The Tang Dynasty

January 1, 655 A.D.

The New Empress

By: Jenna Faichney, Staff Writer

        There is breaking news in the Tang dynasty, a new emperor has come to power. This is not a regular emperor of China, this is an empress. Many of you have never heard of an empress. An empress is a women emperor. This is the first empress of Chinese history and maybe the only.

          This new empress’s name is Wu. She is ruling during the Golden Ages. Now that her name has been announced, some of you may have heard of her before. Wu has been around since 625 A.D. which was only seven years after the Tang dynasty started. Empress Wu may be considered as somebody who only cares about herself, but to many she is a great leader. Empress Wu has changed the empire greatly since she has been in power, but it all starts back when she was little…

          When Wu was a little girl she became known by the empire for her wit, intelligence, and beauty. She was a favorite by many who held high positions in the empire. This was very good for Wu’s chances of having power. She was a favorite of Emperor Tai Tsung, the current emperor of that time. When Emperor Tai Tsung died, Wu has told us that she was really hoping to become emperor, but instead Tai Tsung’s son, Kao Tsung, took over. Kao Tsung soon made Wu a favorite of his too. Wu has told us that this is because she was the one who gave birth to the sons that he wanted. After the children were born, Wu gained power because she was the mother of the emperor’s kids. Wu tells us that Kao Tsung was married, but she was able to get rid of his wife, by lying, in order for her to marry Tsung and get the power she wanted. Finally, when Kao Tsung died Wu took over the duties for a short amount of time. This was just long enough for Kao’s youngest son to be old enough to take over. The weakest son was moved into power, but needed a lot of help. Wu has told many that she had no idea this would happen, but she knew that she was the one who needed to help him. This caused Wu the get even more power with the decisions being made. She took over what was supposed to be done by her son and made many things change, like making women more popular. When her son declined from his position of power, Wu was elected as empress.
          This is where we catch up to today. Now that Wu is empress things are changing. Women have become more popular through the writing the Wu released. Also, the government has become fair for everyone. Everyone in the empire has a fair chance to become powerful. Wu has told us her secret on how to do this. She will make an exam. The only way to achieve a government position is by passing the exam. This means that instead of elected or only being powerful if your family is powerful someone can get power by being smart and passing the test.

          This is a once in a life time opportunity for Wu and she is going to change the government for everyone.

http://www.history-of-china.com/img/wu-zetian-b.jpg

I used  <www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html> .