Wu Zetian

(noun)

A Chinese sovereign who ruled unofficially as empress consort and empress dowager, and then officially as empress regnan during the brief Zhou dynasty, which interrupted the Tang dynasty.

Related Terms

Examples of Wu Zetian in the following topics:

  • The Literati

    • A pivotal point in the development of imperial examinations emerged with the rise of Wu Zetian, later Empress Wu.
    • Wu Zetian was exceptional; a woman not of the Li family, she came to occupy the seat of the emperor in an official manner in 690, and even before that she had begun to stretch her power within the imperial courts behind the scenes.
    • In 655, Wu Zetian graduated forty-four candidates with the jinshi degree, and during one seven-year period the annual average of exam takers graduated with a jinshi degree was greater than fifty-eight persons per year.
    • Wu lavished favors on the newly graduated jinshi degree-holders, increasing the prestige associated with this path of attaining a government career.
    • Wu thus developed a nucleus of elite bureaucrats useful from the perspective of control by the central government.

  • Architecture during the Tang Dynasty

    • The dynasty was interrupted briefly by the Second Zhou Dynasty (October 8, 690 – March 3, 705), when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the only Chinese empress to reign, ruling in her own right.

  • Painting under the Ming Dynasty

    • These new conditions led to the rise of the Wu School of painting, a somewhat subversive style that revived the ideal of the inspired scholar-painters in Ming China.
    • Meanwhile, the Wu School (sometimes referred to as Wumen) became the most dominant school nationwide.
    • Suzhou, the activity center for Wu School painters, became the biggest center for Chinese painting during this period.
    • The Songjiang School grew to rival the Wu School, particularly in generating new theories of painting.
    • Identify the time period and innovations of the Zhe, Yuanti, Wu, Wongjang and Huating Schools of painting during the Ming dynasty.

  • The Rise of the Han Dynasty

    • One of the most exalted Han emperors was Emperor Wu, who ruled from 141-87 BCE.
    • Emperor Wu experimented with socialism, and made Confucianism the single official philosophy.
    • Emperor Wu also reformed the Chinese economy and nationalized the salt and iron industries, and he initiated reforms that made farming more efficient.
    • Through Emperor Wu's southern and western conquests, the Han Dynasty made contact with the Indian cultural sphere.
    • A portrait of Emperor Wu, one of the most influential rulers of the Han Dynasty.

  • Painting during the Tang Dynasty

    • The outstanding master in this field is Wu Daozi, who is referred to as the "Sage of Painting".
    • Wu's works include God Sending a Son and The Teaching Confucius, and he created a new technique of drawing known as "Drawing of Water Shield."
    • However, Wu Daozi used only black ink and freely painted brushstrokes to create ink paintings that were so exciting, crowds gathered to watch him work.

  • Philosophy and Art of the Han Dynasty

    • However, the Han court under Emperor Wu gave Confucianism exclusive patronage.
    • Unlike the original ideology espoused by Confucius, Han Confucianism in Emperor Wu's reign was the creation of Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE).
    • In 136 BCE, Emperor Wu abolished all academic chairs (boshi 博) not dealing with the Confucian Five Classics, and encouraged nominees for office to receive a Confucian-based education at the Imperial University that he established in 124 BCE.
    • Han dynasty poetry was dominated by the fu genre, which achieved its greatest prominence during the reign of Emperor Wu.

  • Architecture during the Six Dynasties Period

    • The Six Dynasties is a collective term for six Chinese dynasties during the periods of the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE; also known as the Eastern Wu or the Cao Wei), the Jin Dynasty (265–420 CE), and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589 CE, which include the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties).
    • The best surviving example of a monumental statuary from the Liang Dynasty is perhaps the ensemble of the Tomb of Xiao Xiu (475–518 CE), a brother of Emperor Wu, located in Qixia District east of Nanjing.
    • A green-glaze ceramic jar from the Three Kingdoms (or Eastern Wu) period with human figures, birds, and architecture, on display in the Nanjing Museum.

  • Fall of the Ming Dynasty

    • When Li Zicheng moved against him, the Ming general Wu Sangui shifted his alliance to the Manchus.
    • Li Zicheng was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of Wu Sangui and Manchu prince Dorgon.
    • On June 6, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor as Emperor of China.
    • He then fought off several rebellions, such as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui in southern China, starting in 1673, and then countered by launching a series of campaigns that expanded his empire.

  • Advancements Under the Shang

    • A chariot burial site at Anyang (modern-day Henan) dates to the rule of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty (c. 1200 BCE).

  • Ceramics and Bronze in the Shang Dynasty

    • With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Lady Fu Hao's name, archaeologists realized they had stumbled across the tomb of the militant consort to King Wu Ding, as described in 170 to 180 Shang oracle bones.
    • With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Lady Fu Hao's name, archaeologists realized they had stumbled across the tomb of the militant consort to King Wu Ding, as described in 170 to 180 Shang oracle bones.