Describe The Most Famous Woman During Chinese History

A Comparison of Wu Zetian and Lu Zhi
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A Comparison of Wu Zetian and Lu Zhi
Empress Wu Zetian who was alternatively called Empress Consort Wu became the only female emperor in China and her regime was during the Tang Dynasty where she brought great influence. She started to have her life in court as the concubine of emperor Taizong and when he died, Wu Zetian eloped with his son named Gaozong. This is when she became emperor consort (Mark, 2016).
Lu Zhi was a famous stateswoman in the history of China and in 202 B.C. the self-proclamation of Liu Bang as the Hang Dynasty emperor happened and Lu Zhi was appointed as the empress (Season, 2011). Lu Zhi became Liu Bang’s accomplice in killing Peng Yue, Han Xin, and princes who were not descendants of Liu. After Liu Bang’s death, emperor Hui as the successor of the throne, which destroyed the country’s unification. This was when empress Lu was given the title Empress Dowager.
During the Tang Dynasty when Empress Wu Zetian ruled, women were given a lot of freedom and they were not required to bind their feet or become submissive to their husbands. This was a time when exceptional women were given the chance to take part in the culture and politics of society. This is why it is not a surprise that Wu, who came from a rich family was enrolled in music lessons, taught to write and read a lot about the Chinese classics. When she reached the age of 13, she was recognized for being witty, beauty and intelligence. Emperor Tai Tsung asked her to join the court and made her his concubine, but she also liked Kao Tsung (Women in World History, 2016).
Unlike Empress Wu Zutien, Empress Lu was criticized by the historians in the past as a woman who was hungry for power and based on their findings, she worked with Han Xin who was the Prince of Chu, and Peng Yue who was the Prince of Liang. These two were prominent generals and contributed to the foundation of the Han Dynasty. It was Empress Lu who suggested that Emperor Gao should remove Han from Chu’s principality. Furthermore, Empress Lu killed Han while Emperor Gao was away. She did the same thing with Peng who she had arrested for treason and then had him executed. Even if she was known to be cruel and merciless, she showed great devotion to her husband and in keeping the empire safe. This is why she continued to reign even after Emperor Gao died. In addition to this, she was also recognized as a capable ruler and gave promotion to the right officials. This is why the people were able to experience comfort after the chaos Qin Dynasty brought, as well as the Chu Han Contention wars.
During Wu Zutien’s rise to power, she was given privilege to become the first concubine even if under the law, she should have become a nun. Lady Wang, who was the wife of Gaozong and Xiao Shufei who was his first concubine became jealous of each other. They were even more jealous of the attention that Gaozong gave to Wu. Based on Wu’s history, there was conspiracy against her, but Wu was able to end the crises they had with her.
Lu Zhi was able to establish power and started to remove members who were part of her late husband’s famil...