Khutulun Political Influence

Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China, ruled during the Tang dynasty, but exerted cruel and malicious methods to gain power. She was born with the name Wu Zhao into a wealthy family and learned to write, read, and play music. Because of her beauty and intelligence, Wu became Emperor Tsung’s fifth favorite concubine, or

There was once a poor bamboo cutter, cutting away. As he is cutting he sees a small child the size of his thumb inside the bamboo. He was awed by her beauty and took her home to his wife. They decided that they would raise her together, just as if she were their own child. But what they don’t know is that she is actually Princess Kaguya-hime. She has been sent down from the moon by her race to be protected from a raging Celestial war.

The narrator’s mother tells her story of her aunt as a cautionary tale, and in doing so draws a connection between the two. The narrator’s menstruation (Yue Jin in Chinese, as in “the moon’s passing” – once again, the roundness motif) mirrors the her aunt’s, her “forerunner[’s]” (8) “protruding melon of a stomach” (3). Indeed, the narrator views her childhood, barred from simple joys of flying “high kites” and “carnival ride[s]” and having to “pa[y] in guilt” (6) when she dares disobey, as markedly similar to her aunt’s life. Under the feudal system, women are relegated to the role of extending the descent line into perpetuity. Roundness, as critic Sau-Ling Cynthia Wong describes, is “mindlessly self-perpetuating; if a symbol of perfection and self-sufficiency, a circle also represents confinement” (“Necessity and Extravagance in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Art and the Ethnic Experience”

In the people’s eyes, Empress Wu Zhao and Genghis Khan were viewed as vicious, cold-hearted, and bloodthirsty rulers, because of their chief purpose in gaining sole power that would allow them to rule their empire. During Empress Wu Zhao’s reign, she committed immoral acts such as going to the extent of executing her opponents and blaming the deaths of her poisoned nieces on her troublesome nephews. During Genghis Khan’s reign, there were several acts of conquests, invasions, and warrior-like behavior that resulted in several wars, which caused the non-Mongolians to consider him as a cruel ruler due to the destruction of his expeditions. For instance, in the battle against the Tatars, majority of the people were slaughtered and children were captured to become his loyal subjects when matured. Through these acts of cruelty, the rulers were seen as evil. The rulers were always prepared to eliminate any rivals that would interfere with their power or become a hindrance to them. For example, Empress Wu Zhao eliminated the existing empress of China and the leading concubines, which were blocking her path in rising into power, enabling her to obtain the position of Empress of China herself in the year of 655. Empress Wu Zhao went ahead and imprisoned all members of the Tang Dynasty royal bloodline in order to ensure her reign’s security. For Genghis Khan, he eliminated all his existing rivals that consisted of Jamuka, the Tatars, Toghril, Kereit, and the Naiman ruler, which led him to proclaim

It can be concluded that the princesses are trained by the imperial court to only be married. A famous writing by a Chinese princess proved this to be true. She wrote “My family married me to a lost horizon…Were I only a brown goose and could fly back home.” (p. 81) Despite the low status of women in this era, their role in the society was needed to keep relations between kingdom friendly. As a khatun, Taihe had power in the Uygur court. Although women rarely were able to hold such a position, Taihe was “allowed to establish her own quarters, and for almost a year she had the company of the Chinese ministers” (p.86). The status Taihe gained through marriage displayed that the tradition held a lot of power.

Khutulun was born in c.1260 and died in c.1306. She was the daughter to Kaidu, cousin of Kublai Khan, and great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan. She had 14 brothers. She always followed her father into battle giving advice and political support along the way. Marco Polo said in one account that while she was up at her father's side, she scanned the enemy crowd. Before anyone could do anything, she would quickly ride her horse up to the enemy leader and snag him by his throat and then take him to her father. That causes the enemy forces to panic and flee. She was an amazing warrior and earned respect among her father supporters and her father's respect also rose. She didn't want to marry but her father wanted her to, so she compromised and

There are few examples of politics and government in ancient society that are as informative and detailed as those during the Third Dynasty period of Ur. The location of this ancient Sumerian city of Ur was located midway between Baghdad, Iraq and the head of the Persian Gulf. (Ur, 2014) In addition, the ruins of Ur are now known as Tell al-Muqayyar, Iraq. Interestingly, this city state has had a long and significant history throughout the pages of antiquity. However, the time period of the Third Dynasty being observed only covers the years approximately between 2112-2004 BC. (Ur, 2014) The importance of this small part of the timeline of the city state of Ur can be marked in the politics that show us the roots and early trends of human governance via the history of one of the earliest large city states of the prehistoric world.

Moreover, to explain these labels, the important events relevant to the development of the waiting-woman should be recognized and explained. The waiting woman is first set on her journey to fulfill her duties beside the Princess after mounting their respective horses. On both occasions that the Princes has been thirsty, the waiting-woman declares “I will not be your slave. If you want a drink, you may get it yourself; I am not going to be your slave” (582). To this, the Princess does not respond; the second time around, as she bends to drink her water, she looses

Heroes, kings and presidents, for so long men are the protagonist of the stories. Across the world and through the centuries, women have always been situated below men. Women were considered the weak sex, they are portrayed as delicate, obedient, naive and passionate. “Never trust in women; nor rely upon their vows” (44). As the wives of the kings on The Arabian Nights, whose passion brought them to cheat on both their husbands. They ended up being executed because they threatened the kings’ power. Or bringing danger into the families, as the wives of Kasim and Ali Baba, who wouldn’t think of the consequences of their actions and would act by the pure instinct of greed and naiveness. Yet, seldomly acknowledged, women have had to step up to fix troubled situations, the few stories told of women of scarce resources who have manage to triumph over the standardized society. This not only shows how women take advantage of the resources at their reach but how their

King Mongkut may have the authority of the country’s ruler but in Anna’s perspective, he does not intimidate her and she firmly asserts herself as an English woman; Anna knew to state an older age and was quick to establish herself as educated and intelligent.

Xiao Jingyan, Prince Jing of the Liang Empire, pulled his horse into a standstill and the soldiers behind him stopped moving in unison. The last time he rode out like this, he led twenty thousand men into a victory against thirty thousand. This time, he was visiting the capital of the Hua Kingdom to stay for an undetermined amount of time as a privileged guest of honor, an appellation prescribed by the newly established peace treaty between Hua and Liang.

"My mother was the Chief of the White Shadow Sect," said Yuan. "When she realized my father wanted to marry Princess Kara-Shutai, she stopped taking her medicine. They were married a day before she passed away and I vowed to become everything my father didn 't want me to be."

In the story of “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali,” the male king, as always is the dominant figure. Maghan Kon Fatta, was a Mandinka king who received a divine hunter at his court. The hunter predicted that if he married an ugly woman she would give him a son who would be a mighty king one day. He had three wives and six children, three of which were boys and three were girls, one of his sons was going to take his spot on the throne.

Long time ago, there was a beautiful girl named Buhlaluse. She was the king's beloved daughter. Her father loved her so much that he hired some maidens to be her companions / attendants, but her companions were envious of her beauty and her life.

Māori societies rely on a hierarchical system to keep balance within the Iwi (tribe) or Hapū (sub-tribe). The leaders can determine how tikanga (the correct or Māori way of doing things) is defined within that iwi or hapū so hold a great deal of responsibility. A good leader would have gained mana (power and authority) from his/her people and would often have whakapapa (genealogy or lineage) which they gained their mana and leadership skills from (Duncan, 2015). Kaumātua (elders) were often looked upon as leaders in any community because of their knowledge and advice but a highly respected leader would also be of direct descent from the atua (ancestor with continuing power, can be related to gods) or ariki (original chief of the waka). In this essay I will use the Kīngitanga movement on the 1860’s to show how mana, tikanga and whakapapa are all important concepts for a good Māori leader to encompass into his role.