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Author: N. Harry Rothschild
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231539185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 382
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Book Description
Wu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China as emperor over the course of its 5,000-year history. How did she—in a predominantly patriarchal and androcentric society—ascend the dragon throne? Exploring a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries, this multifaceted history suggests that China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women played an integral part in the construction of Wu Zhao's sovereignty. Wu Zhao deftly deployed language, symbol, and ideology to harness the cultural resonance, maternal force, divine energy, and historical weight of Buddhist devis, Confucian exemplars, Daoist immortals, and mythic goddesses, establishing legitimacy within and beyond the confines of Confucian ideology. Tapping into powerful subterranean reservoirs of female power, Wu Zhao built a pantheon of female divinities carefully calibrated to meet her needs at court. Her pageant was promoted in scripted rhetoric, reinforced through poetry, celebrated in theatrical productions, and inscribed on steles. Rendered with deft political acumen and aesthetic flair, these affiliations significantly enhanced Wu Zhao's authority and cast her as the human vessel through which the pantheon's divine energy flowed. Her strategy is a model of political brilliance and proof that medieval Chinese women enjoyed a more complex social status than previously known.
Author: N. Harry Rothschild
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231539185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 382
Get Book Here
Book Description
Wu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China as emperor over the course of its 5,000-year history. How did she—in a predominantly patriarchal and androcentric society—ascend the dragon throne? Exploring a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries, this multifaceted history suggests that China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women played an integral part in the construction of Wu Zhao's sovereignty. Wu Zhao deftly deployed language, symbol, and ideology to harness the cultural resonance, maternal force, divine energy, and historical weight of Buddhist devis, Confucian exemplars, Daoist immortals, and mythic goddesses, establishing legitimacy within and beyond the confines of Confucian ideology. Tapping into powerful subterranean reservoirs of female power, Wu Zhao built a pantheon of female divinities carefully calibrated to meet her needs at court. Her pageant was promoted in scripted rhetoric, reinforced through poetry, celebrated in theatrical productions, and inscribed on steles. Rendered with deft political acumen and aesthetic flair, these affiliations significantly enhanced Wu Zhao's authority and cast her as the human vessel through which the pantheon's divine energy flowed. Her strategy is a model of political brilliance and proof that medieval Chinese women enjoyed a more complex social status than previously known.
Author: Jonathan Clements
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909771109
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 318
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Book Description
Author: Laurel A Rockefeller
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80
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Book Description
The most hated woman in Chinese history! Born in 624 CE in Wenshui County in Shanxi province, very little was expected of the beautiful and bright Wu Zhao (reign title Wu Zetian) -- except that she would be trouble to any man unlucky enough to marry her. The very opposite of a virtuous maiden by most interpretations of the Analects of Confucius, Wu Zhao was not only bright, but highly educated and equally ambitious. Harshly judged by both contemporaries and generations of Chinese scholars since, the one thing everyone can agree upon about Empress Wu: the world is a vastly different place because she dared what no other woman of her time dreamed was possible. This is her true story, a truly legendary woman of world history. Student - Teacher Edition features challenging study questions after every chapter, plus a detailed timeline, and an extensive suggested reading list.
Author: N. Harry Rothschild
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
The story chronicles Wu Zhao's humble beginnings as the daughter of a provincial official and follows her path to the inner palace, where she improbably rose from a fifth-ranked concubine to emperor. Using Buddhist rhetoric, architecture, court rituals, and a network of "cruel officials" to cow her many opponents in court, Wu Zhao inaugurated a new dynasty in 690, the Zhou. She ruled as emperor for fifteen years, proving eminently competent in the art of governance, balancing factions in court, staving off the encroachment of Turks and Tibetans, and fostering the state's economic growth.
Author: Dora Shu-fang Dien
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 130
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Book Description
In the dynastic history of China, Wu Zetian was the one woman who attained the status of emperor in her own right. A stone tablet marking her mausoleum was left blank, reportedly at her request because she wanted the future world to assess her. And her rise in the patriarchal system supported by Confucianism did later inspire many novelists and playwrights. Dien's slim study looks at the rise and achievements of the historical empress, her influence in the form of defiant woman who appear in legend and fiction, and (very briefly) the state of urban gender equality today. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
Author: Xiran Jay Zhao
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 086154210X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 313
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Book Description
Instant New York Times No.1 Bestseller. A YA Pacific Rim meets the Handmaid’s Tale retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me. I choose vengeance. The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises – giant transforming robots that battle aliens beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that their female co-pilots are expected to serve as concubines and often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, her plan is to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But after miraculously surviving her first battle, Zetian sets her sights on a mightier goal. The time has come to stop more girls from being sacrificed. ‘This is the historical-inspired, futuristic sci-fi mash-up of my wildest dreams.’ Chloe Gong ‘Raging against the patriarchy in spectacular style.’ Observer, best books of the year ‘Zetian is unstoppable, and I dare you not to cheer her on.’ Elizabeth Lim, author of Spin the Dawn
Author:
Publisher: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
ISBN: 9789813068506
Category : Historical fiction, Chinese
Languages : en
Pages : 131
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Book Description
Author: April D. Hughes
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824888707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 199
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Book Description
Although scholars have long assumed that early Chinese political authority was rooted in Confucianism, rulership in the medieval period was not bound by a single dominant tradition. To acquire power, emperors deployed objects and figures derived from a range of traditions imbued with religious and political significance. Author April D. Hughes demonstrates how dynastic founders like Wu Zhao (Wu Zetian, r. 690–705), the only woman to rule China under her own name, and Yang Jian (Emperor Wen, r. 581–604), the first ruler of the Sui dynasty, closely identified with Buddhist worldly saviors and Wheel-Turning Kings to legitimate their rule. During periods of upheaval caused by the decline of the Dharma, worldly saviors arrived on earth to quell chaos and to rule and liberate their subjects simultaneously. By incorporating these figures into the imperial system, sovereigns were able to depict themselves both as monarchs and as buddhas or bodhisattvas in uncertain times. In this inventive and original work, Hughes traces worldly saviors—in particular Maitreya Buddha and Prince Moonlight—as they appeared in apocalyptic scriptures from Dunhuang, claims to the throne made by various rebel leaders, and textual interpretations and assertions by Yang Jian and Wu Zhao. Yang Jian associated himself with Prince Moonlight and took on the persona of a Wheel-Turning King whose offerings to the Buddha were not flowers and incense but weapons of war to reunite a long-fragmented empire and revitalize the Dharma. Wu Zhao was associated with several different worldly savior figures. In addition, she saw herself as the incarnation of a Wheel-Turning King for whom it was said the Seven Treasures manifested as material representations of his right to rule. Wu Zhao duly had the Seven Treasures created and put on display whenever she held audiences at court. The worldly savior figure allowed rulers to inhabit the highest role in the religious realm along with the supreme role in the political sphere. This incorporation transformed notions of Chinese imperial sovereignty, and associating rulers with a buddha or bodhisattva continued long after the close of the medieval period.
Author: Jeannie Meekins
Publisher: Learning Island
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 27
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Book Description
Wu Zetian was an intelligent and ambitious woman. She married Emperor Gaizong of the Tang Dynasty and became Empress. But Wu wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to rule in her own right. She was determined to become Emperor of China and killed anyone who stood in her way – even her own children. Find out more about this legendary ruler in this 15-minute children's biography. Ages 10 and up. Reading Level: 6.8 Learning Island believes in the value of children practicing reading for 15 minutes every day. Our 15-Minute Books give children lots of fun, exciting choices to read, from classic stories, to mysteries, to books of knowledge. Many books are appropriate for hi-lo readers. Open the world of reading to a child by having them read for 15 minutes a day.
Author: Charles R. Stone
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824862589
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 281
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Book Description
The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction (Ruyijun zhuan), a short work of fiction from the early sixteenth century, tells the story of the Tang dynasty's notorious Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It is famous not for the history it relates, but for its graphic sexual descriptions--the first ever in a Chinese novel--purportedly given from a woman's point of view. Despite its renown and unmistakable influence on later writing, the origins and significance of the Ruyijun zhuan have never been explored, in any language, and until now it has never been translated. Its date of composition is unknown, its author unidentified. One of its earliest appraisals, written by a contemporary scholar known for his conservatism, maintains that the Ruyijun zhuan is a moral work notwithstanding its sexual content. Combining a complete translation with a detailed and far-ranging study of the text, The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica places this important cultural document into historical context and offers possibilities on its meaning.
