Wu Zetian was a strong willed child who refused to study needlework like most girls of the time. Instead, she was only interested in reading, from which she gained a wide political awareness. During her childhood she traveled widely with her parents and thus developed a cultured and knowledgeable personality.
The early part of her reign was characterized by secret police terror, which moderated as the years went by. She was, on the other hand, recognized as a capable and attentive ruler even by traditional historians who despised her, and her ability at selecting capable men to serve as officials was admired throughout the rest of the Tang Dynasty as well as in subsequent dynasties.
By 685, Empress Dowager Wu began to carry on an affair with the Buddhist monk Huaiyi, and during the next few years, Huaiyi would be progressively bestowed with greater and greater honors.
In 690, Wu took the final step, taking the regnal name Wu Zetian, and the title huangdi, as the monarch of the newly proclaimed Zhou Dynasty. Traditional Chinese order of succession did not allow a woman to ascend the throne, but Wu Zetian was determined to quash the opposition, and the use of the secret police did not subside, but continued, after her taking the throne. However, while her organization of the civil service system was criticized for its laxity of the promotion of officials, Wu Zetian was considered capable of evaluating the performance of the officials once they were in office.
Even though the Empress Dowager excessively used official titles to cause people to submit to her, if she saw that someone was incompetent, she would immediately depose or even execute him. She grasped the powers of punishment and award, controlled the state, and made her own judgments as to policy decisions. She was observant and had good judgment, so the talented people of the time also were willing to be used by her.
Wu Zetian strongly promoted agriculture and mulberry farming in her 12 proposals. She encouraged agriculture and sericulture, and reduced taxation and forced labour.
When Wu Zetian came to power, the frontiers were not at peace. She organised counterattacks and regained control of four towns in Anxi. She also repelled attacks from the Tujue and the Khitans. She stationed military troops at the frontiers and extended the army farming system introduced during the last years of Emperor Gaozong in Qinghai to Gansu, Zhangye, Wuwei, Inner Mongolia, Wuyuan and Xinjiang. She adopted a mild approach to the development of multiple cultures.
In the first month of AD 705, Wu Zetian fell seriously ill She was forced to pass the throne to the crown prince, Li Xian, who restored the Tang Dynasty. Officials, flags, attire, and written characters were reinstated according to the old systems. In the 11th month of AD 705, Wu Zetian died of illness in Shangyang Palace at the age of 82.
Shortly after Wu Zetian took the throne, she elevated the status of Buddhism to be above Taoism, officially sanctioning the religion by building temples named Dayun Temple in each prefecture belonging to the capital regions of the two capitals Luoyang and Chang'an, and also created nine senior monks dukes.
Her father Wu Shihuo was engaged in the timber business
In 637 Emperor Taizong heard that Wu Zetian was a rare beauty. He summoned her to the palace as a consort and gave her the name "Wu Mei". Thus, Wu Zetian was known as "Lady Wu Mei". At the same time, Li Zhi became the crown prince. While serving Emperor Taizong, Wu Zetian and Li Zhi met and fell in love. After Emperor Taizong died, in 649 Wu Zetian, according to the custom of the times, went to Ganye Temple and became a Buddhist nun.
In 650 on the anniversary of Emperor Taizong's death, Emperor Gaozong went to Ganye Temple to offer incense and there he met Wu Zetian again. They expressed their feelings for each other and were seen by Emperor Gaozong's wife, Empress Wang. Empress Wang was not favoured by Emperor Gaozong and had no son. She asked Emperor Gaozong to take Wu Zetian back to the palace, hoping that the arrival of a new concubine would divert the emperor's attention from Consort Xiao. Emperor Gaozong agreed. In the second year of Yonghui, after Emperor Gaozong had served his mourning period, Wu Zetian returned to the palace. She was titled a second rank zhaoyi in the fifth month of the following year.
Wu Zetian bore the emperor four sons. To bring about the downfall of her erstwhile collaborator Empress Wang, she smothered her own newborn daughter and accused the empress, her rival, of murder. Empress Wang was consequently deposed in favour of Wu Zetian, who had herself declared empress in 655, From her new position of power, she forced all her opponents into exile.
In 683 Emperor Gaozong died of illness. Before he died, he ordered that "the crown prince Li Xian shall succeed as emperor, and if there should be any matter he cannot decide on, Wu Zetian will decide it for him." Li Xian became Emperor Zhongzong, and Wu Zetian became Empress Dowager.
In the second month of 684, Wu's son, Li Xian, the Heir Apparent ascended to the imperial throne, taking the regnal name of Zhongzong, for the short six weeks of his reign. Emperor Zhongzong was under the thumb of his wife, the empress Wei, even appointing his father-in-law prime minister. Wu Zetian had him brought up on charges of treason, and he was sent into seclusion.
Li Dan was Emperor Ruizong. But Wu Zetian was the actual ruler, both in substance and appearance as well, Wu did not even follow the customary pretense of hiding behind a screen, curtain and in whispers issuing commands for the nominal ruler to formally announce: Ruizong never moved into the imperial quarters, appeared at no imperial function, and remained a virtual prisoner in the inner quarters.
In 690, she had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her and established the Zhou Dynasty, with herself as ruler (huangdi).
