Zhou.
She died on 16 December, and, pursuant to a final edict issued in her name, was no longer referred to as empress regnant, but instead as Empress Consort Zetian Dasheng (则天大圣皇后). In 706, Wu Zetian's son Emperor Zhongzong had Wu Zetian interred in a joint burial with his father Emperor Gaozong at the Qianling Mausoleum, located near the capital Chang'an on Mount Liang. Emperor Zhongzong also buried at Qianling his brother Li Xián, son Li Chongrun, and daughter Li Xianhui (李仙蕙) the Lady Yongtai (posthumously honored as the Princess Yongtai)—victims of Wu Zetian's wrath.
Wu Zhou dynasty
In 690, Wu Zetian founded the Wu Zhou dynasty, named after the historical Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). The traditional historical view, however, is to discount the Wu Zhou dynasty: dynasties by definition involve the succession of rulers from one family: the Wu Zhou dynasty was founded by her, and ended within her lifetime, with her abdication in 705. This does not meet the traditional concept of a dynasty. The alternative, is to view the Wu Zhou dynasty as the revival of the historical Zhou dynasty, which was ruled (at least nominally) by the Ji family, almost a thousand years before. Either way, Wu Zhou dynasty is best viewed as a brief interruption of the Li family's Tang dynasty, rather than as a fully realized dynasty. Her claim of founding a new dynasty, however, was little opposed at the time (690). The fifteen-year period which Wu Zetian designated as her "Zhou Dynasty" considered in the context of nearly a half century of de facto and de jure rule (c. 654–705) reveals a remarkable and still debated period of history. In this context, designating a new dynasty, with her as its emperor can be seen as part of her power politics, and as the culmination of her period of ruling. Though the fifteen years of Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty had its own notable characteristics, these are difficult to separate from Wu's reign of power, which lasted for about half of a century.
Wu Zetian's consolidation of power in part relied on a system of spies. She used informants to choose people to eliminate, a process which peaked in 697, with the wholesale demotion, exile, or killing of various aristocratic families and scholars, furthermore prohibiting their sons from holding office.
One apparatus of government which fell into Wu's power was the imperial examination system: the basic theory and practice of which was to recruit into government service those men who were the best educated, talented, and having the best potential to perform their duties, and to do so by testing a pool of candidates in order to determine this objectively. This pool was male only, and the qualified pool of candidates and resulting placements into official positions was on a relatively small scale at the time of Wu's assuming control of government. The official tests examined such things considered important for functionaries of the highly developed, bureaucratic government structure of the current imperial government. The qualities sought in a candidate for government service included determining the potential official's level of literacy in terms of reading and writing as well as his possession of the specific knowledge considered necessary and desirable for a governmental official, such as Confucian precepts on the nature of virtue and theory on the proper ordering of and relationships within society. Wu Zetian continued to use the imperial examination system to recruit civil servants, and she introduced major changes in regard to the system that she inherited, including increasing the pool of candidates permitted to take the test, by allowing commoners and gentry, who were previously disqualified by their background, to take them. Another thing she did was to expand the governmental examination system and to greatly increase the importance of this method of recruiting government officials, which she did in 693. Wu provided increased opportunity for the representation within government to people of the North China Plain, versus people of the northwestern aristocratic families, (whom she decimated, anyway); and, the successful candidates who were recruited through the examination system became an elite group within her government. The historical details surrounding and the consequences of Wu Zetian's promoting a new group of people from previously disenfranchised backgrounds into prominence as powerful governmental officials as well as the role of the examination system in this regard, remains a matter of debate for scholars of this subject.
Wu Zetian eliminated many of her real, potential, or perceived rivals to power by means of death (including execution, suicide by command, and more-or-less directly killing people), demotion, and exile. Mostly this was carried out by her secret police, led by individuals like Wao Ganjun and Lai Junchen—who were known to have written a document called the Manual of Accusation, which detailed steps for interrogation and obtaining confessions by torture. One of these methods, the "Dying Swine's Melancholy" (死猪愁), which merely indicated a level of pain inflicted by a torture device, seems to have been conflated in the years following Wu's death with the story of the "human swine" torture conducted by Empress Lü Zhi, in which the victim had limbs and tongue amputated, was force-fed, and left to wallow in his own excrement.
Wu targeted various individuals, including many in her own family and her extended family. In reaction to an attempt to remove her from power, in 684, she massacred twelve entire collateral branches of the imperial family. Besides this, she also altered the ancient balance of power in China, dating back to the Qin dynasty. The old area of the Qin state was later referred to as Guanzhong, literally, the area "within the fortified mountain passes". It was from this area of northwest China that the Ying family of Qin arose to conquer, unifying China into its first historical empire. During the Han dynasty, Sima Qian records in his Shiji that Guanzhong had three-tenths of China's population, but six-tenths of its wealth. Additionally, at the beginning of Wu Zetian's period of ascendency, Guanzhong was still the stronghold of the most nationally powerful aristocratic families, despite the fact that economic development in other parts of China had improved the lot of families in other regions. The Guangzhong aristocracy was not willing to relinquish their hold on the reins of government, however; while, at the same time, some of the more newly wealthy families in other areas, such as the North China Plain or Hubei were eager for a larger share of national power of their own. Most of the opposition to Wu was from the Guangzhong families of northwest China. Accordingly, she repressed them, instead favoring less privileged families, thus raising to the ranks of power many talented, but less aristocratic families, often recruited through the official examination system. Many of those so favored originated from the North China plain. Through a process of eliminating or diminishing the power of the established aristocracy, whom she perceived as disloyal to her, and establishing a reformed upper class in China loyal to her, Wu Zetian made major social changes which are still being evaluated by historians.
Many of Wu Zetian's measures were of a popular nature, and helped her to gain support for her rule. Wu Zetian came to power during a time in China in which the people were fairly contented, the administration was run well, and the economy was characterized by rising living standards. Wu Zetian, as far as the masses were for the most part concerned, continued in this manner. She was determined that free, self-sufficient farmers would continue to work on their own farm land, so she periodically used the juntian, equal-field system, together with updated census figures to ensure fair land allocations, re-allocating as necessary. Much of her success was due to her various edicts (including those known as her "Acts of Grace") which helped to satisfy the needs of the lower classes through various acts of relief, her widening recruitment to government service to include previously excluded gentry and commoners, and by her generous promotions and pay raises for the lower ranks.
Wu Zetian used her military and diplomatic skills to enhance her position. The fubing system of self-supportive soldier-farmer colonies, which provided local militia and labor services for her government, allowed her to maintain her armed forces at reduced expense. She also pursued a policy of military action to expand the empire to its furthest extent ever up to that point in Central Asia. Expansion efforts against Tibet and to the northwest were less successful. Allying with the Korean kingdom of Silla against Goguryeo with the promise of ceding Goguryeo's territory to Silla, Chinese forces occupied Goguryeo after its defeat, and even began to occupy Silla territory. Silla resisted the imposition of Chinese rule, and by allying with Goguryeo and Baekche, was able to expel its former ally from the peninsula. Hong argues that Silla's success was in part due to a shift in Empress Wu's focus to Tibet and inadequate support for the forces in the Korean peninsula. Despite victories against Tibetans and Turks: however, in 694, Wu's forces decisively defeated the Tibetan–Western Turk alliance, and retook the Four Garrisons of Anxi, lost in 668.
Another significant event of Wu Zetian's reign was 651, shortly after the Muslim conquest of Persia, when the first Arab ambassador arrived in China.
Religion
The Great Cloud Sutra
Wu Zetian used her political powers to harness from Buddhist practices a strategy to build sovereignty and legitimacy to her throne while decisively establishing the Zhou dynasty in a society under the Confucian and patriarchal ideals. One of the first steps taken by Wu Zetian to legitimize her ascension to the throne was to proclaim herself as the reincarnation of the Devi of Pure Radiance (Jingguang tiannü) through a series of prophecies. In 690, she sought out the support of the monk Xue Huaiyi, Wu's reputed lover, and other nine orthodox Buddhist monks to compose the apocryphal Commentary on the Meanings of the Prophecies About the Divine Sovereign in the Great Cloud Sutra (Dayunjing Shenhuang Shouji Yishu).
Translated from a late fourth-century version in Sanskrit to Chinese, the original Great Cloud Sutra (Dayunjing) accentuated in Wu Zetian's Commentary had fascicles describing a conversation between Buddha and the Devi of Pure Radiance. In the sutra, Buddha foretells to Jingguang that he would be a bodhisattva reincarnated in the body of a woman in order to convert beings and rule over the territory of a country. Wu Zetian's Buddhist supporters meticulously propagated the Commentary "on the eve of her accession to the dragon throne" while seeking to justify the various events that led Wu Zetian to occupy the position of Huangdi as a female ruler and bodhisattva. Since gender in the Buddhist Devi worlds have no standard form, Wu Zetian would later take a further step to transcend her gender limitations by identifying herself as the incarnation of two important male Buddhist divinities, Maitreya and Vairocana. Wu Zetian's narrative was intentionally crafted to persuade the Confucian establishment, circumvent the Five Impediments that restricted women from holding political and religious power, and gain public support.
Sacrifice on Mount Tai
In relation to Daoism, there are records that points Wu Zetian's participation in important religious rituals, such as the tou long on Mount Song, and feng and shan on Mount Tai. One of the most important rituals was performed in 666. When Emperor Gaozong offered sacrifices to the deities of heaven and earth, Empress Wu, in an unprecedented action, offered sacrifices after him, with Princess Dowager Yan, mother of Emperor Gaozong's brother Li Zhen, Prince of Yue, offering sacrifices after her. Wu Zetian's procession of ladies up Mount Tai conspicuously linked Wu with the most sacred traditional rites of the Chinese empire. Another important performance was made in 700 where Wu Zetian conducted the tou long Daoist expiatory rite. Wu Zetian's participation in the rituals not only had religious reasons behind it, but her political reasons were also clear. Such ceremonies served to consolidate Wu Zetian's life in politics and depict she possessed the Mandate of Heaven.
Literature
North Gate Scholars
Toward the end of Gaozong's life, Wu began engaging a number of mid-level officials who had literary talent, including Yuan Wanqing (元万顷), Liu Yizhi, Fan Lübing, Miao Chuke (苗楚客), Zhou Simao (周思茂), and Han Chubin (韩楚宾), to write a number of works on her behalf, including the Biographies of Notable Women (列女传), Guidelines for Imperial Subjects (臣轨), and New Teachings for Official Staff Members (百僚新诫). Collectively, they became known as the "North Gate Scholars" (北门学士), because they served inside the palace, which was to the north of the imperial government buildings, and Empress Wu sought advice from them to divert the powers of the chancellors.
The "Twelve Suggestions"
Around the new year 675, Empress Wu submitted twelve suggestions. One was that the work of Laozi (whose family name was Li and to whom the Tang imperial clan traced its ancestry), Tao Te Ching, should be added to the required reading for imperial university students. Another was that a three-year mourning period should be observed for a mother's death in all cases, not only in those cases when the father was no longer alive. Emperor Gaozong praised her for her suggestions and adopted them.
Modified Chinese characters
In 690, Empress Dowager Wu's cousin's son Zong Qinke submitted a number of modified Chinese characters intended to showcase Empress Dowager Wu's greatness. She adopted them, and she took one of the modified characters, Zhao (曌), to be her formal name (i.e., the name by which the people would exercise naming taboo on). 曌 was made from two other characters: Ming (明) on top, meaning "light" or "clarity", and Kong (空) on the bottom, meaning "sky." The implication appeared to be that she would be like the light shining from the sky. (Zhao (照), meaning "shine", from which 曌 was derived, might have been her original name, but evidence of that is inconclusive.) Later that year, after successive petition drives, initially started by the low-level official Fu Youyi, began to occur in waves, asking her to take the throne, Emperor Ruizong offered to take the name of Wu as well. On 18 August 690, she approved of the requests. She changed the name of the state to Zhou, claiming ancestry from the Zhou dynasty, and took the throne as Empress Regnant (with the title of Empress Regnant Shengshen (圣神皇帝), literally "Divine and Sacred Emperor or Empress Regnant"). Emperor Ruizong was deposed and made crown prince with the atypical title of Huangsi (皇嗣). This thus interrupted the Tang dynasty, and she became the first (and only) woman to reign over China as empress regnant.
Poetry
Beside her own literary work, Wu Zetian's court was a focus of literary creativity. Forty-six of Wu's poems are collected in the Quan Tangshi "Collected Tang Poems" and sixty-one essays under her name are recorded in the Quan Tangwen "Collected Tang Essays". Although a lot of those writings serve political ends, there is one poem in which she laments her mother after she died and expresses her despair at not being able to see her again.
During Wu Zetian's reign, the imperial court produced various works for which she was a sponsor, such as the anthology of the poetry of her court known as the Zhuying ji "Collection of Precious Glories", which contained poems by Cui Rong, Li Jiao, Zhang Yue, and others, arranged according to the official rank at the court of the individuals included. Among the literary developments that took place during the time of Wu Zetian (and partly at her court) was the final stylistic development of the "new style" poetry of the regulated verse (jintishi), by the poetic pair Song Zhiwen and Shen Quanqi.
Wu Zetian also engaged in patronage of scholars by founding an institute to produce the Collection of Biographies of Famous Women. The development of what is considered to be characteristic Tang poetry is traditionally ascribed to Chen Zi'ang, one of Wu's ministers.
Literary allusions
Considering the events of her life, literary allusions to Wu Zetian may carry several connotations: a woman who has inappropriately overstepped her bounds, the hypocrisy of preaching compassion while simultaneously engaging in a pattern of political corruption and vicious behavior and ruling by pulling strings in the background. For many centuries, Wu was used by the establishment as an example of what can go wrong when a woman is placed in charge.
Such sexist opposition to her was only lifted during the late 1960s when Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing rehabilitated Wu as part of a propaganda campaign to suggest she be considered as a successor to her ailing husband.
In his biography Wu, British author Jonathan Clements has pointed out that these wildly differing uses of a historical figure have often led to contradictory and even hysterical characterizations. Many alleged poisonings and other incidents, such as the premature death of her daughter, may have rational explanations that have been twisted by later opponents.
Evaluation
Quotes
The traditional Chinese historical view on Wu Zetian generally was mixed—admiring her for her abilities in governing the state, but vilifying her for her actions in seizing imperial power. Luo Binwang even wrote along these lines in a declaration during her lifetime, in support of Li Jingye's rebellion. Typical was a commentary by the Later Jin dynasty historian Liu Xu, the lead editor of the Old Book of Tang:
Some of the diversity in terms of points of agreement and even outright divergences in modern evaluations of Wu Zetian can be seen in the following quotes by modern non-Chinese authors:
Confucian viewpoints
Wu Zetian's rise and reign has been criticized harshly by Confucian historians, but has been viewed in a different and positive light after the 1950s.
In the early period of the Tang dynasty, because all the emperors were her direct descendants, the evaluation for Wu Zetian were relatively positive. Commentary in subsequent periods, however, especially the book Zizhi Tongjian compiled by Sima Guang, criticized Wu Zetian harshly. By the period of Southern Song dynasty, when Neo-Confucianism was firmly established as the mainstream political ideology of China, their ideology determined the evaluation for Wu Zetian.
Era names
Chancellors during reign
Wu Zetian had many chancellors during her reign as monarch of her self-proclaimed Zhou dynasty, many of them notable in their own right. (For full list see List of Chancellors of Wu Zetian).
Family
Ancestry
Modern depictions
Television
• Portrayed by Petrina Fung in the 1984 Hong-Kong TV series Empress Wu.
• Portrayed by Angela Pan in the 1985 Taiwanese TV series The Empress of the Dynasty.
• Portrayed by Liu Xiaoqing in the 1995 Chinese TV series Wu Zetian, in the 2007 TV series The Shadow of Empress Wu and in the 2011 TV series Secret History of Empress Wu.
• Portrayed by Gua Ah-leh in the 2000 Chinese TV series Palace of Desire.
• Portrayed by Qin Lan in the 2001 Chinese TV series Love Legend of the Tang Dynasty.
• Portrayed by Alyssa Chia in the 2003 Chinese TV series Lady Wu: The First Empress.
• Portrayed by Lü Zhong in the 2004 Chinese TV series Amazing Detective Di Renjie and its sequels Amazing Detective Di Renjie 2, Amazing Detective Di Renjie 3 and Mad Detective Di Renjie.
• Portrayed by Siqin Gaowa in the 2006 Chinese TV series Wu Zi Bei Ge.
• Portrayed by Yang Geum-seok in 2006–2007 KBS TV series Dae Jo Yeong.
• Portrayed by Rebecca Chan in the 2009 Chinese TV series The Greatness of a Hero.
• Portrayed by Yin Tao, Liu Xiaoqing and Siqin Gaowa in the 2011 Chinese TV series Secret History of Empress Wu.
• Portrayed by Wang Li Ke in the 2011 Chinese TV series Meng Hui Tang Chao.
• Portrayed by Kara Hui in the 2011 Chinese TV series Women of the Tang Dynasty and in the 2015 TV series Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties 5.
• Portrayed by Zhang Ting in the 2011 Chinese TV series Beauty World.
• Portrayed by Liu Yuxin in the 2012 Chinese TV series Secret History of Princess Taiping.
• Portrayed by Fan Bingbing in the 2014 Chinese TV series The Empress of China.
• Portrayed by Sheren Tang in the 2014 Chinese TV series Cosmetology High.
• Portrayed by Ruby Lin in the 2014 Chinese TV series Young Sherlock.
• Portrayed by Sophie Wu in the 2015 episode of Horrible Histories.
• Portrayed by Jiao Junyan in the 2017 Chinese TV series Legendary Di Renjie.
Films
• Portrayed by Gu Lanjun in the 1939 Chinese movie The Empress Wu Tse-tien.
• Portrayed by Li Lihua in the 1963 Hong-Kong movie Empress Wu Tse-Tien.
• Portrayed by Carina Lau in the 2010 Chinese-Hong Kong movie Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, its prequels Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon in 2013 and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings in 2018.
Video games
• Wu Zetian appears in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order as an Assassin class servant.
• Wu Zetian appears in the turn-based strategy game Civilization II and Civilization V as the leader of the Chinese civilization.
• Wu Zetian appears as a character in the mobile game Law of Creation as a front-row tank.
• Wu Zetian appears as a minister earned in the mobile game Call Me Emperor after getting first place in the cross server intimacy event.
• Wu Zetian appears in the mobile game Rise Of Kingdoms as a legendary Chinese civilization Commander.
• Wu Zetian appears as the highest-paying symbol in Wu Zetian, a slot machine published by Realtime Gaming
| 主題 | 關係 | from-date | to-date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 天授 | ruler | 690/10/16天授元年九月壬午 | 692/4/21天授三年三月乙未 |
| 如意 | ruler | 692/4/22如意元年四月丙申 | 692/10/22如意元年九月己亥 |
| 长寿 | ruler | 692/10/23长寿元年九月庚子 | 694/6/8长寿三年五月癸巳 |
| 延载 | ruler | 694/6/9延载元年五月甲午 | 694/11/22延载元年十月庚辰 |
| 证圣 | ruler | 694/11/23证圣元年正月辛巳 | 695/10/21证圣元年九月癸丑 |
| 天册万岁 | ruler | 695/10/22天册万岁元年九月甲寅 | 696/1/19天册万岁二年腊月癸未 |
| 万岁登封 | ruler | 696/1/20万岁登封元年腊月甲申 | 696/4/21万岁登封元年三月丙辰 |
| 万岁通天 | ruler | 696/4/22万岁通天元年三月丁巳 | 697/9/28万岁通天二年九月辛丑 |
| 神功 | ruler | 697/9/29神功元年九月壬寅 | 697/12/19神功元年闰十月癸亥 |
| 圣历 | ruler | 697/12/20圣历元年正月甲子 | 700/5/26圣历三年五月壬子 |
| 久视 | ruler | 700/5/27久视元年五月癸丑 | 701/2/14久视二年正月丙子 |
| 大足 | ruler | 701/2/15大足元年正月丁丑 | 701/11/25大足元年十月庚申 |
| 长安 | ruler | 701/11/26长安元年十月辛酉 | 705/1/29长安四年十二月辛巳 |
| 神龙 | ruler | 705/1/30神龙元年正月壬午 | 705/2/20神龙元年正月癸卯 |
| 文献资料 | 引用次数 |
|---|---|
| 新唐书 | 1 |
| 唐会要 | 7 |
| 冷斋夜话 | 1 |
| 全唐诗话 | 6 |
| 旧唐书 | 80 |
| 郡斋读书志 | 1 |
| 宋史 | 1 |
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