Empress Wu, the first and only female emperor of China is also the only recorded woman to rule China in her own right. Wu first began ruling through puppet emperors, which was unprecedented in Chinese history but broke new ground once again when she founded her own dynasty – The Zhou Dynasty which disturbed the Tang Dynasty – and ruled under the name Emperor Shengshen. The portrayal of her rise and reign has changed according to the contextual ideologies of her biographies.
Born Wu Zhao, Empress Wu was born into a well-off family with servants to perform routine tasks for her. This meant that Wu did not have to perform household chores and thus had time to pursue her education, which was encouraged by her father. By ensuring that Wu was well…show more content… This is due to the proper role of women deemed to be as wives and not rulers, thus the belief that “having a woman rule would be as unnatural as having a "hen crow like a rooster at daybreak””. For centuries, Wu has been excoriated by Chinese historians as an offender against the way of life. Painted as a usurper who was physically cruel and erotically wanton, it was hinted that the reason behind her rise to prominence was due to her willingness to fulfil Emperor Taizong’s more unusual sexual desires. Luo Binwang wrote that “With a heart like a serpent and a nature like that of a wolf, she favoured evil sycophants and destroyed good and loyal officials” before following with a sample of the Empress’ crimes: “She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother. She is hated by god and men…show more content… While Wu most likely did do away with several of her own family members, repeatedly showed favouritism, maintained a group of young men even in her old age, ordered the deaths of numerous people who were probably innocent and dealt ruthlessly with a never-ending succession of rivals, she was no different to any other male emperor. Every Chinese emperor had concubines, and almost always had favourites amongst them. Few emperors came to power or stayed in power without the use of violence, in fact Emperor Taizong forced the abdication of his father before deposing two older brothers in order to ascend the throne.
Overweening ambition has always been harder for traditional folk to countenance in a female. But in execution and judgment, she proved a capable ruler. Historian Sima Guang wrote from the Song Dynasty:
“Even though the Empress Dowager excessively used official titles to cause people to submit to her, but if she saw that someone was incompetent, she would immediately depose or even execute him. She grasped the powers of punishment and award, controlled the state, and made her own judgments as to policy decisions. She was observant and had good judgment, so the talented people of the time also were willing to be used by