Wu Zetian: How China's Only Female Emperor Rose to Power

Wu Zetian (624–705 AD) was the only woman in Chinese history to assume the title of Empress Regnant, ruling China in her own name from 690 to 705 AD. Beginning her career as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Taizong, she outmaneuvered emperors, princes, and aristocrats over five decades to found her own dynasty — the Zhou — and govern one of the world's largest empires at its peak. Her reign expanded Tang territory, reformed the civil service, and reshaped Chinese politics in ways that outlasted her by centuries.

How Did Wu Zetian Rise from Concubine to Empress?

Born in 624 AD in Wenshui, Shanxi, to a wealthy timber merchant turned Tang official, Wu Zhao (her birth name) entered the imperial court at age 14 as a fifth-rank concubine to Emperor Taizong. Taizong died in 649 without elevating her status, and court protocol required his concubines to shave their heads and enter Buddhist convents. Wu avoided permanent obscurity by catching the eye of Taizong's son, the new Emperor Gaozong, while he visited her convent. By 655 AD, Gaozong had dismissed his reigning empress — Wang — and elevated Wu to Empress Consort, a politically explosive move that alienated the old aristocracy. As Gaozong suffered debilitating strokes from the 660s onward, Wu assumed direct control of state affairs, conducting court from behind a screen and issuing edicts in Gaozong's name. By his death in 683, she was the undisputed power behind the throne.

What Policies Defined Wu Zetian's Rule?

Wu Zetian's most transformative achievement was the radical expansion of the imperial examination system (keju). By opening the exams to commoners and personally presiding over palace examinations from 690 AD, she broke the hereditary grip of aristocratic clans on government posts, creating a merit-based bureaucracy loyal to the throne rather than to noble families. She also reorganised the military, overseeing successful campaigns that pushed Tang and Zhou borders deep into Central Asia and Korea. Domestically, she promoted agriculture through tax relief, reduced military conscription, and commissioned major Buddhist building projects — including the giant Longmen Grottoes carvings near Luoyang — to legitimise her rule through religious authority. Her secret police network, the Suijini, ruthlessly suppressed dissent, and she did not hesitate to execute members of her own family who threatened her position.

Why Is Wu Zetian's Legacy So Controversial?

Chinese historians writing under later male emperors condemned Wu Zetian as a usurper, a murderer, and a symbol of the dangers of female rule. Accusations — some credible, many fabricated — include smothering her own infant daughter to frame Empress Wang, and ordering the execution of thousands of officials. Modern scholarship, however, recognises her reign as a period of genuine stability and imperial expansion. The Tang dynasty she handed back to her son Zhongzong in 705 AD was territorially larger and administratively stronger than the one she had inherited. She died later that same year, aged approximately 81, and was buried beside Emperor Gaozong at the Qianling Mausoleum. Her blank funerary stele — the Wuzi Bei — was left intentionally uninscribed, a defiant statement that no words could capture her deeds.