WU HOU

born AD 625 died Dec. 16, 705 Pinyin Wu Hou (posthumous name, or shih), original name (WadeGiles romanization) Wu Chao, also called Wu Tse-t'ien woman who rose from concubinage to become empress of China, ruling effectively for many years, the last 15 (690705) in her own name. She consolidated the T'ang dynasty and unified the empire. Wu Hou entered the palace of the T'ang emperor T'ai Tsung as a junior concubine, at the age of 13, in 638. By that time, the T'ang dynasty had recently reunited China, largely through the efforts of the emperor T'ai Tsung. Little is known of Empress Wu's life as a concubine of T'ai Tsung, but, on his death in 649, she is traditionally said to have already entered into intimate relations with his heir, the T'ang emperor Kao Tsung. Relegated to a Buddhist convent on the death of T'ai Tsung, as custom required, the future empress Wu was visited there by the new emperor, who had her brought back to the palace to be his own favourite concubine. She first eliminated her female rivals within the palace, the existing empress and leading concubines, and in 655 gained the position of empress for herself, eventually bearing the emperor Kao Tsung four sons and one daughter. Wu Hou used her authority to bring about the fall of all the elder statesmen, who had served T'ai Tsung and still exercised great influence over the government. These men opposed her elevation to the rank of empress, mainly because, although she was the daughter of a relatively senior officer, her family was not one of the great aristocratic clans. They also objected to the nature of the relationship between Wu Hou and the emperor Kao Tsung, on the grounds that, as she had been a concubine of T'ai Tsung, it was incestuous. By 660 the empress had triumphed over all opponents, who had been dismissed, exiled, and, in many instances, finally executed. Even the emperor's uncle, the head of the great family of the Chang-sun, of Imperial descent, was hounded to death and his relatives were exiled or ruined. Virtually supreme power was now exercised by the empress in the name of the sickly emperor, who was often too ill to attend to state affairs for long periods. The emperor, who was weak in character, relied upon her entirely, and, for the last 23 years of his life, the empress Wu was the real ruler of China. She continued to eliminate potential rivals, even when these were her own relations, but she governed the empire with great efficiency, employing able men who clearly felt loyalty to her and stood by her when challenges were made. Her great ability as an administrator, her courage, decisive character, and readiness to use ruthless means against any opponent, however highly placed, won her the respect, if not the love, of the court. In the years between 655 and 675 the T'ang empire achieved the conquest of Korea, under military leaders who were picked and promoted by the empress Wu. When the emperor Kao Tsung died in 683, he was succeeded by his son (by Wu Chao), the T'ang emperor Chung Tsung. The new emperor had been married to a woman of the Wei family, who now sought to put herself in the same position of authority as that of the empress Wu, for her husband was as weak and incompetent as his father. After one month the empress Wu deposed her son Chung Tsung, exiled him, and installed as emperor her second son, Jui Tsung, whose authority was purely nominal. A revolt was raised by T'ang loyalists and ambitious young officials in the south. It was crushed within weeks with the loyal cooperation of the main armies of the throne. This demonstration of the support she commanded in the public service made the position of the empress unshakable. Six years later, in 690, at the age of 65, the empress usurped the throne itself. Accepted without revolt, she ruled for 15 years. During this period the question of the succession began to assume great urgency. Her own nephews of the Wu family had hoped that, as she had already changed the name of the dynasty to Chou, she would also displace the T'ang heirs of the Li family and leave the throne to one of the Wu nephews. Neither of them nor their sons was popular or unusually capable; on the other hand, Empress Wu's own sons, the two former emperors Chung Tsung and Jui Tsung, had little support and less ability. But, even among her loyal supporters, there was a growing hope that the T'ang family of Li would not be discarded. In 698 the empress decided to accord with these views; the exiled Chung Tsung was recalled to court and made crown prince. The empress showed her remarkable quality in this decision; she did not place her own family in the line of succession or designate one of her nephews as her heir. She seems to have had no ambition on behalf of her own family, only a determination to retain power for herself to the end. In the last years of her life, from 699, the empress gave her favour to the Chang brothers, artistic but depraved courtiers who engaged her affection by elaborate entertainments and skillful flattery. They were intensely resented by the court and senior officials, many of whom had the temerityand courageto warn the empress of their pernicious activity. She did not heed these warnings and gradually fell into ill health, dependent more than before on the care of the Chang brothers. In February 705 a conspiracy formed among the leading ministers and generals, who seized the palace, executed the Chang brothers, and compelled the empress, old and ill, to yield power to her son Chung Tsung. She retired to another palace and died there in December of the same year. The empress Wu was a very competent ruler, using men of her own choice, regardless of their social standing. Although her motives were to secure her own authority, the consequences of her policies were to be of great historical importance. The transformation of Chinese society in the T'ang period from one dominated by a military and political aristocracy to one governed by a scholarly bureaucracy drawn from the gentry was promoted by her policy. The significance of this aspect of her rule was long-obscured by the prejudice of Chinese historians against an usurping empress and her many acts of cruelty toward opponents. She established the new unified empire on a lasting basis and brought about needed social changes that stabilized the dynasty and ushered in one of the most fruitful ages of Chinese civilization. Charles Patrick FitzGerald Additional reading C.P. Fitzgerald, The Empress Wu, 2nd ed. (1968), a biography written from the Chinese sources in the New and Old T'ang historiesChinese contemporary or later interpretations of the recorded facts are reexamined; Nghiem Toan and Louis Ricaud, Une Traduction juxta-linaire commente de la biographie officielle de l'Impratrice Wou Ts-tien (1959), an annotated French translation of the official biography of the empress Wu that is included in the Hsin T'ang Shu (The New T'ang History), with commentary; and R.W.L. Guisso, Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T'ang China (1978), a study of the empress Wu's reign and her place in Chinese history. Her use of Buddhist ideology is discussed in detail in A. Forte, Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century (1976).