live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
As China's only female emperor, Wu Zetian worked her way up to a position of power and prominence during the Tang Dynasty, establishing a legacy that would last thousands of years. One of history's most successful and controversial rulers, Wu Zetian married two emperors, birthed a couple more, and got rid of anyone that stood in her way. The line between fact and fiction with Wu Zetian is blurry, but stories about her life and rule are fascinating.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
One of history's most successful and controversial rulers
0:04
Wu Zetian, worked her way up to a position of power and prominence during the Tang Dynasty
0:09
She married two emperors, birthed a couple more, and got rid of absolutely anyone who stood in her way
0:16
So today we're going to take a look at the cutthroat reign of China's only female emperor
0:21
OK, let's jump back 1,400 years or so to a time when stacking up bodies was considered political savvy
0:30
Wu Zichian, also called Wu Zhao and Wu Hao, became a junior concubine of Emperor Taizong
0:40
in 636 or 638 CE, when she was just 14 years old. If you're keeping track, that's one year
0:47
older than 13 and two years older than 12. Yikes. Wu hailed from a wealthy family and was raised by
0:54
a surprisingly progressive father for the time, who encouraged her to read, write, and develop her
0:59
mind in ways that were usually pursued by men. Despite her education, when she started her life
1:04
at Taijong's palace, she began by working in the laundry. Apparently being a junior concubine was
1:10
an entry-level job. One day, evidently fed up with the honor of washing his PJs, Wu dared to speak to
1:16
the emperor as he passed her. It was a risky move, but it paid off. The emperor was impressed with
1:22
her intellect and made her his personal secretary. This kept her close to the emperor and let her
1:27
stay abreast of politics, social developments, and state affairs, giving her a front row education on how to rule a country
1:34
In addition to having Tai Zhang's favor, she also caught the eye of his son, Prince Li Xi
1:40
The two began an affair, which put both of them in an extremely precarious position
1:45
since he was already married and she was essentially considered the property
1:49
of the most powerful man in China. It was the kind of love triangle that starts fistfights
1:53
at family events today, but typically ended in a historic amount of bloodshed during royal dynasties
1:59
When Emperor Taijong died in 649 CE, tradition dictated that all of his concubines have their
2:05
heads shaved and be sent off to a convent, the idea being that they should have no other lovers
2:10
after the emperor. But tradition was no match for true love or the whims of an autocratic ruler
2:16
Prince Li-ji was now Emperor Gaozong, and he was still thoroughly smitten with Wu
2:21
He wasn't about to let some musty old traditions prevent him from getting his way
2:25
So he sent for Wu and had her brought back to the palace. Wu became one of the many women in Gaozong's life
2:31
including his other concubines and his wife, Lady Wong. The man kept a crowded house
2:37
And as reality television would later discover, cramming a bunch of people all competing
2:41
for a single person's affection under one roof was a recipe for some spectacular displays of jealous cunning
2:51
Emperor Gao Zeng had no children with Lady Wang but his top concubine Zhao Shufi also known as the pure concubine
3:01
gave birth to a son and two daughters, and Wu Zetian herself bore him two sons in 652 and 653
3:08
However, even though he had a relatively deep bench of potential heirs, the emperor decreed that his chancellor
3:14
Liu Shi's son, Li Zhang, would rule after him, in large part because Liu Shi was Lady Huang's uncle
3:21
Evidently, Gao Zong's highest loyalty was to the art of being a messy
3:26
As you might imagine, lobbing that massive grenade generated a lot of tension among the various women
3:31
But what really bothered Lady Huang and Xiao was the attention being paid to Wu
3:37
Wu was educated, so they viewed her as more of a threat than the other women
3:41
And as it turns out, they were right to be worried about her. In 654, Wu gave birth to a daughter
3:47
who died within a week, and what followed was the opening salvo of a supervillain origin story so
3:52
cold and calculating that even the most ruthless Flavor of Love contestant never tried it out
3:58
Wu accused Lady Wong, who was the last person to have held the baby, of smothering the child
4:04
She knew Lady Wong disliked her, and considering the general mood among the women in the palace
4:08
the accusation didn't seem that unthinkable. Furthermore, Lady Wong had no alibi and had also
4:14
been accused of witchcraft, which did not help her case. However, according to some later accounts
4:19
Wu may have actually killed her own baby in order to frame Lady Wong for the crime
4:24
Incidentally, Wu was also the one who had accused Lady Wong of being a witch
4:29
You'd think it wouldn't be too hard to connect those dots, but tragically, Columbo had not been born yet
4:34
In a truly awe-inspiring display of, what the hell, let's give it a shot
4:38
Wu insinuated that the pure concubine may have also been involved in the murder
4:43
If Wu had indeed engineered her daughter's death as part of a plan to get the emperor all to herself
4:49
it couldn't have worked out better. Lady Wong was found guilty of the murder and banished to a
4:53
remote part of the palace, to be joined later by the pure concubine. Alleged infanticide
4:58
understandably proved to be a bridge too far for Emperor Gao Zhang, who divorced Lady Wong
5:04
and then married Wu, making her empress as of 655. You would think Wu finally had everything she wanted
5:16
but at least one problem remained. She faced opposition from the advisors
5:20
who had served under Taizong and refused to accept her position as empress
5:24
The advisors argued that Wu was lowborn, and more importantly, she had been one of Taizong's concubines
5:31
thus making her marriage to Gaozong incestuous. If you're thinking people whose job was to give advice
5:36
should have maybe had more wisdom than to accuse the emperor and his murderous new wife of having
5:41
an incestuous relationship, Congratulations you should be an advisor Wu set out to get rid of these men and over time she found ways to exile or execute all of them After Gaozong had a debilitating stroke in 660
5:54
Wu wielded even more power. She took over matters of government, court, and state
5:58
and effectively ruled China for the next 23 years. Once she became empress, Wu immediately
6:04
went about settling some old scores. And first up on the agenda were Lady Wong and the pure concubine
6:10
Wu was said to have ordered that their hands and feet be cut off before throwing them in a vat of wine to drown
6:16
According to one source, Wu looked on and remarked, now these two witches can get drunk to their bones
6:22
Even if they had survived the drowning, they would have been reduced to ashes by that devastating burn
6:27
Not long after that, Wu shifted her attention to more direct threats to her power
6:31
a phrase here meaning her children. Two of Wu's sons died while the emperor was still alive
6:37
One prince was supposedly poisoned for challenging his mother, while the other was exiled and forced to commit suicide
6:43
Maybe mom saying she's disappointed in you doesn't seem so bad anymore
6:48
Gao Zong finally died in 683, at which point Wu's son, Li Hong, became emperor
6:54
He took the royal name Chong Zong. But he and his wife, Lady Wei
6:58
pushed too much of their own agenda forward. Wu felt that they were taking too much authority
7:03
for themselves, especially after Lady Wei had her father appointed as her husband's chief minister
7:08
To say Wu took that personally would be like calling the Burj Khalifa pretty tall
7:13
Wu charged them both with treason and had them banished. Well, maybe
7:17
Some other accounts claim that she poisoned her son to get rid of him, and nobody knows for sure which version is true
7:23
Whatever the case, once Changzong and Lady Wei were out of the picture
7:27
Wu's youngest son ascended to the throne. He took the royal name Ruitzong, but he was emperor in name only
7:34
and spent his reign under house arrest while his mother made all of the decisions for him
7:38
Perhaps tired of ruling through a puppet, she eventually forced Rui Zong to abdicate in 690
7:44
Don't take it too hard, Rui Zong. All things considered, you got off light
7:48
It was at this point that she finally dropped all pretense and just declared herself
7:52
emperor and ruled China for the next 15 years. One of the ways Wu was able to successfully weed
7:57
out her enemies was by employing a classic tool of totalitarian rulers, a vast network of secret
8:03
police and spies. Wu used informants to find out information from all over China, paying for individuals
8:09
to come to court to report on what they knew. She gathered dirt on government officials
8:13
she wanted to get rid of, bribed officials to inform on one another, and unearthed plots against her
8:18
before they became real threats. You can't argue with the results. While her early years in the palace
8:29
were driven by a burning ambition, Late in her reign, Wu, like many powerful rulers
8:34
became corrupted by excess. She began showing heavy favor to her male concubines And over time she began to neglect her duties sort of like that one member of the band who starts dating a partner nobody can stand and keeps bringing them around
8:48
practices until the band breaks up. You're going to force us to put Sammy Hagar on the throne
8:52
and nobody wants that. According to one historian, by the time she was in her 70s
8:58
Wu had become obsessed with two smooth-cheeked brothers known as the Zhang brothers. The brothers
9:03
had been famous singers when they were very young, making them the ancient Chinese equivalent
9:07
of One Direction. While the nature of their private relationships with the emperor have
9:12
never been precisely determined, they are believed to have been romantically involved with her
9:16
or maybe she just really liked their music. Nobody knows for certain, since at this point
9:21
in her life, Wu was greatly weakened by old age and infirmity, and would allow no one but the
9:26
Zhang brothers to get close to her. As 20-year-old flamboyant party animals, the Zhang brothers were
9:31
fiercely resented by government officials and others at court. But the empress ignored this
9:36
until the nobles grew so irate that, according to one account, they stormed the palace and cut off
9:41
the brothers' heads, delivering a message in a language in which Wu was undeniably fluent
9:46
at least they took care to preserve the brothers' legendarily smooth cheeks. In addition to spending most of her time with concubines, Wu grew more paranoid and began to
9:55
think that everyone was conspiring against her. She became addicted to aphrodisiacs and further
10:00
lost touch with reality as she continued to exile, jail, or kill her rivals. Her reign became
10:06
so untethered that at some time around 704 or 705, she was forced to abdicate, and her son
10:12
Chang Song, was brought back from exile to rule. Regardless of how she assumed the throne, Wu's reign was considered peaceful. During the Tang
10:25
dynasty, China expanded its military control of the region, largely under the guidance of Wu herself
10:31
In addition, military expenses were reduced, taxes were cut, salaries were raised
10:37
retirees were given a viable pension, and vast royal lands near the capital were turned over to farming and agriculture
10:43
And in total fairness to Wu, the extent of her ruthlessness may have been overstated
10:48
Her claim that Lady Wong smothered her infant daughter may have actually been true
10:52
Since it happened so long ago, no one will ever really know. And with so much of the information about Wu coming from later sources
10:58
it's difficult to know which stories are accurate and which are just myths perpetrated by her rivals
11:04
After all, Chinese historians have blamed Wu for everything from infanticide to hedonism to earthquakes
11:09
You heard that right? Shortly after she took power, an earthquake reportedly shook China, which was seen as a bad omen
11:16
On the other hand, if you're seeking to crush your rivals and consolidate power, people believing you have the ability to cause earthquakes isn't entirely a bad thing
11:24
What we do know for sure is that Wu Zichen defied traditional Confucian ideas about leadership
11:29
And for that reason, her contemporaries were not at all pleased with her rise to power
11:34
And that story is all too easy to believe