Wu

January 29, 2007
Empress Wu (625-705), the only woman in Chinese history to rule in her own name during the golden age of the Tang Dynasty, began her career as a low-ranking concubine in the palace of Emperor Taizong. Here, historian and author Clements (The First Emporer) tells the story of her improbable rise to power and her 30-plus years as Empress. Aside from his subtitle, Clements is even-handed in his depiction. Wu was a feminist who argued for the equality of women, upset the long established Confucian orthodoxy by appointing new bureaucrats according to their merit, and courted the commoners by lowering taxes and developing new farmlands. She also started her own secret police force, had eleven branches of the imperial family exterminated-entirely-during two years of purges, and made her cosmetics-dealing lover a Buddhist priest so that he could proclaim her divinity. Clements' only misstep is in his parade of minor historical characters, introduced every few pages to distracting effect. Otherwise, Clements' skillful narrative leaves it to the reader to decide whether Wu was a tyrant or a dutiful stateswoman maligned by the patriarchs of history; students of Chinese history will find this illuminating and enjoyable. Illustrations.