NOS news•today, 09:58•Changed today, 10:38
The male sun and the female moon above an empty plain. That was the Chinese character that Wu Zetian chose for herself when she ascended to the throne against all odds and tradition in the seventh century AD. It was a perfect symbol for the omnipotence and unique story of the only emperor China has ever known. To this day, an exhibition about her extraordinary life can be seen in the Princessehof Ceramics Museum in Leeuwarden.
The fact that we know her name proves how special her life was. Women had to do without their own first name at the time, 1400 years ago. In texts they are only mentioned by their surname and a description based on their function, status or beauty. ‘Interesting Lady’, or ‘Lady of Radiant Authority’. There was certainly no female name for the position of emperor.
The show shows how confident and refined Wu must be in rising as a civilian girl in the hornet’s nest of the imperial court to the highest position. Shakespeare’s Royal Drama no Game of Thrones there is none.
“She was first portrayed as a murderous spy and a horrible person, but people now think of her in a more modern way,” said curator Denise Campbell. “She walked over dead bodies , but that was not unusual.”
Wu (624-705) came to the court as a concubine at the age of 14. In a harem of 122 women, she seems to have made little effort to compete for the emperor’s favor: she remained childless and low However, she was on good terms with the crown prince when the emperor became displeased and they were both among the few who still entered the sleeping quarters.
That advantage seemed to evaporate when the emperor died and Wu was sent to a monastery according to custom. However, as a result of court tricks she was brought back: the new emperor’s wife wanted to use her respect for Wu to drive a wedge between him and his favorite lover. Wu would prevail in that power struggle.
Campbell: “Wu had twelve years of experience at court and she knew what it was like there. And she knew how to win the emperor’s heart. The woman went the current emperor in exile and Wu took office.”
When this emperor also fell ill, Wu presided over the court with himself for twenty years. After his death, Wu managed to withdraw their children and in 690 she seized power in her own name.
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Princessehof/Ruben van Vliet
A golden dragon -
Princessehof/Ruben van Vliet
A highlight of the exhibition is a ceramic horse -
Princessehof/Ruben van Vliet
Ceramics from the Wu period -
Princessehof/Ruben van Vliet
Statues of Buddhist guards
Campbell marks her period of power as a great day for early China, full of prosperous trade, technological innovations, agricultural reforms and better conditions at court for women and the lower classes. Wu’s origins may have helped.
“As the child of a merchant, she had seen a lot of the empire at a young age so she had a very different baggage than her peers who had only lived at court,” Campbell said. “She was there the power for forty years in a great country like China. She must have been very skilled in managing all the political struggles and border conflicts.”
But in the past, Wu has often been portrayed as deceitful and ruthless. Someone who managed to get rid of the emperor and his beloved lover with dark black magic and did not hesitate to kill her own daughter to accuse the rivals.
Blackout
Campbell sees these stories as propaganda from peers who tried to smear her. “It is often assumed that her behavior was something special, but the emperor who brought her to court had murdered his heir and two brothers to become emperor himself. So it was not special that violence along with changes in power, but for men he was a man as if he belonged.”
Campbell sees Wu as someone who was involved in a ban. “To secure her position as a female ruler, the first years of her reign were dominated by the execution of political prisoners by her secret police. But as soon as her position is confirmed, she stops. She is not a violent ruler, she is pragmatic. .”
Perhaps Wu suspected that history would judge her more harshly, as she ordered that the traditional tomb at her tomb be left blank. “She said: I don’t want to be judged by my peers. I want it to be done by future generations, so leave that stone blank.”
2024-10-26 07:58:00
#show #Chinas #emperor #Zetian
