Today, the editor of History Encyclopedia has prepared an article for everyone: Wu Zetian’s abdication. Interested friends, come and take a look!
The Tang Dynasty was a powerful dynasty in China, where the first female emperor, Empress Wu Zetian, emerged. However, when Wu Zetian abdicated in her later years, she returned the kingdom she had taken away from the Li family. Why?
Empress Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian entered the imperial palace at the age of 14 and eventually became Li Shimin’s concubine due to her beauty. However, Wu Zetian was unwilling to stay in the harem, so she was also very concerned about politics and studied related knowledge. However, Wu Zetian’s political strategy was too sharp, so Li Shimin did not make her pay too much attention to the court. Later, after Li Zhi came to power, Wu Zetian was highly valued and treated as her own concubine.
Li Zhi was very kind to Wu Zetian, allowing him to go to court with her every day, which ultimately laid the foundation for Wu Zetian’s rule over the court. Later, after Li Zhi’s death, Wu Zetian became the female emperor of the Tang Dynasty through malicious means. However, in her later years, Wu Zetian returned Jiangshan to the Li family, which left many people confused.
Why return Jiangshan to the Li family?
In fact, when Wu Zetian was about to abdicate, she also considered giving her position to her family, but there was no one in her family who had a direct relationship with her, and Li Xian was the person who had the closest relationship with Wu Zetian. In addition, many people in the court supported Li’s accession to the throne, and Wu Zetian discovered something while considering who would inherit the throne.
Almost all ministers strongly support Li Xian, and more important people are also outspoken about Li Xian’s accession to the throne. At this moment, Wu Zetian realized that sitting on the throne was not what people wanted to see. During her tenure, she did not change the status of the Li family in people’s minds, so she chose to return the throne to the Li family after abdicating.
