She is sometimes known as Wu Chao (ZHOW), the name she would take when she assumed the Chinese throne, but she was born Wu Ze-tian or Wu Tse-t'ien (zeh-CHEE-en). Her father, Wu Shi-huo (zhee-WOH), was a wealthy businessman in southeastern China in 617 when he received an important request from Li Yuan (yee-WAHN), then the military commander of the region. At that time, the harsh Sui (SWEE) dynasty ruled China, but Li Yuan had plans for its overthrow, and he needed Wu Shi-huo's help.
“A sage mother will befall and her imperium [empire] will be prosperous forever."
"Prophecy" concerning Wu Ze-tian's rule
In the following year, Li Yuan and his son Li Shih-min (ZHUR-min) took power with the assistance of Wu Shi-huo and others, establishing the T'ang (TAHNG) dynasty. The new emperor rewarded his ally by giving him an important position in the government, and by offering him the cousin of the last Sui emperor, Lady Yang, as his wife. The couple had three daughters, of whom Wu Ze-tian was the second.
Wu Ze-tian was a beautiful young woman, and when Li Shih-min (who had become emperor) heard about her, he arranged for the fourteen-year-old girl to come to the palace. In China, rulers were assigned titles after their death; Li Shih-min is better known to history as T'ai Tsung (dy-DZAWNG; see entry), the greatest ruler of T'ang China. Twenty-six years older than Wu Ze-tian, he made her his concubine, a woman whose role toward her "husband" is like that of a wife, but without the social and legal status of a wife.
World History
