Wu Zhou's Status In The Tang Dynasty

Wu Zhou was an intelligent woman who pushed for power within the inner court; her strategy to achieve status in the Tang dynasty proved effective as she is considered today to be the only female Emperor to grace China. Though she had used some extreme tactics to achieve her goal, I think most of her behavior can be justified by her intentions for creating a better China. Along with becoming Emperor, she convinced China that Buddhism should be the primary religion as oppose to Daoism.
Fortunate to be born into a family that supported education, Wu Zhou, in her travels with her father, gained a loving parent-child bond that drove her to exceed boundaries and achieve great things. Since her father did not have the chance to become a man of status, she wanted to make him proud and prove society’s standards wrong by outcompeting her opponents—males. Being well versed in education, politics, and discovering her own beauty, she gained position of Talent Wu, or fifth- ranked concubine to Emperor Taizong.
After Emperor Taizong’s reign was coming to an end, she turned her eyes to who would be next in line as emperor. She immediately began
plotting to be a part of the inner court of Gaozong, Taizong’s son. She did not care that others considered her interest incest; with a goal in mind, she soon became invited back into the court. Although outsiders may have disliked her for that reason, she still kept peaceful ties with most others because in the end, she would need the support of others to boost her power.
Nothing scared Wu Zhou, not even Empress Wang, wife of Emperor Gaozong. In fact, this only preluded her to fight harder for power and title of Empress. Wu had plotted against Wang in several ways so Gaozong could see that she was not fit to be Empress. When Wang bore a child, Wu smothered the baby and framed the Empress. Deliberation about this incident was made within the inner court—after all why would a mother kill her child? Wu’s Buddhist ways helped clear her name, and she was eventually heightened to wife of Emperor Gaozong. She fulfilled all of her duties as concubine, Empress, and even more so, Emperor, when her husband had a stroke after just five years of marriage.
As ruler of the Tang dynasty, Wu reclaimed possession of the Silk Road, maintained China’s borders against Turkish expansion, and kept inner and outer rebellions to a minimum. Population within China during her reign increased and Buddhism proved to be a religion to unite the people. By embracing her inner warrior she was able to do all of these things that were considered improper for a lady. She changed China’s viewpoint about females and politics, and did her father justice. I believe all of her strategies, though conniving, paid off and she was able to change the standards of a “mistress.” Politics is a cut throat business and similar strategies are still used today. Her actions are consistent with Darwin’s survival of the fittest concept, and ancient Greek virtues such as aerte. Her determination and preservation makes her a hero.
Part Two
Emperor Gaozong came into power after Emperor Taizong, his father, had passed. I gather that Emperor Gaozong is a bit impressionable as he is easily talked into doing things by women in the inner court. Wu Zhou proves to be the mastermind behind the rule of the royal couple; and she is well practiced at doing so, cleverly having pushed her way to the top. She uses her looks and sexuality to swindle Gaozong into letting her have her way. Together they bore children, and he listened to her command when it came to decisions about the state.
Wu Zhou’s tricks for gaining power had worked on Emperor Gaozong because she knew how to play the game. She knew to make friends first with those around her, to be well educated, and to play up her female charm. Surely, a lot of males may have also gave her power under these conditions. Unbeknownst to him, she killed a child from Gaozong’s first marriage with Empress Wang. After framing Wang, she knew to put her foot in the door and speak up about who may have done it. For the most part she was a very Buddhist women, but she knew when to speak her mind and what buttons to push. Perhaps it worked out that Gaozong was also younger than Wu was because she may have sought an opportunity to take advantage of a young male who was not ready to rule the state. She had already been in the inner court with his father, so she had a leg up on any other female.
Wu was able to stay in power because she was intelligent; she told Gaozong what to do with state affairs.
When somebody crossed her, she would convince Gaozong to get rid of them because of the bad influence they had. But she couldn’t have gained such power without him. Goazong was well liked by the people, partially because he was a male, and she needed his approval in order to advance in the inner court. Taizong had left the dynasty in a good place and Gaozong was entrusted to follow in his footsteps. Confucian thought had influenced them both in how they perceived others. A harmonious relationship needed to be had between the royal couple or the Tang dynasty would fall apart. She dictated to him on how the state should be run, and he conveyed it to China because they weren’t quite ready to handle orders from a female of
power.
Equality was a theme of importance that Wu felt in terms of gender. She sees women as more than just mistresses; she sees them as equal opponents to power and a threat to others who dismiss the idea. She did believe in a military but she reduced it considerably. Any threat to her was eliminated—she did not hesitate to plot, poison, and kill. She made her friends within the inner court of those that liked her, or feared her, and convinced Gaozong to get rid of the disobedient. Wu brought those who were highly educated into the inner court, regardless of their social status. And finally she wanted to get rid of any males who she saw as getting in her way. She killed off all the sons from Gaozong’s earlier marriage, and eventually got rid of her own bloodline.
Clearly Wu had done a lot of scamming to gain her power. But she was fearless and let no one stand in her way. She used everyone she came across to gain the title of Emperor, but in the long run, expanded territory, population, education, and trade in China. She made sure that any administrative who taxed highly were punished and those who made agriculture better were rewarded. She was already in charge before she was named Empress, but the title made others believers, and society slowly accepted a woman Emperor.