The Rise of Empress Wu Ze-tian (624–705) Relatives as Reflected in the Dynastic Histories “Old Book of Tang” and “New Book of Tang”

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of actions undertaken by Wu Ze-tian 武則天 (624–705), the first and only woman in Chinese history, who was bequeathed the title of august emperor and founded the Great Zhou state (Da Zhou 大周； 690–705) to raise the status of the Wu 武 family, as they were represented in the main sources of study for this period – the normative histories Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. Career advancement steps of the three most well-known relatives (Wu Cheng-si 武承嗣 (649–698), Wu San-si 武三思 (?–707) and Wu You-ning 武攸宁 (? –705) are examined. Special attention is given to the main stages in the rise of the Empress’s ancestors, including her father Wu Shi-huo, who made the posthumous journey from a guo-gong 國公 to August Emperor (huang-di 皇帝). A conclusion is reached that Wu’s consistent actions in this direction allowed her to replace the royal Tang dynasty with the Wu family in the ideological structure of China for an entire decade. Nevertheless, in the final period of her reign, Wu Ze-tian was forced to give up the hope of installing the Wu family as rulers of China.