Eight mysteries of Wu Zetian: What is Wu Zetian's name?

Wu Zetian is the only orthodox female emperor in the history of China. She is clever, witty, shrewd and resourceful. After nearly 30 years of assisting Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, she became the emperor, claiming to be the "Holy Spirit Emperor", and changed the Tang Dynasty to Da Zhou, becoming an unparalleled orthodox female emperor in the feudal history of China. However, her life has left eight mysteries to the world, but countless descendants have never been able to solve them.

1, face mystery

In the seventh year of Wude (624), Wu Zetian was born in Wenshui County, central Shanxi Province. After Wu Zetian came to power, because she was born here, she changed her name to Wuxing County, and imitated Liu Bang, Emperor of the Han Dynasty, exempting people from paying taxes here. After Wu Zetian abdicated, she immediately restored the name of Wenshui County.

Regarding the appearance of Wu Zetian, Old Uncle Tang called it "Beauty Stop"; "New Tang Book" said that she was "colorful"; Tang's title is "gifted scholar"; However, Tai Ping Guang Ji quoted Gan Ding Lu to render her "emperor's appearance".

His father, the samurai, asked Yuan Tiangang, a famous astrologer in Yizhou, to tell the fortune of his family, saying that they were all rich. Wu Zetian was still in her arms, dressed in boys' clothes, and was picked up by the wet nurse. Yuan Tiangang "lifted up his eyes" and exclaimed, "The dzi Pearl and the phoenix neck are extremely expensive". And predicted that if she is a woman, she will be the master of the world in the future.

Mystery of Wu Zetian's face

Tang Xinyu also said that Yuan Tiangang not only looked at Wu Zetian's face, but also made her try to walk a few steps before determining that "if she is a woman, she should be the son of heaven". The emperors in the history books are either auspicious or supernatural, which proves that "the monarch is given by God". Then, Wu Zetian is no exception.

2. The Mystery of Toy Boy

A calm analysis of Wu Zetian's Toy Boy problem can be seen from two angles: one is from her physiological needs as a "person" and a "woman", and the other is from her perspective as a politician and a queen.

As a woman, she needs a man to satisfy her, but this need will never be satisfied.

In the first year of God's will (AD 690), Wu Zetian officially ascended the throne, changed her country name to Zhou, and became a veritable female emperor. Her needs as a woman have also been aroused. Xue Huaiyi, whom she loved, was assassinated by her because she was tall and strong, but she was not "tamed".

The Mystery of Toy Boy

She favored Polygonum Shen Nan, but was rejected because of weak health in middle age. Her favorite brother, Zhang Yizhi, looks like a peach blossom and treats her well, which makes her spiritually satisfied. Chun Qing stayed for the time being. She thanked Zhang for his dedication, conferred the title of high official, entrusted him with state affairs, and became the most trusted person in her later years.

As a queen and a shrewd politician, Wu Zetian raised Toy Boy mainly to show the authority of the queen. Wu Zetian has reached the age of 73 since Zhang entered the army. Even if she is well off, healthy and taking aphrodisiacs, it is difficult to rejuvenate an old woman. She is showing off to everyone: Since men can have a group of concubines when they are emperors, women should also be served by Toy Boy when they are enthroned. Turning over the historical picture of China, women are unique.

As a female politician, she wants to be in an invincible position in the autocratic era of male emperors, which can be said to be "a big tree attracts the wind" and faces the difficulty of going it alone. In order to convince our subjects, we must establish our absolute authority and dignity artificially and actively. She should exercise the same rights and enjoy the same benefits as the male emperor in all fields. So on the issue of "sex", she will also follow the example of the male emperor. Even if it is not for "sexual desire", it is understandable that she wants to have a few young members of the opposite sex to relieve loneliness and ease her old age.

In a word, Wu Zetian's life is great and unique, and her later life is full of "sexual happiness". Accompanied by many leaders, as a big woman, she calmly responded to the huge work pressure as an imperial leader and completed a heavy and powerful fatal blow to masculinity.

3, the mystery of the name

According to historical records, Wu Zetian used three names: Mei Niang, Qi. Scholars in Taiwan Province Province have verified that before her name was Mei Niang, she also had a name called Yue.

The Biography of Wuhou in the New Tang Dynasty contains the name of Mei Niang: "When Taizong was fourteen, he heard that a scholar was beautiful, so he called him a gifted scholar" and "When he met the emperor, he named him Mei Niang". Well, Wu Zetian used the name Mei Niang for about 20 years. Because after she entered the palace for the second time from Kanye Temple, her identity has become a symbol of Tang Gaozong. Considering from both ethical and political aspects, it is obviously inappropriate to continue to call it "Mei Niang". What is clear is that she abandoned the name Mei Niang immediately after she acceded to the throne.

The imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty contains the name of Kong Ming: "I will be famous if I listen to it again ... I should name it Kong Ming." Ming, in the world; Empty, Buddhist terminology. All four are empty. May be just ascended the throne, in order to show a low profile, so I chose this slightly negative name.

Mystery of name

The name of the coffin is contained in Zi Tongzhi Jian: "The Queen Mother changed the name of the coffin to imperial edict." It is likely that Wu Zetian changed her name to "Qi" shortly after she was named "Kongming". The word "Ming" plus the word "empty" constitutes the word "qi", pronounced "Zhao", which means light. Of her original twelve words, the first one is "Qi". In order to avoid taboo, he changed the imperial edict into a Chinese book, and his grandson Li had to change his name to Li Zhongrun. Since then, Wu Zetian's name has been used until her death.

According to the research of scholars in Taiwan Province Province, Wu Zetian also has a name called Yue, which is mainly based on the conclusion that "the sun goes out to say Yue" in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty by "avoiding the palace and taboo" and citing circumstantial evidence. Because there is no empirical evidence, I can only say so. But it should be said that she had a name before she was called Mei Niang, that is, before she was fourteen years old.

4. The mystery of "sudden death of one's own daughter"

Wu Zetian gave birth to four sons and two daughters for Tang Gaozong. Among them, the eldest daughter died in infancy. For the baby's death, both Wu Zetian and Queen Wang were accused of "murder". However, there are different opinions about the truth. Sima Guang, a Song Dynasty man, once asserted from the ethical common sense that "the fear of martial arts is not so shallow", but most people would rather believe in it than believe in it.

There is no record of this in Biography of Old Tang Dynasty, but Mitchell mentioned "a baby with a vibrating throat", and the details are unknown. "Don Yao Hui" records: "Zhao Yi's daughter died suddenly and was killed by the queen."

The mystery of "sudden death of one's own daughter"

The Biography of Wu Zetian in the New Tang Dynasty records in detail: "Zhao Yi gave birth to a daughter, then she took care of her and left. Zhao Yiqian went to kill her son, waiting for the emperor, Yang laughed, looked after her son and died." He asked left and right in shock, and they all said,' I'll come in a minute'. Zhao Yi is crying, and the emperor can't observe it. He was very angry and said, "after killing my daughter, I went to the princess because of greed, and now I am evil!" "

Tong Jian made a brief record of this and kept it in Yonghui for five years. In short, it is a fact that Wu Zetian had a daughter who died suddenly. Whether she died for unknown reasons, died of accidental suffocation, or was really "latent to death" by Wu Zetian, this incident has indeed become a weapon for Wu Zetian to attack the queen.

5. Mystery of "Killing Sister and Killing Brother"

Wang criticized Wu Zetian for "killing her sister and brother". "Kill my sister" is a false word, because even the cause of death of her elder sister, Mrs. Han, is not clearly recorded in the account books. However, Mrs. Han's two daughters were both harmed by Wu Zetian, and it is a fact that the death of one of her daughters, Helan, is directly related to Wu Zetian's "brother tu".

Wu Zetian's "Brother Tu" was established, but the plot was slightly different. For example, when he poisoned Helan's home, Old Uncle Tang said it was at Wu Zetian's mother's mansion. As a mirror, according to "Tian Ji", it was held at a banquet in memory of Mount Tai.

After the death of Wu Zetian's sister Mrs. Wei, her daughter Helan was named Mrs. Wei and lived in the palace to serve. Helan was only in his twenties at that time, and Wu Zetian was 47 years old. Therefore, she is jealous of this young niece.

So, after worshipping Mount Tai, hundreds of officials presented food to the emperor and queen, and she put poison in the food, so that Wu Weiliang, the secretariat of Shizhou, and Wu Huaiyun, the secretariat of Zizhou, presented food to Mrs. Wei, which led to her sudden death after eating it. Later, it was blamed on the brother, who was killed and renamed "Bi". Being a poisonous snake is homophonic with the word "Wu", that is, combining its homophonic surname with the shape of a poisonous snake to slander it.

The mystery of "killing brothers and sisters"

Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun are Wu Zetian's cousins. According to the New and Old Tang Book, after the death of Wu Zetian's father, they were "rude to Yang". Yang, the mother of Wu Zetian. "disrespect" means not knowing.

In the early days of Wu Zetian's participation in politics, Wu Weiliang's brothers were promoted to officials regardless of hatred because they needed the help of their relatives. But their brothers were ungrateful, and even threatened that if we were promoted because of the Queen, we would be "worried but not honored". Wu Zetian took the opportunity to kill his niece first and then his cousin.

6. Mystery of Mausoleum

If the tomb of the emperor is the most difficult to dig in the world, then there is no doubt that it is Wu Zetian's "longevity domain"-Ganling. Her mausoleum was cut down by the sword of the cold weapon era and shelled by the machine gun of the hot weapon era. However, in the long years of 1200, Gan Ling was able to live alone.

Mystery of mausoleum

Maybe, the person who stole Gan Ling didn't? No, from the moment Wu Zetian lay in Ganling, Liangshan never stopped. The first person to go to Ganling was Huang Chao, the leader of the rebel army in the late Tang Dynasty. He led 400,000 peasant rebels and almost leveled half of Liangshan, but he got nothing because he misjudged the direction.

The second person who extended an evil hand to Ganling was Wen Tao, our Yaozhou envoy in the Five Dynasties. Before Ganling, this person had excavated 17 Tang tombs, leaving only Ganling. When Huang Like was in court, he also mobilized tens of thousands of troops to dig Ganling in broad daylight. Unexpectedly, three times up the mountain, it was a storm. The weather cleared up immediately when the troops retreated. Wen Tao really didn't understand what was going on, so he gave up the idea. Gan Ling escaped the second robbery at this point.

The most dangerous thing is the third time. During the period of the Republic of China, Sun Lianzhong, the general of the Kuomintang, dispatched a modern reorganization division. Under the cover of a military exercise, he blasted the third floor of the pyramid-shaped mound with black powder and erected stone bars. When he was about to enter, a thick smoke suddenly appeared, spiraled up and turned into a tornado, destroying the whole army to pieces. In this way, Gan Ling finally escaped the last bullet.

7. The mystery of longevity

There are three sayings about Wu Zetian's birthday in the official history: eighty-one, eighty-two and eighty-three. Textual research: The Chronicle of Old Days collapsed at the age of 83. Tang Li, Jiao Lu's Records of the Tang Dynasty, Comprehensive Collection, Ma Zongzhi, Yun Sheng Map, and Hui Hui are eighty-one. In thirteen years, Tang Lu and Zhenguan entered the palace. Fourteen years after Wu entered the palace, it was eighty-two years after Jason Wu's "Tian Ji", so this year was decided. "

Entering the palace at the age of fourteen is the reference year and event that determines Wu Zetian's life. The author has a special study on this: from the end of the eleventh year of Zhenguan (637) to the beginning of the twelfth year (638), Emperor Taizong visited Henan and Shanxi provinces today.

In February of 12th year, he left Luoyang, the capital of the East, and drove his car to the west. At this time, Emperor Taizong should "smell its beauty" and bring Wu Zetian into the harem as a talent. Accordingly, Wu Zetian was born in the seventh year of Wude (624) and died in the first year of Shenlong (705). According to China's traditional imaginary age algorithm, she is 8 1 year old.

The mystery of longevity

8. The Mystery of "No Word Monument"

On November 26th, the first year of Shenlong (705), Wu Zetian died in Xianjutang, Luoyang, the eastern capital. Tang Zhongzong discussed with his ministers that his mother should be buried in his father's Ganling, but he was opposed by Yanshan. Citing the theory of geomantic omen and the ethics that men are superior to women, he advocated that "next to Ganling, choose its land, choose its living tomb, and not build a tomb", that is, build another tomb. Tang Zhongzong ordered his ministers to discuss in detail, and finally, according to Wu Zetian's testamentary edict, he was buried in Ganling.

Ganling is located in Beiliang Mountain, Ganxian County, Shaanxi Province. There are two 6.3-meter-high stone tablets in front of the mausoleum. One is the "Holy Age" monument erected by Wu Zetian for Tang Gaozong. The other one was built for Wu Zetian in Tang Dynasty, and was called "the tablet without words" by later generations because it had no words. There has never been a monument in the mausoleum of Queen China.

The Mystery of "Silent Monument"

However, the tomb of Wu Zetian made an exception and erected a monument, but made an exception and did not leave a word on the monument, which made future generations relish it. It is generally believed that the merits and demerits of Wu Zetian's life are left for later generations to comment on. However, there is no record that she set it before her death. There is a saying that the merits of the emperor shine all over the world, and there is no need to set up a monument to repeat it. This is not true, because the Book of the Sunnah is a monument to Tang Gaozong.

There is also a saying that Wu Zetian, as the daughter-in-law of the Li family, was born in the Tang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty, and was later overthrown by the emperor and became the daughter-in-law of the Li family. This statement is untenable, and it has been defended by funeral books. According to the regulation that the first two monuments in Ganling are 6.3 meters high, the author makes the following guess: Wu Zetian prepared two monuments when she buried Tang Gaozong, one for herself and the other for herself, which will be engraved a hundred years later.

Unexpectedly, Wu Zetian was abdicated and died soon. Because Tang Zhongzong's monarch and subjects satisfied her wish to bury only Ganling, the monument she prepared before her death stood in Ganling. At that time, it was an expedient measure to write a funeral book and read it on paper. If the similar words are engraved on the stone tablet, it will make her immortal, that is another matter.

Obviously, no one would put forward such a memorial at that time. Then, when the deceased was buried and the monument prepared by the deceased was erected in Yu Ling, the funeral had to be called "complete merit".