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A third problem is that the empress, who was well aware of both these biases, was not averse to tampering with the record herself a fourth is that some other accounts of her reign were written by relatives who had good cause to loathe her. One reason, as we have already had cause to note in this blog, is the official nature and lack of diversity among the sources that survive for early Chinese history another is that imperial history was written to provide lessons for future rulers, and as such tended to be weighted heavily against usurpers (which Wu was) and anyone who offended the Confucian sensibilities of the scholars who labored over them (which Wu did simply by being a woman). Just how accurate this picture of Wu is remains a matter of debate. “With a heart like a serpent and a nature like that of a wolf,” one contemporary summed up, “she favored evil sycophants and destroyed good and loyal officials.” A small sampling of the empress’s other crimes followed: “She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother. She was painted as a usurper who was both physically cruel and erotically wanton she first came to prominence, it was hinted, because she was willing to gratify certain of the Taizong emperor‘s more unusual sexual appetites. For centuries she was excoriated by Chinese historians as an offender against a way of life. Barrett’s recent book even suggests (on no firm evidence) that the empress was the most important early promoter of printing in the world. Ruthless and decisive, she stabilized and consolidated the Tang dynasty at a time when it appeared to be crumbling–a significant achievement, since the Tang period is reckoned the golden age of Chinese civilization. She held power, in one guise or another, for more than half a century, first as consort of the ineffectual Gaozong Emperor, then as the power behind the throne held by her youngest son, and finally (from 690 until shortly before her death in 705) as monarch. Wu (she is always known by her surname) has every claim to be considered a great empress. The Tang emperor Taizong was the first to promote Wu, whom he gave the nickname “Fair Flatterer”–a reference not to her personal qualities but to the lyrics of a popular song of the day. she became the only woman in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule in her own right.
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Her name was Wu Zetian, and in the seventh century A.D. Of all these female rulers, though, none has aroused so much controversy, or wielded such great power, as a monarch whose real achievements and character remain obscured behind layers of obloquy. Sweden’s fascinating Queen Christina was nearly as infamous for eschewing her sidesaddle and riding in breeches as she was for the more momentous decision that she took to convert to Catholicism–while mustering her troops in 1588 as the Spanish Armada sailed up the Channel, even Elizabeth I felt constrained to begin a morale-boosting address with a denial of her sex: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too.” So queens and empresses regnant were forced to rule like men, and yet roundly criticized when they did so. However they rose, though, it has always been harder for a woman to rule effectively than it was for a man–more so in the earlier periods of history, when monarchs were first and foremost military leaders, and power was often seized by force. They came to power, mostly, by default or stealth a king had no sons, or an intelligent queen usurped the powers of her useless husband. These women were rarely chosen by their people.
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Not the United States, of course, but one thinks readily enough of Hatshepsut of ancient Egypt, Russia’s astonishing Catherine the Great, or Trung Trac of Vietnam. Most nations of note have had at least one great female leader. No contemporary image of the empress exists. A 17th-century Chinese depiction of Wu, from Empress Wu of the Zhou, published c.1690.