21. This Empress Was as Ruthless as they Come
According to dynastic China’s Confucian worldview, women were unfit to rule. Wu Zetian (624 – 705) begged to differ. From 683 to 705, she ran the country unofficially as an empress consort, then empress dowager, and finally, as an official empress. She became the sole officially recognized empress during China’s more than two millennia of imperial rule. A strong, wily, and ruthless woman, the tale of her rise to power, and how she held on to it, could have taught Machiavelli some new tricks had he known of her.
Wu Zetian was born into a wealthy family, and her father saw to it that she received a good education. Such education for girls was unusual, but fortunately for Wu, her father was not too hung up on convention. As a result, she grew up well versed in literature, music, history, politics, and governmental affairs. She was also drop-dead gorgeous, and at age fourteen, Wu was taken into Emperor Taizong’s harem as a concubine. However, the emperor was not into intelligent women, and did not favor Wu. Being an intelligent woman, she looked ahead, and had an affair with his son and eventual successor, who was not intimidated by smart women.
