Empress Wu Zetian (624-705 AD) was the only woman to be the sovereign ruler of imperial China. A teenage concubine of the Tang Emperor Taizong, she seduced his son while the emperor lay dying. Recalled from a nunnery as part of an intricate court power-game, she caused the deaths of two lady rivals, before securing her enthronement as the Emperor Gaozong's consort. She ruled in the name of her husband and two eldest sons, presiding over the pinnacle of the Silk Road, before proclaiming herself the founder of a new dynasty. Worshipped as the Sage Mother of Mankind and reviled as the Treacherous Fox, she was deposed aged 79, after angry courtiers murdered her two young lovers. The subject of countless books, plays, and films, Empress Wu remains a feminist icon and a bugbear of Chinese conservatism. Jonathan Clements weighs the evidence of her life and legacy: so charismatic that she could rise from nothing to the height of medieval power, so hated that her own children left her tombstone blank.
A Brief History of Japan
Jonathan Clements
audiobookThe First Emperor of China
Jonathan Clements
audiobookA Brief History of China
Jonathan Clements
audiobookFrom Here to Financial Happiness : Enrich Your Life in Just 77 Days
Jonathan Clements
audiobookCoxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty
Jonathan Clements
bookThe Little Book of Main Street Money : 21 Simple Truths That Help Real People Make Real Money
Jonathan Clements
audiobook
How To Buy A House : First Time Home Buyer's Quick And Easy Guide To Buying A Home
Jeff Leighton
audiobookDance of the Dung Beetles
Marcus Byrne, Helen Lunn
audiobookThe Philosophy of Social Ecology
Murray Bookchin
audiobookRapid Chinese (Vol. 1)
Earworms Learning
audiobookWired for Love, Second Edition : How Understanding Your Partner's Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship
Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT
audiobookCults : Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them
Max Cutler
audiobookbookOn the Origin of Evolution : Tracing ‘Darwin’s Dangerous Idea’ from Aristotle to DNA
John Gribbin, Mary Gribbin
audiobookWe Need to Talk About Money
Otegha Uwagba
audiobookThe Disappearing Spoon
Sam Kean
audiobookOxygen
Nick Lane
audiobookMijn beter ik
Renate Rubinstein
bookLight of the Stars : Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth
Adam Frank
audiobook