Wu, a review

WU: The Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become Living God by Jonathan Clements (Gloustershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2007)

Here is another able woman empress, administrator, commander-in-chief (China 625-705 AD) who, because she was a woman and her history was written by her enemies, has been excoriated as a terrible terrible figure largely because a woman should not do the things she did.  Only thing is, pretty much every emperor or conqueror worth their salt in history had to do the things she did.  At least Clements does acknowledge that fairly frequently in this fascinating biography.

She rose from very humble beginnings (daughter of a lumber merchant); at 14 she became the Taizong Emperor's companion/concubine, then managed to become a concubine then wife of the Taizong's son & heir, the Gaozong Emperor - and then she went on to become the only woman who ever became a reigning empress of China.

Of course she made a few enemies along the way.

And it's like Cleopatra: you never get the real story of Cleopatra because the Romans, who hated her, wrote her history  (I can't wait until they discover the hidden scrolls on her  written by Egyptian biographers and we get the real Cleopatra).

Those fearful historians (sorry, they were all men) went to Imagination Town with the stories of her witchcraft and enchantment of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and her legendary beauty.  The fact is, there are very few likenesses of Cleopatra, and those that exist show a plug plain woman. 

This:

 

Not this:

So the fact that  a plain-jane Cleopatra was so captivating to two of the world's most powerful men makes her ever more interesting than the whole "siren" thing. 

Wu, on the other hand, was said to have been absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.  The only thing people didn't seem to realize (except for her two emperor patrons/hubbies) was that she was also extraordinarily intellectually gifted, quite a brilliant strategist and yes, if you want to use pejorative terms, a master 'schemer.' But what great ruler is not a master schemer?  These adjectives all hit 10 on the nasty-o-metre when they are applied to women.

Yes, she also had a 'harem' of strapping young lads when she was in her 70s and single, having buried her husband.  Cudos to Clements because he writes:

"But, even if the Zhang brothers were servicing Empress Wu on a nightly basis, the censorious attitude of the courtiers betrays a remarkable double standard.  Nobody would have thought twice about a similar set-up for a male emperor in his seventies.  In fact, old emperors were encouraged to spend their time with a variety of fresh young concubines, spiritually feeding on their yin essence in order to prolong their lives."

Wu, too, was accused of using witchcraft.  Sigh, yawn, ho hum: what is with the witchcraft thing?  Is that the best shot historians throughout recorded history can come up with? Every able woman in history is accused of using witchcraft, for Goddess's sake.  Hilary Clinton's enemies probably accuse her of using witchcraft (but if anyone has need of certain elixirs in the Clinton family, it's probably not Hilary).

The only thing I didn't notice in this biography was Wu taking making any effort to support fellow women in moving the up & out of the concubines' courtyards,  no surprise in an age when women were pitted against women, deadly rivals for the favour of the men, especially emperors.  Nope, they continued to be firmly anchored below the bamboo ceiling.  But I've seen America's Top Model and The Bachelor and we've come a long way, right?

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