Wu Zetian mother Lady Yang
Background and early life
The Wu family clan originated in Wenshui County, Bingzhou (an ancient name of the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi). Wu Zetian's birthplace is not documented in preserved historical literature and remains disputed. Some scholars argue that Wu was born in Wenshui, some that it was Lizhou (利州) (modern-day Guangyuan in Sichuan), while others insist she was born in the imperial capital of Chang'an (today known as Xi'an).
Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang. In the same year, a total eclipse of the sun was visible across China. Her father, Wu Shiyue, worked in the timber business and the family was relatively well off. Her mother was from the powerful Yang family. During the final years of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan (李淵) (who went on to become Emperor Gaozu of Tang) stayed in the Wu household many times and became close to the Wu family while holding appointments in both Hedong and Taiyuan. After Li Yuan overthrew Emperor Yang, he was generous to the Wu family, giving them money, grain, land, and clothing. Once the Tang dynasty became established, Wu Shihou held a succession of senior ministerial posts, including governor of Yangzhou, Lizhou, and Jingzhou (荊州) (modern-day Jiangling County, Hubei).
Wu was from a wealthy family, and was encouraged by her father to read books and pursue her education. He made sure that she was well-educated, an uncommon trait among women, much less encouraged by their fathers. Wu read and learned about many topics, such as politics and other governmental affairs, writing, literature, and music. At age 14, she was taken to be an imperial concubine (lesser wife) of Emperor Taizong of Tang. It was there that she became a type of secretary. This opportunity allowed her to continue to pursue her education. She was given the title of cairen, the title for one of the consorts with the fifth rank in Tang's nine-rank system for imperial officials, nobles, and consorts. When she was summoned to the palace, her mother, the Lady Yang, wept bitterly when saying farewell to her, but she responded, "How do you know that it is not my fortune to meet the Son of Heaven?" Lady Yang reportedly then understood her ambitions, and therefore stopped crying.Consort Wu, however, did not appear to be much favored by Emperor Taizong, although it appeared that she did have sexual relations with him at one point. According to her own account (given in a rebuke of Chancellor Ji Xu during her reign), she once impressed Taizong with her fortitude:Imperial consort
Palatial intrigue: (650–655)
Gaozong became emperor at the age of 21. He was not the first choice, as he was inexperienced and frequently incapacitated with a sickness that caused him spells of dizziness. Gaozong was made heir to the empire only due to the disgrace of his two older brothers. On or after the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to offer incense. When he and Consort Wu saw each other, they both wept. This was seen by Gaozong's wife, Empress Wang. At that time, Gaozong did not favor Wang. Instead, he favored his concubine Consort Xiao. Furthermore, Wang had no children, and Xiao had one son (Li Sujie) and two daughters (Princesses Yiyang and Xuancheng). Wang, seeing that Gaozong was still impressed by Wu's beauty, hoped that the arrival of a new concubine would divert the emperor from Xiao. Therefore, she secretly told Wu to stop shaving her hair and later welcomed her to the palace. (Some modern historians dispute this traditional account. Some think that Wu never left the imperial palace and might have had an affair with Gaozong while Taizong was still alive.)Wu soon overtook Xiao as Gaozong's favorite. In 652, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Li Hong. In 653, she gave birth to another son, Li Xián. Neither of these sons was in contention to be Gaozong's heir, because Gaozong, at the request of officials influenced by Wang and her uncle (the chancellor Liu Shi), had designated his eldest son Li Zhong as his heir. Li Zhong's mother, Consort Liu, was of lowly birth. Wang did this in order to receive Liu's gratitude.
By 654, both Wang and Xiao had lost favor with Gaozong, and these two former romantic rivals joined forces against Wu, but to no avail. For example, as a sign of his love for Wu, Gaozong conferred posthumous honors on her father, Wu Shiyue, in 654.
In the same year, Wu gave birth to a daughter. But her daughter died shortly after birth, with evidence suggesting deliberate strangulation. The evidence include allegations made by Wu herself, and she accused Wang of murder. Wang was accused of having been seen near the child's room, with corroborating testimony by alleged eyewitnesses. Gaozong was led to believe that Wang, motivated by jealousy, had most likely killed the child. Wang lacked an alibi and was unable to clear her name.
Scientifically credible forensic pathology information about the death of Wu's daughter does not exist, and scholars lack concrete evidence about her death. But scholars have many theories and speculations. Because traditional folklore tends to portray Wu as a power-hungry woman unconcerned about whom she hurt or what she did, the most popular theory is that Wu killed her own child in order to implicate Wang. Other schools of thought argue that Wang indeed killed the child out of jealousy and hatred of Wu. The third argument is that the child died of asphyxiation or crib death. The ventilation systems of the time were nonexistent or of poor quality, and the lack of ventilation combined with using coal as a heating method could have led to carbon monoxide poisoning. In any case, Wu blamed Wang for the girl's death, and as a result, tried to remove Wang from her position.
Because of the child's death, an angry Gaozong also wanted to depose Wang and replace her with Wu. But first he needed to make sure that he had the support of the government chancellors. So Gaozong met with his uncle Zhangsun Wuji, the head chancellor. During the meeting, Gaozong repeatedly brought up Wang's childlessness. Childlessness was a sufficient excuse to depose Wang, but Zhangsun repeatedly found ways to divert the conversation. Subsequent visits made by Wu's mother, Lady Yang, and an official allied with Wu, Xu Jingzong, to seek support from Zhangsun were met with disappointment. Early in 655, he wanted to create Wu, who carried the sixth-highest rank among imperial consorts, Zhaoyi (昭儀), the unprecedented title of Chenfei (宸妃), and promote her over all other imperial consorts directly under Wang herself, but Han and fellow chancellor Lai Ji both opposed on the grounds that the title was unprecedented, and so Gaozong did not carry it out.
In summer 655, Wu accused Wang and her mother, Lady Liu, of using witchcraft. In response, Gaozong barred Liu from the palace and demoted Wang's uncle, Liu Shi. Meanwhile, a faction of officials began to form around Wu, including Li Yifu, Xu, Cui Yixuan (崔義玄), and Yuan Gongyu (袁公瑜). Once in the autumn of 655, Gaozong summoned the chancellors Zhangsun, Li Ji, Yu Zhining, and Chu Suiliang to the palace. Chu had deduced that the summons was about changing the empress. Li Ji claimed illness and refused to attend. At the meeting, Chu vehemently opposed deposing Wang, while Zhangsun and Yu showed their disapproval by silence. Meanwhile, chancellors Han Yuan and Lai Ji also opposed the move. When Gaozong asked Li Ji again, he responded, "This is your family matter, Your Imperial Majesty. Why ask anyone else?" Gaozong therefore became resolved. He demoted Chu to commandant at Tan Prefecture (roughly modern Changsha, Hunan), and then deposed both Wang and Xiao. He placed them both under arrest and made Wu empress. (Later that year, Gaozong showed signs of considering their release. Because of this, Wang and Xiao were killed on Empress Wu's orders. After their deaths, they often haunted Wu's dreams.)
For the rest of Gaozong's reign, Wu and Gaozong often took up residence at the eastern capital Luoyang and only infrequently spent time in Chang'an.
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