Wu Zhao : China's only woman emperor / N. Harry Rothschild.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rothschild, N. Harry.

Series:

Library of world biography

The library of world biography

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wu hou, Empress of China, 624-705.

Wu hou.

Empresses--China--Biography.

Empresses.

China.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 236 pages : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm.

Other Title:

China's only female emperor

Place of Publication:

New York : Pearson Longman, [2008]

Summary:

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 clever Buddhist rhetoric, grandiose architecture, elegant 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, deftly balancing factions in court, staving off the encroachment of Turks and Tibetans, and fostering the state's economic growth.

Contents:

What's in a name?

Historical preconditions for the ascent of a female emperor: Steppe culture, the Silk Road and Buddhism

From the Sichuan countryside to the inner palace

Empress Wu: a changing of the guard

The two sages

Celestial empress and grand dowager

Wu Zhao as lover: lady of perfect satisfaction

Sage mother rising

Queen of terror

Bodhisattva of mercy

Emperor of the Zhou dynasty

Octogenarian in retreat: succession, factionalism, and craneriding in the final years

Conclusion: the vain quest for Wu Zhao.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780321394262

0321394267

OCLC:

180577479