Wu ZeTian was born in 624 AD to a father in the timber business and a mother from the elite Yang family. Her father was surprisingly encouraging of ZeTian’s pursuit of an educational background. This led to her reading all sorts of books on politics, literature, writing, and governmental affairs. Unfortunately, there were not many political occupations available for women born outside of royalty besides being a consort (fancy concubine). She first became a consort to Emperor TaiZong of the Tang dynasty. However, he did not favor her and she ended up having an affair with his youngest son, Li Zhi, who would later become Emperor GaoZong after his father’s passing. After Emperor GaoZong passed, Wu Zetian assumed the role of Empress Dowager or regent. This was highly irregular at this time of imperial China and amazing to learn about. You can learn more about the entire story in Xiran Jay Zhao’s youtube video.

One of the most notable appearances of Wu ZeTian in pop culture is in the historical Chinese drama series, “The Empress of China“. Fan BingBing portrays the emperor as witty, playful, and highly educated. The entire series almost seems like a love letter to the iconic royal figure. It follows her journey from being an unfavorable concubine, to being forced to become a buddhist nun after Emperor TaiZong’s death, and then to becoming one of the most revered and effective rulers of China.

I love Wu ZeTian’s life story and have always found it inspirational and extremely relevant to today’s world. This is a woman who grew up being allowed to pursue education in a world where most women weren’t even given the opportunity to learn how to read. She was not born into royalty and she was even shunned into a convent because she couldn’t produce an heir for TaiZong. Even through all of these obstacles, she was able to prove to China and the world that she had the intelligence and ambition to be able to rule with ease.

One of my favorite stories about her is when she was asked if she would go head-to-head with a lion-like beast, she said she would employ three different weapons. The first being a whip, then an iron hammer, and then a dagger. Personally, I feel that this story not only shows her brutality and conviction, but it also shows her compassionate and empathetic side. During her reign, Wu ZeTian was mostly known for expanding China’s borders into new lands. However, she was also known to feel compassion for the peasant class and even lowered their taxes and improved their farming techniques.

Wu ZeTian was a great leader and an even better person because she was always coming from a place of genuine concern. She knew of the experiences her people were going through on a deeper level. Because of this, her hubris never got in the way of her becoming an impartial and compassionate leader. Anyone thinking about becoming a figurehead or leader should take her story into account purely for the fun of learning about her unusual journey of becoming an emperor.