How did Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping turn against each other? Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
1. Princess Taiping became a monk
We all know that the Tang Dynasty was a very open dynasty, during which Taoism developed greatly in our country, and even many women became Taoists, including some daughters of noble families. At that time, becoming a monk was of great benefit to princesses – they could enjoy a noble life while breaking free from the constraints of the palace, and could make extensive friends with literati and scholars. They enjoyed drinking and having fun every day.
And this princess was relatively weak from a young age. In order to free her from excessive constraints, Wu Zetian ordered her to become a Taoist monk and adopted “Taiping” as her name, hoping that she would live a peaceful life. However, although she claimed to have become a monk at that time, in fact, she had been living in the palace all along. It was not until later that Tubo sent an envoy to the emperor requesting to marry Princess Taiping. The emperor was unwilling to let his daughter marry far away and was too embarrassed to refuse directly, so he allowed the princess to live in a Taoist temple and refused marriage on the grounds that she had already become a monk.
Later on, Tang Gaozong’s health deteriorated and Wu Zetian’s power in the court also increased. She gradually had no time to take care of her daughter, so the princess stayed in the Taoist temple until around the age of 20, and only officially ended her monastic life when she got married.
2. Two failed marriages
The princess’s first husband was named Xue Shao, who had a handsome appearance and outstanding talent. The two were from the same family and fell in love at their first meeting. With the arrangement of her mother Wu Zetian, she successfully married her lover. After getting married, their lives were very sweet, and this was also the happiest time of Princess Taiping’s life. But shortly after the birth of their fourth child, the princess’s mother, Lady Wu, deliberately designed to make the Xue family accuse them of rebellion in order to consolidate her position. The princess’s husband was implicated and died of starvation in prison after a hundred charges.
The death of her husband left the princess heartbroken, and then her mother arranged a marriage for her, forcing her to marry Wu Youji. At that time, her second husband had already married, and in order to facilitate the marriage between the princess and this person, the queen spared no expense in killing this person’s wife. This planted the seeds of resentment in the new son-in-law’s heart and placed all this resentment on the princess. Therefore, after their marriage, life was very oppressive, and the princess often stayed alone in the empty room.
3. Sharing a Husband with Mother
The princess’s initial wish was just to live a peaceful life and be a simple virtuous wife and mother, but the fact shattered her dream. She finally realized that only by mastering power could she possibly control her own destiny. Two failed marriages left her completely disappointed with her mother, and she began to crave for power in her mother’s hands, so she was willing to share a husband with her mother.
Later on, the princess’s life was very dissolute. She searched for all kinds of beautiful men from all over the world and even gave the men around her to her mother, among whom the most famous was Zhang Changzong. This man comes from a prestigious family of officials, with a handsome appearance and extensive knowledge of poetry and literature. He is highly skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. At that time, the empress was already in her seventies, but she had no resistance to handsome men and happily accepted the handsome man her daughter offered to her.
The princess originally planned to use the handsome man to play the “pillow breeze” and let her mother hand over power to her, but she didn’t expect Zhang Changzong to become reckless after receiving the Empress’s favor. With the Empress’s favor, he began to stir up trouble in the former imperial harem, repeatedly designing for her to be promoted and ennobled, and even introducing his brother to the Empress. The two brothers began to gain a lot of power.
The princess understood that the Zhang brothers were completely unreliable, so she turned to cooperate with others. In 705, the “Divine Dragon Coup” broke out in the palace, and the Zhang brothers were executed. The empress was forced to hand over power to Crown Prince Li Xian. At that time, the queen never expected that her beloved daughter would also be the main leader of this coup. Since then, the princess has officially stepped forward to participate in politics.
4. Suicide
After Li Xian ascended to the throne, he was plotted by Empress Wei and was poisoned to death within a few years. At this moment, the princess quickly sorted out the situation again and pushed Li Dan to ascend to the throne, thus her status was once again elevated and she became increasingly powerful in the court, eventually becoming a thorn in her nephew Li Longji’s side. In 713, the princess was convicted of rebellion and committed suicide, ending her tumultuous and absurd life.
