The Only Female Emperor In China

Wu Zetian (625-705) is the only legitimate female ruler in Chinese history, who actually ruled the whole country for almost half a century. These are interesting facts about the Emperors of ancient China in male-dominated Chinese history. Beginning in AD 660 (SCN), Wu Zetian was actually the Emperor of China and became the only female Emperor in China. She did not hold that position but was the ruler behind it all even while pregnant with a daughter in 665 AD. Raised by her father to believe that she herself is equal to men, Wu Zetian sees no reason why women cannot practice the same customs as men and hold positions that men can hold. She also organized the war against Korea in 668 AD so successfully that it caused Korea to downgrade itself and become a vassal state. In the following years, she in turn excluded the Ly descendants from power and brought her Wu grandchildren into power.

In September 690, the only female Emperor in China ascended the throne, changing the country's name to the Zhou Dynasty. Because there were so many people opposed to having a woman take the throne, Wu Zetian set up a team dedicated to the "assassination" of dissidents. Many people died at the hands of the first queen of this land. There is no area of Chinese life that Wu Zetian does not touch. Her reforms were popular because they were reforms that came from the will of the people. Under the old regimes, a proposal or complaint had to go through a number of different offices before it reached anyone charged with deciding whether to take action. Wu Zetian eliminated all bureaucracy by establishing a direct line of communication between her and the people.