Wu Zetian Perpetual Footprint on China Essay

    The Sui Dynasty only had a lifespan of two main emperors, Emperor Wen and Emperor Yang. Emperor Wen was a great leader for this empire, but his son was an awful tyrant, and due to this, the empire failed.  Li Yuan, a governor of the Sui and also Emperor Yang’s cousin, rebelled and with the help of his sons and others, was able to overthrow the horrible ruler.  In the end, Li Yuan gained power and established the Tang Dynasty.  He became Emperor Gaozu of Tang in 618 AD. (Ancient China: Sui Dynasty)

After being selected as the Last Emperor of China by the ill Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, Henry Pu yi at his childhood lived a lavish life not knowing of what obligations will face him in growing up. At the age of 6 in the year of 1912, China converts to republic and the Ching Dynasty was forced to abdicate.

Emperor Wudi’s greatest achievement was his vast territorial expansion, taking over other empires and tribes, but that success came at the expense of his country’s welfare because he abused his power to protect himself and fund his military. His perspective on a great dynasty is a dynasty with a lot of power and a thriving economy. Wudi was somewhat successful because he conquered a lot of lands and boosted the economy. In the long run and along the process, however, he hurt his economy and people along the way and in the long run. Emperor Wudi’s powerful authority combined with a rich government to fund the strong military led to extensive campaigns at the expense of his country’s welfare.

Women during this time were considered inferior to the men. A stereotypical woman in China was, “passive, dependent, obedient, and helpless”. Women were considered guests in their own houses before marriage and after marriage the women became part of their husband’s family. This must have meant that family loyalty for the women was not as important, but it was more important for the men. The expectation was that women were to agree with their husbands regardless of whether or not they were actually correct. When out in public, they should cover up as much of their skin as possible and not raise their voices when they are spoken to. This was a difficult time for women, but Empress Wu found a way to ignore these stereotypes. Her beauty and intelligence attracted Taizong and he made her part of his concubine. She eventually married the son of Taizong, Gaozong, making her empress of China. After the death of Gaozong their son Ruizong ruled as emperor, but eventually Empress Wu threw him into exile and took the position for herself starting her rule in 690. This represents her more brutal nature and how she would not let anything or anyone get in her way, including her son. Since she had overcome the adversities of women Wu worked hard during her reign to allow more opportunities for women than previously. In

Under pressure of her court Zetian relinquished her crown to her son Li Xian3 (Empress Wu Zetian of Tang Dynasty). In the same month of November Zetian died peacefully at age eighty (FitzGerald, Charles Patrick). Zetian marked the beginning of women’s rights because Zetian ruled when women were not a source of power.

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

Mark C Elliott’s book Emperor Qianlong Son of Heaven, Man of the World is a short biography about Hongli. Hongli was the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor and the favorite of his father and grandfather and was born in 1711. In the beginning it describes how he rose up in rank as a son through his father who introduced him to the current emperor Kangxi, his grandfather. The first chapter gives us the story of what Hongli was like as a child and how he won the favor of the Emperor. The book follows Hongli all the time from his birth from a low ranking palace consort right up to the end of his life even after he technically gave up his title as

Tang Taizong (627-649) was the second Tang emperor and ruled the Tang Empire at its highest point. He was an zealous and charismatic individual; he even kicked his father out of the throne and killed his two brothers just so he could become the emperor. Taizong’s reign brought about the most eminent period of prosperity and tranquolity in China’s society and helped China become one of the most powerful feudal empires the world has ever seen. His empire covered most of the territory of present day China, Mongolia, Central Asia, Vietnam, and Eastern Kazakhstan.

EXTENSION HISTORY DRAFT 3 How has portrayal of Empress Wu changed in regards to contextual ideologies? Empress Wu was the first and only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. She is the only recorded woman to rule China in her own right. She began ruling through puppet emperors from 665 to 690, which was unprecedented in Chinese history, she then broke new ground again when she founded her own dynasty in 690, the Zhou Dynasty and ruled personally under the name Emperor Shengshen from 690 to 705.

In October of 211 B.C E., the First Emperor set sail for his fifth tour of his empire. The emperor was looking for an elixir of immortality. The elixir was stuck on an island guarded by a sea monster. Along side him during his journey was, Li Si, Meng Yi, and Zhao Gao. Li Si was still the prime minister during the Qin Dynasty. Meng Yi was the younger brother of General Meng Tian. Zhao Ghao was a palace eunuche and minor official of low rank (85). During this time, the First Emperor was already afraid of death. He had undergone assassination attempts before the journey. He was also seeking immortality. After nine months on the journey, the emperor was nine thousand miles away from home. The emperor suddenly became ill (87). The Qin Dynasty

She took over administration of the court when Emperor Gaozong was ill and gained the respect and love from the court with her great skills, courage, ambitious character and readiness to use vicious actions if necessary. When Emperor Gaozong passed away, his throne was taken over by Wu’s third son, Li Xian. Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian) found difficulties in ruling the empire and soon after, was replaced by his younger, weaker brother, Emperor Ruizong (Li Dan). Six years later, Wu Zetian declared herself as emperor after forcing Emperor Ruizong to abdicate. As Empress of the ‘Zhou’ dynasty, Wu Zetian was ruthless.

Many people argued that Empress Dowager Cixi accelerated the speed of the demise of the Qing dynasty. Cixi might be a blasting fuse but she was not accounted for the final fall of the dynasty. The actions Cixi took had profoundly changed the foundation of feudal China so as to push China forward into a modern stage. Although many historical data suggested that whatever Cixi had done were to consolidate her authority and personal status. But no matter what, the impact on the country was obvious. Cixi broke the previous traditions from Confucianism that had been lasted for centuries. Tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese had been greatly improved, which made a great contribution to China for later unification. Under the reign of the Empress Dowager, the social structure had undergone a series of changes. Qing 's demise is doomed, this was resulted from issues that had stacked up from previous generations. Moreover, Cixi did her best to secure China’s status in the world in such a chaotic period in history. She made undeniable contributions to China.

Wu Zetian, born in a well of family became interested in ruling as an emperor at a young age. Unlike other younger girls, Wu spent most of her time reading about politics. She learnt how to read, write Chinese classics and play music. By the age of thirteen, Wu became popular due to her beauty, outstanding wits, talents and intelligence earning her a place at the court of Emperor Tsai Sung. Wu was easy to love, therefore becoming the emperor’s favorite concubine within a short period of time. Tsai Tsung died later then succeeded by his son Kao Tsung. (Richard, Harper 1998) By this time Zetian was already twenty seven years old. She immediately became the favorite concubine of the new emperor giving him sons. Zetian strangled her own daughter and blamed Koa’s wife making her the only

So, he became king at an extremely young age. For the first while of being king, he had a regent help him rule the land, which is a person who looks after the state because the king of that state is a minor or is absent. Once he got to the age of twenty-two he no longer needed a regent and was in full control of that state. He was a very ambitious person and wanted to set out and conquer the other states of China and become king of the whole

Wu Zhao was born into a family of nobility in Wenshuai the Shanxi province. Her father was Wu Shihuo had her educated in politics, history, and music, she had refused to do other things other girls her age would do. She had also traveled with her parents. She had come to be the Empress by becoming a concubine to the Emperor, Tang Taizong, in 638 C.E. the emperor had heard about her beauty so she was brought to him. After his death, she became a concubine to his son and successor. She soon rose above the other wives and became the emperor’s chief wife. She had given birth to two sons in 652 and 653 C.C., which angered the wife of Gazong, to get rid of her Wu Zhao accuses her of murdering her daughter in 654 C.E. she was found guilty. Wu Zhao