Wu Zetian

The Tang, an imperial dynasty of China, had been founded by the Li family, who had seized power in 618 during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire.

Gaozong, the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty in China, has ruled from 649, although from January 665 much of the governance has been in the hands of his second wife Empress Wu after a series of strokes had left him incapacitated.

During the first part of his reign, Tang territorial gains, which had begun with his father Emperor Taizong, continued, including the conquest of Baekje, Silla, and the Western Göktürks, but throughout the 670s, much of those gains had been lost to Tufan, Silla, Khitan, and Balhae.

Further, territory previously conquered that had belonged to both Eastern and Western Göktürks had been subjected to repeated rebellions.

Due to a culmination of major droughts, floods, locust plagues, and epidemics, a widespread famine breaks out in 682 in the dual Chinese capital cities of Chang'an (primary capital) and Luoyang (secondary capital).

The scarcity of food drives the price of grain to unprecedented heights, ending a once prosperous era under emperors Taizong and Gaozong on a sad note.

Gaozong dies in 683, having brought Japan and Korea into tributary relationship to the Chinese empire.

State power now falls completely into the hands of Empress Wu, who at first reigning in the name of puppet emperors (her son Emperor Zhongzong and then her younger son Emperor Ruizong), will subsequently become the first and only reigning Empress of China.

Empress Dowager Wu had been set to make sacrifices in 688 to the deity of the Luo River (flowing through the Henan province city of Luoyang, at this time the "Eastern Capital").

Wu had 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, plotted to resist her.

However, before a rebellion could be comprehensively planned out, Li Zhen and his son Li Chong the Prince of Langye rose first, at their respective posts as prefects of Yu Prefecture (roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan) and Bo Prefecture (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 the Prince of Han, Li Lingkui the Prince of Lu, and Princess Changle, as well as many other members of the Li clan and forced them to commit suicide.

Even Princess Taiping's husband Xue Shao is implicated and starved to death.

In the subsequent years, there will continue to be many politically motivated massacres of officials and Li clan members.

In 690, Wu takes the final step, taking the regnal name Wu Zetian, and the title huangdi, as the monarch of the newly proclaimed Zhou Dynasty.

Traditional Chinese order of succession (akin to the Salic law in Europe) does not allow a woman to ascend the throne, but Wu Zetian is determined to quash the opposition, and the use of the secret police does not subside, but continued, after her taking the throne.

However, while her organization of the civil service system is criticized for its laxity of the promotion of officials, Wu Zetian is considered capable of evaluating the performance of the officials once they are in office.

Wu Zetian, shortly after taking the throne, had elevated the status of Buddhism to be above Taoism, officially sanctioning the religion by building temples named Dayun Temple in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals Luoyang and Chang'an, and also created nine senior monks dukes.

She also enshrines seven generations of Wu ancestors at the imperial ancestral temple, although she also continues to offer sacrifices to the Tang emperors Gaozu, Taizong, and Gaozong.

She faces the issue of succession.

At the time she took the throne, she had created Li Dan, the former Emperor Ruizong, crown prince, and bestowed the name of Wu on him.

However, the official Zhang Jiafu had instigated the commoner Wang Qingzhi into starting 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 is tempted to do so, and when the chancellors Cen Changqian and Ge Fuyuan oppose strongly, they, along with fellow chancellor Ouyang Tong, are executed.

Nevertheless, she declines Wang's request to make Wu Chengsi crown prince, but for a time allows Wang to freely enter the palace to see her.

On one occasion, however, when Wang angers her by coming to the palace too much, she asks the official Li Zhaode to batter Wang—and Li Zhaode takes the opportunity to batter Wang to death, and his group of petitioners scatters.

Li Zhaode then persuades Wu Zetian to keep Li Dan as crown prince—pointing out that a son is closer in relations than a nephew, and also that if Wu Chengsi became emperor, Emperor Gaozong would never again be worshiped.

Wu Zetian agrees, and for some time will not again consider the matter.

Further, at Li Zhaode's warning that Wu Chengsi is becoming too powerful, Wu Zetian strips Wu Chengsi of his chancellor authority and bestows on him largely honorific titles without actual authority.

Wu Zetian has Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou killed after Wu Zetian's trusted lady in waiting Wei Tuan'er, who hates Li Dan (the reason why she did so is lost to history), falsely accuses Li Dan's wife Crown Princess Liu and Consort Dou of using witchcraft in 693.

Li Dan, fearful that he is to be next, does not dare to speak of them.

When Wei further plans to falsely accuse Li Dan, however, someone else informs on her, and she is executed.

Wu Zetian nevertheless has Li Dan's sons demoted in their princely titles, and when the officials Pei Feigong and Fan Yunxian are accused of secretly meeting Li Dan, she executes Pei and Fan and further bars officials from meeting Li Dan.

There follow accusations that Li Dan is plotting treason, and under Wu Zetian's direction, Lai launches an investigation.

Lai arrests Li Dan's servants and tortures them—and the torture is such that many of them are ready to falsely implicate themselves and Li Dan.

One of Li Dan's servants, An Jinzang, however, proclaim Li Dan's innocence and cuts his own belly open to swear to that fact.

When Wu Zetian hears of what An did, she has doctors attend to An and barely saves his life, then orders Lai to end the investigation, thus saving Li Dan.

Emperor Taizong of Tang in 640 had launched a campaign against the Western Regions and the Kingdom of Khotan had submitted to the Tang emperor.

The Four Garrisons of Anxi had been established, one of them at Khotan.

The Tibetans had subsequently defeated the Chinese and had taken control of the Four Garrisons, and the Khotanese had helped the Tibetans to conquer Aksu.

Tang China under Empress Wu in 692 regains control.

Khotan is made a protectorate.

The powers of the secret police officials meanwhile continue, but appear to be curbed starting about 692, when Lai Junchen is foiled in his attempt to have the chancellors Ren Zhigu, Di Renjie, Pei Xingben, and other officials Cui Xuanli, Lu Xian, Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen executed, as Di, under arrest, had hid a secret petition inside a change of clothes and had it submitted by his son Di Guangyuan.

The seven are still exiled, but after this incident, particularly at the urging of Li Zhaode, Zhu Jingze, and Zhou Ju, the waves of politically motivated massacres decrease, although do not end entirely.

Also in 692, Wu Zetian commissions the general Wang Xiaojie to attack Tufan, and Wang recaptures the four garrisons of Xiyu that had fallen to Tufan in 670—Qiuzi, Yutian, Shule, and Suiye.

Li Zhaode, who had become powerful after Wu Chengsi's removal, was himself thought to be too powerful, and Wu Zetian had removed him in 694.

Around this time also, the empress had become highly impressed with a group of mystic individuals—the hermit Wei Shifang (on whom she bestows a chancellor title briefly), who claims to be over three hundred and fifty years old; an old Buddhist nun who claims to be a Buddha and capable of predicting the future; and a non-Han man who claims to be five hundred years old.

During this time, Wu briefly claims to be and adopts the cult imagery of Maitreya, the future Buddha, in order to build popular support for her reign.

However, in 695, after the imperial meeting hall and the Heavenly Hall are burned by Huaiyi (who is jealous at Wu Zetian's taking on another lover, the imperial physician Shen Nanqiu, Wu Zetian becomes angry at these individuals for failing to predict the fire; the old nun and her students are arrested and made into slaves; Wei commits suicide; and the old non-Han man flees.

Subsequently, she also puts Huaiyi to death.

After this incident, she appears to pay less attention to mysticism and is even more dedicated than before to the affairs of state.

However, Wu Zetian's administration is soon in for various troubles on the western, then the northern, borders.

An army sent by Wu Zetian, commanded by Wang Xiaojie and Lou Shide against Tufan in spring 696, is soundly defeated by Tufan generals, the brothers Lun Qinling and Lun Zanpo.

As a result, the empress demotes Wang to commoner rank and Lou to be a low level prefectural official, although she eventually restores both of them to general positions.

In April of the same year, Wu Zetian recasts the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, symbol of ultimate power in ancient China, to reinforce her authority.

A much more serious threat arises 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, the prefect of Ying Prefecture (roughly modern Zhaoyang, Liaoning), rebels, with Li assuming the title of Wushang Khan.

Armies that Wu Zetian sends to suppress Li and Sun's rebellion are defeated by Khitan forces, which in turn attack Zhou proper.

The Eastern Tujue Khan Ashina Mochuo (Qapaghan Qaghan) meanwhile offers to submit, and yet is also launching attacks against Zhou and Khitan—including an attack against the Khitan base of operations in winter 696 shortly after Li's death at this time that captures Li's and Sun's families and temporarily halts Khitan operations against Zhou.

Sun, after taking over as khan and reorganizing Khitan forces, again attacks Zhou territory and has many victories over Zhou forces, including a battle during which Wang Shijie is killed.

Wu Zetian tries 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 the provision of Ashina Mochuo with seeds, silk, tools, and iron.

In summer 697, Ashina Mochuo launches another attack on Khitan's base of operations, and this time, after his attack, Khitan forces collapse, and Sun is killed in flight, ending the Khitan threat.

Meanwhile, also in 697, Lai Junchen, who had at one point lost power but had then returned to power, falsely accuses Li Zhaode (who has been pardoned) of crimes, and then plans to falsely accuse Li Dan, Li Zhe, the Wu clan princes, and Princess Taiping, of treason.

The Wu clan princes and Princess Taiping act first against him, accusing him of crimes, and he and Li Zhaode are executed together.

After Lai's death, the reign of the secret police largely ends, and many of the victims of Lai and the other secret police officials are gradually exonerated posthumously.

Meanwhile, around this time, Wu Zetian begins to engage herself with two new lovers—the brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who become honored within the palace and are eventually created dukes.

Wu Chengsi and another nephew of Wu Zetian's, Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang, are making repeated 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.

However, Di Renjie, who by now has become a trusted chancellor, is firmly against the idea and instead proposes that Li Zhe be recalled.

He is supported in this by fellow chancellors Wang Fangqing and Wang Jishan, as well as Wu Zetian's close advisor Ji Xu, who further persuades the Zhang brothers to support the idea as well.

In spring 698, Wu Zetian agrees and recalls Li Zhe from exile.

Soon, Li Dan offers to yield the crown prince position to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian creates Li Zhe crown prince, soon changing his name back to Li Xiǎn and then Wu Xian.

Later, Ashina Mochuo demands 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 sends a member of her own family, grandnephew Wu Yanxiu, to marry Mochuo's daughter instead, he rejects him.

Ashina Mochuo has no actual intention to cement the peace treaty with a marriage; instead, when Wu Yanxiu arrives, he detains Wu Yanxiu and then launches a major attack on Zhou, advancing as far south as Zhao Prefecture (in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) before withdrawing.