Why did Wu Zetian live in Luoyang?

1. Political reasons

The political importance of Luoyang to Wu Zetian can also be seen from Wei Siwen's remarks when Xu Jingye raised his army. In September of the first year of Guangzhai (684), Xu Jingye and others used the excuse of restoring King Luling to raise troops against Wu Zetian.

At that time, Wei Siwen suggested to Xu Jingye: "Since the Duke of Ming Dynasty has used Kuang Fu as his speech, it is better to lead the masses to march forward and point directly at Luoyang. Then the world will know that the Duke's ambition is King Qin and he will respond from all sides."

Unfortunately, Xu Jingye did not adopt Wei's suggestion and was defeated and died. Chen Yue talked about this matter and sighed: "Jingye Gou can use Wei Siwen's strategy to directly target He and Luo, focusing on Kuangfu. Even if the army is defeated and killed, he still has loyalty. It can be seen that Luoyang has great respect for Wu Zetian. So important, it was actually the political base of Wu Zetian.

2. Geographical reasons

The geographical situation of Luoyang is also suitable for being the capital. Luoyang lies on the Yellow River in the north and faces Taihang across the river. , Wangwu and other mountains, as well as Mang Mountain in the north as a natural barrier; there is the steep Yique in the south, and further to the south are the Xiong'er and Shaoshi mountains; in the west it controls the dangers of Xiao and Han; in the east it blocks Hulao, Heishi and other passes ; There are Yi and Luo plains with fertile soil, and the food is sufficient for self-sufficiency.

Therefore, Luoyang is an important place with "three rivers and four fortresses". This dangerous geographical location makes Luoyang unique. The superior military conditions for controlling the internal and external affairs have also become the main reason why Luoyang is suitable as the capital.

Extended information:

The first year of Wu Zetian's Zhengsheng (AD 695), which was also called Wu Zetian. In the fifth year of the emperor's reign, Wu Zetian's face-to-face Xue Huaiyi set fire to the paradise next to Mingtang. However, because Mingtang was too close to the paradise (archaeological investigation revealed that the rammed earth foundation between the two was only 16 meters apart), "proof" On the night of Bingshen in the first month of the first year of the Holy Year, a fire in the heaven spread to the Mingtang, and in the early morning, the two halls were destroyed."

The destruction of the Mingtang Paradise was a great blow to Wu Zetian, but she was not discouraged. In 695 AD In March, Wu Zetian issued an edict to build the Mingtang. He also cast the Jiuzhou tripod and the twelve gods in their respective positions. In March 696, the new Mingtang was completed. It was dedicated to people of the Wu clan, so it was called Wuzhou Mingtang, also known as "Tongtian Palace"

To the west of the imperial city and the palace city is the royal garden-Fanghua Garden of the Tang Dynasty (Sui Xiyuan), where Wu Zetian lived. At that time, Luoyang was promoted to the city of Shendu, and Fanghua Garden was subsequently named Shendu Garden?

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia_Sui and Tang Dynasties Luoyang City Palace