Why did Wu Zetian finally die and return the throne to the Li family?

On the 25th day of the first month of the first year of Shenlong (705), Prince Li Xian ascended the throne as emperor, marking the end of the political life of a generation of queens. 1 1 On 26th, Wu Zetian died in Yang Palace, and the queen's life finally ended. She was 82 years old.

There were more than 260 days and nights from the abdication of the Queen to her death. During this period, except for a very simple legacy, there is no record of her in the history books. Her "legacy system" is: "Going to the mausoleum, going to the emperor, called the Great Sage Queen. The King, the Xiao clan and the relatives of the descendants of Chu Suiliang, Han Yuan and Liu Yuan were tired at that time and ordered to resume their business. " [The original system has been lost, according to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, Volume 6, Zetian Ji. ]

According to the book production, a generation of queens admitted that they were Li's daughters-in-law, canceled their titles as emperors, and called them emperors' queens, who would always accompany her husband Li Zhi. I call myself the queen, so the queen who fought in the harem before her death was her sister. After their death, I hope they can forget their grievances and meet underground. Chu Suiliang and others who desperately opposed her and their families were also liberated. I hope they can forget their previous enmity. Before the queen died, she left this will, fearing that she would be convicted for opposing herself and that her family and future generations would no longer be influenced by her. All the grievances before her death will be relieved and her soul will be free.

As can be seen from this will, the queen died peacefully and closed her eyes peacefully and carefully.

According to her last words, Li Xianzong, the emperor of Zhongzong, honored her as "Datang is the Great Sage Queen" and decided to bury her mother in Ganling. However, some people objected at that time, and they thought about things a little. On the surface, he said, for fear of disturbing Emperor Gaozong, it is better to "choose a auspicious place next to Ganling, adopt the method of building a tomb, and build another mausoleum, which can be used as both a burial vessel and a solid business." But after some discussion, Zhongzong still ordered: "The testamentary edict should be buried." [See Don? Paranormal, vol. 20, pp. 396-397. ] that is to say, according to the "testamentary edict", it is still buried in Ganling. At that time, both Zhongzong and courtiers admitted that she was the queen of the Tang Dynasty, but did not admit that she was the "Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty" who had passed away. Yan Shansi and others are even unwilling to admit that they don't want her to be buried in the dry tomb of Emperor Gaozong and let her "don't open the tomb". What do these people think? Is she the dismissed "Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty" or the dismissed Li family's daughter-in-law?

However, Emperor Zhongzong also obeyed the will and let his parents be buried together. On May 28th of the following year, Wu Zetian was buried in Ganling and grew up with the emperor in the ghost palace.

There is no example of a monument in the mausoleum of Emperor China, but after the death of Emperor Zhongzong, there was a tall monument on the exceptional tree on the west side of Sima Road. The inscription at the beginning is called "Imperial Decree Record", which should be unprecedented in the Mausoleum of Wu Zetian and written by the heir emperor Li Xian [Zhao Wenrun et al.: Essays on Wu Zetian Studies, p. 187-65438. ]。 After Wu Zetian's death, Gan Ling was buried and a tall stone tablet was erected opposite the east side of Sima Road. There are no words on the tablet, so it is called a tablet without words. This tablet without words was built by Li Xian and his courtiers for Wu Zetian.

Gan Ling erected a monument for the emperor, which was created by Wu Zetian who was not bound by customs and traditions. However, even if it is created, the inscription on this monument is just called "the story of the sage", not the monument and the inscription. It must be that Wu Zetian actually broke the tradition and set up a monument for the doctor, but she just didn't know how to write the inscription. The emperor has a broad career and great achievements. It is difficult to describe it with only one monument, so it is not called a monument, but called "Syria's Holy Record". Therefore, when Ming Chengzu of the later Tang Dynasty proposed to erect a monument for his mother Zhaocheng's empress in Jingling, Luoyang, in the second year of Kaiyuan (7 14), Su Xiang, assistant minister of Chinese literature, stopped him and said, "Emperors and empresses don't have tombstones. Recently, the emperor advocated family generations, but he dared not call it a monument and carved it as a holy record. ..... If Jingling goes alone, that is, the tomb of your ancestors, it will be built. " Tang heard about it and didn't build a monument ["Tang? Zalu, Zhu Ling, Volume 2 1, Page 4 18-4 19. ]。

Wu Zetian is still "afraid to say", so it is generally believed that the emperor's career is too big, and it is difficult to say that a stone tablet and an inscription are complete, which is the so-called "mighty, the people can't be named". He is also a minister and a son, so he dares to erect a monument to the emperor casually.

In Ganling, both Wu Zetian erected a monument for Emperor Gaozong, and after the burial of Emperor Gaozu in the world, a monument was erected symmetrically for her. You can erect a monument or write a book about saints and so on. However, for Li Xian, Wu Zetian was both a mother and an emperor. To the minister, she is both an emperor and a queen. Even more embarrassing, she was the emperor overthrown by ministers and replaced by Li Xian. So, even if you write a "sage book" or something, how should you write it? It's not easy to describe or discuss, so leave it to future generations to comment.

However, Emperor Zhongzong also obeyed the will and let his parents be buried together. On May 28th of the following year, Wu Zetian was buried in Ganling and grew up with the emperor in the ghost palace.

There is no example of a monument in the mausoleum of Emperor China, but after the death of Emperor Zhongzong, there was a tall monument on the exceptional tree on the west side of Sima Road. The inscription at the beginning is called "Imperial Decree Record", which should be unprecedented in the Mausoleum of Wu Zetian and written by the heir emperor Li Xian [Zhao Wenrun et al.: Essays on Wu Zetian Studies, p. 187-65438. ]。 After Wu Zetian's death, Gan Ling was buried and a tall stone tablet was erected opposite the east side of Sima Road. There are no words on the tablet, so it is called a tablet without words. This tablet without words was built by Li Xian and his courtiers for Wu Zetian.

Gan Ling erected a monument for the emperor, which was created by Wu Zetian who was not bound by customs and traditions. However, even if it is created, the inscription on this monument is just called "the story of the sage", not the monument and the inscription. It must be that Wu Zetian actually broke the tradition and set up a monument for the doctor, but she just didn't know how to write the inscription. The emperor has a broad career and great achievements. It is difficult to describe it with only one monument, so it is not called a monument, but called "Syria's Holy Record". Therefore, when Ming Chengzu of the later Tang Dynasty proposed to erect a monument for his mother Zhaocheng's empress in Jingling, Luoyang, in the second year of Kaiyuan (7 14), Su Xiang, assistant minister of Chinese literature, stopped him and said, "Emperors and empresses don't have tombstones. Recently, the emperor advocated family generations, but he dared not call it a monument and carved it as a holy record. ..... If Jingling goes alone, that is, the tomb of your ancestors, it will be built. " Tang heard about it and didn't build a monument ["Tang? Zalu, Zhu Ling, Volume 2 1, Page 4 18-4 19. ]。

Wu Zetian is still "afraid to say", so it is generally believed that the emperor's career is too big, and it is difficult to say that a stone tablet and an inscription are complete, which is the so-called "mighty, the people can't be named". He is also a minister and a son, so he dares to erect a monument to the emperor casually.

In Ganling, both Wu Zetian erected a monument for Emperor Gaozong, and after the burial of Emperor Gaozu in the world, a monument was erected symmetrically for her. You can erect a monument or write a book about saints and so on. However, for Li Xian, Wu Zetian was both a mother and an emperor. To the minister, she is both an emperor and a queen. Even more embarrassing, she was the emperor overthrown by ministers and replaced by Li Xian. So, even if you write a "sage book" or something, how should you write it? It's not easy to describe or discuss, so leave it to future generations to comment.

After Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty positioned Wu Zetian, Mitchell made a special "discipline" for her in The Official History of the Tang Dynasty. Her "biographies" are not biographies of emperors, but biographies of emperors and queens (old Tang books) and biographies of queens and saints who surrendered to heaven (new Tang books). This means that Wu Zetian must return to the patriarchal society in order to be recognized as the queen of male emperors. Women should be attached to men, and the status and title of female emperor are not at all. To be recognized, she can only be the queen. Otherwise, it is a monster. According to Mitchell's idea, fortunately, Wu Zetian herself lost the title of the emperor before she died, thinking that she was the daughter-in-law of the Li family, so the history books gave her the position of queen. Otherwise, as Wang Bin said, put her in the ranks of "thieves" who peek at artifacts.

However, although Emperor Tang Ming listed her as the "Shunsheng Queen", Mitchell also listed her as the official history of queen status. But in history, after all, she was really an emperor for fifteen years, and the system was six years. In fact, she was emperor for more than 20 years, and assisted Emperor Gaozong for 30 years. According to historical research, there were seven years in the early Tang Dynasty: Gaozu, Taizong, Gaozong, Wu Zetian, Zhongzong, Zong Rui and Xuanzong. Excluding the wars of the first seven years, it took 130 years to reach the Anshi Rebellion in the 14th year of Tianbao (755). Two-fifths was when Wu Zetian was in power, and Wu Zetian's life accounted for two-thirds. This period was called the heyday of feudal society by later generations. Historical research and historians, old and new, attributed the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty to the "Zhenguan Rule" of Emperor Taizong and the "Kaiyuan Shi Sheng" of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The long period of "Zhenguan rule" is the recovery period of historical chaos at the end of Sui Dynasty, and the "Kaiyuan Shengshi" is after Wu Zetian, that is to say, Tang Taizong, Wu Zetian and Tang Xuanzong respectively represent the recovery, development and prosperity of the early Tang Dynasty. If we only recognize the "Zhenguan Rule" of Emperor Taizong and the "Kaiyuan Prosperity" of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and cut off two-fifths of Wu Zetian's history, how can Zhenguan and Kaiyuan be connected?

If the rule of Zhenguan is construction, then the prosperity of Kaiyuan is also construction, and Wu Zetian spent two-fifths of her time to destroy it. The rule of Zhenguan was completely destroyed by Wu Zetian, so why is there prosperity in Kaiyuan? In essence, Tang Ming and those historians just wouldn't let Wu Zetian say that she was the emperor. She has been emperor for so many years, in order to be recognized by future generations after her death and get the so-called "blood food", that is, she has memorial tablets in ancestral temples and tombs and was sacrificed, so she has to admit that she is the daughter-in-law of the Li family and the queen of the emperor.

What's the problem? Still an old saying goes: there is no woman in the position of emperor, or women are not allowed to be emperors. These are the rules of the feudal society in China for thousands of years, the provisions of the Confucian tradition, and the articles of association of a patriarchal society.

We say that Wu Zetian is an extraordinary female politician, because she has been an emperor for so many years as a woman who is absolutely not allowed to be an emperor. Whether Mitchell admitted it or not, Wu Zetian herself removed her emperor's name for the sake of "blood food" after death. That is to say, in the feudal society of China, an extremely patriarchal society, if a woman wants to be associated with the title of emperor, how many difficulties she has to face, how many conceptual obstacles she has to break through, how much courage she has to have, and how much perseverance and political talent she has to have. Wu Zetian experienced decades of hardships and twists and turns. She is facing the pressure of the whole patriarchal society and the man who is full of civil and military skills. How many times has she died and been beaten? He will be a victim if he is not careful. But she finally made the patriarchal society bow to her with her own cleverness and perseverance, and made the patriarchal society pay the price for her. Finally, the driver's building in the patriarchal society was robbed, which derailed the train of history and twisted it into her track, declaring to history that women can be emperors as well as good emperors.

Wu Zetian is an accomplished queen, who made indelible contributions to the emergence of feudal society in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

She attaches importance to agricultural production and cares about people's livelihood. She tried her best to reduce taxes and corvee. In the first year of Long Live the Book of Heaven (695), she was tax-free for one year in the whole country and two years in Luozhou. In order to cope with the war in the border areas, the military camp system is implemented, and the military rations accumulated in recent years can last for ten years. Due to the development of social economy, the number of registered permanent residence in China increased rapidly, from more than 2.8 million in the late Zhenguan period to 6150,000 in the late Empress period, with a population of over 37140,000 [Zi Jian, Volume 208, the first year of the Dragon. ]。

During the reign of the Queen, the territory of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak, and its military achievements far exceeded those of the Zhenguan period, which basically solved the dispute over the four borders. Many ethnic minority areas in the west and southwest are included in the territory of multi-ethnic countries, and the economic and cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the border areas are closer.

On behalf of the emerging small and medium-sized landlord forces among the common people, she attacked the decadent gentry forces, further undermined the gate system since Wei and Jin Dynasties, and was the guarantee for the development of social productive forces.

She pursues an eclectic route of employing people, is meritocratic, and breaks the privilege of aristocratic portal. Her self-recommendation system is very distinctive. She is not too humble to be an official. Even if the peasants are pawns, whoever has strengths will recommend himself and become an official. She can strictly assess her officials in time, and she can be promoted without exception if she has the ability and merit. Those who are incompetent or greedy are excused at any time, thus making up for the lack of over-election of officials.

She institutionalized the imperial examination system in feudal society. During the Zhenguan period, there were 205 Jinshi and more than a thousand Wu Zetian. She initiated the court examination, and the talents were selected by the emperor. And held the first "southern election" to let talents in remote areas in the south be appointed. She also initiated the official trial system to ensure the quantity and quality of officials.

She has a negative political attitude, is willing to meet ordinary people, is willing to make suggestions, and encourages criticism and exhortation in person. However, malicious attacks on women, such as "Lu Ji Chen Si", were also severely countered in the operation, thus improving the status of women.

She is an emperor with innovative ideas. Many of her creations broke away from convention and influenced for thousands of years. She was the only emperor who broke through the stale etiquette system and called for women's liberation. In the traditional patriarchal society for thousands of years, her voice reached the sky and had a great influence.

She has made outstanding achievements in culture. She presided over the compilation of the world's first agricultural book, Biography of Zhaoren, National Pharmacopoeia and Encyclopedia. She has written a large number of books, such as Neifan in Ancient and Modern Times 100, Xuanlan 100, Neifan Yaolue 10, Le Shu Yao Lu 10, Liao Bai's New Commandments (5 volumes) and Giant Track. She initiated the poetry of Jinshi and influenced the development of poetry and prose in Tang Dynasty. She loves the art of calligraphy, and once asked the Prime Minister Wang to write ten volumes of ancestral calligraphy, and called the world's painters and calligraphers to sort out the paintings and calligraphy in the collection. Her flying white and running script are unique. The stele of Prince Ascension written by her, with its inscription alternating with grass and white forehead, is unique in Gushan, Yanshi County [edited by Zhao Wenrun and others: Wu Zetian and Yanshi, 240-247 pages, History Teaching Society, 1997]. ]。 Due to the influence of the queen, calligraphers came forth in large numbers in the Tang Dynasty.

The law of the unity of contradiction between people and things determines that Wu Zetian's passivity is also very prominent. She overthrew the tradition and became the only queen whose tradition prohibited women from doing it. A large number of officials with traditional ideas desperately opposed it. In order to fight back and stifle, and maintain the status of the queen, the position of the cruel officials has received the effect of fighting back, but it is also indiscriminate and shocking. In her later years, in order to protect her wealth at hand, she went her own way in bending the law, not listening to advice. In his later years, he engaged in religious superstitions, established individuals, built Tang Ming, Shu Tian, Jiuding and Buddhism, and closed himself to meditation, wasting resources and harming society.

Generally speaking, she was one of the few good emperors in feudal society and an outstanding female politician in the history of China.