Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers
Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers
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Abstract
This book looks at the reign of Wu Zhao (624–705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, the only woman to have ruled China over the course of its 5,000-year history. It asks how she rose to power and why she was never overthrown. The book explores a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries and suggests that Wu Zhao drew on China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women to aid in her reign. The book explains that, although Wu Zhao could not obtain political authority through conventional channels, she could afford to ignore norms and traditions. It shows that she deployed language, symbols, and ideology to harness the cultural resonance, maternal force, divine energy, and historical weight of Buddhist devis, Confucian exemplars, Daoist immortals, and mythic goddesses, so establishing legitimacy within and beyond the confines of Confucian ideology. It describes how Wu Zhao tapped into deep, powerful, subterranean reservoirs of female power to build a pantheon of female divinities carefully calibrated to meet her needs at court. The book details how the Empress' pageant was promoted in scripted rhetoric, reinforced through poetry, celebrated in theatrical productions and inscribed on steles. It concludes that her strategy is a model of political brilliance and proof that medieval Chinese women enjoyed a more complex social status than previously known.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Female Political Ancestors
N. Harry Rothschild
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Part I Goddesses of Antiquity
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Part II Dynastic Mothers, Exemplary Mothers
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Four
The Mother of Qi and Wu Zhao: Connecting to Antiquity, Elevating Mount Song
N. Harry Rothschild
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Five
Ur-Mothers Birthing the Zhou Line: Jiang Yuan and Wu Zhao
N. Harry Rothschild
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Six
Wenmu and Wu Zhao: Two Mothers of Zhou
N. Harry Rothschild
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Seven
Four Exemplary Women in Wu Zhao’s Regulations for Ministers
N. Harry Rothschild
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Four
The Mother of Qi and Wu Zhao: Connecting to Antiquity, Elevating Mount Song
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Part III Drawing on the Numinous Energies of Female Daoist Divinities
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Part IV Buddhist Devis and Goddesses
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Conclusions
N. Harry Rothschild
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End Matter
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