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Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, was a famous ruler in history. Under his rule, the Tang Dynasty experienced a prosperous era of the “Zhenguan Reign”. But shortly after his death, a large-scale peasant uprising broke out, and the rebel was Chen Shuozhen.
Chen Shuozhen lost both parents at a young age and relied on his sister for survival. The place where she was born was originally a prosperous place, but due to heavy taxes and the occurrence of floods, the court did not provide relief, resulting in widespread starvation.
Chen Shuozhen decided to rebel because she couldn’t bear such tyranny. In order to develop the power of the uprising, she spread the news that she had encountered a deity, attained immortality, and had boundless magical power, attracting many people to come and worship her.
So Chen Shuozhen believed that the time was ripe and officially rose up in early October of the fourth year of Yonghui. After she rose up, she called herself “Emperor Wenjia” and established a political system, appointing Zhang Shuyin as prime minister and Tong Wenbao as general.
Subsequently, Chen Shuozhen quickly led the rebel army to occupy Muzhou, causing people from all over to respond in large numbers. The rebel army quickly grew to tens of thousands of people. This incident shocked both the court and the public.
Although the rebel army developed rapidly, they were still some disorganized groups. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was generally a peaceful and prosperous era, and had not yet experienced a decline. Therefore, not long after, the rebel army was suppressed, thousands of people were killed, 10000 surrendered, and Chen Shuozhen was captured.
In ancient times, punishment for women, especially those who were “rebellious”, was always humiliating, aimed at destroying their image and serving as a warning to the world. In unofficial history, it is said that Chen Shuozhen was stripped naked, his breasts were cut off, and he was dismembered. After suffering humiliation from the Tang army, he was executed by Lingchi.
Chen Shuozhen was the first woman recorded in history to declare herself emperor. Although she failed, it must be said that later on, Empress Wu Zetian dared to take on the great challenge of proclaiming herself emperor, which may have been influenced by her.
