The Scandalous Affairs of Wu Zetian's Harem

[Li Shimin’s Mei Niang + competing for favor + harem intrigue + Li Zhi’s Zhaoyi + power struggles + Wu Zetian, a generation’s empress + harem tales + male favorites + emperor and empress as a couple + one woman serving two emperors] She was called Wu Zetian. Beautiful and clever, she was summoned into Emperor Taizong Li Shimin’s harem at fourteen and became his favorite. Her bewitching charm earned her the name Mei Niang. She admired Li Shimin’s brilliance and valor. After Taizong died, Li Zhi took an interest in her, and she became his Zhaoyi. A woman who served two generations of emperors, she became a hot topic throughout the Tang dynasty and its best-known woman. In feudal society, women had no status, and no one would even dare imagine a woman becoming emperor. Wu Zetian truly had the talent to govern a country. She was both broad-minded and perceptive, with a gift for recognizing and employing capable people, and she became China’s first female emperor. She envied men for being able to take several wives and concubines. Her close friend Princess Gaoyang fell in love with Bianji and lived for love, deeply influencing Wu Zetian. Once she gained power, she took male favorites, including Xue Huaiyi, Shen Nanqiu, Zhang Yizhi, and Zhang Changzong, giving rise to many tales of the imperial harem. Taizong was a man and Empress Wu was a woman, yet both strove to usher in a new era. Taizong was a visionary ruler, beloved by all, while Wu’s talent and strategy were on a par with his. Wu Zetian ruled for more than forty years. The era she ushered in as female emperor followed the Reign of Zhenguan and paved the way for the Kaiyuan Era, earning her the posthumous honorific “Empress Wu.”