Today, the editor of the History Encyclopedia will introduce to you why Wu Zetian banned keeping cats in the palace? I hope it can be helpful to you.
In 655 AD, a handsome emperor walked slowly through a courtyard that was very tall, but its doors and windows were tightly sealed, relying only on one doorway to deliver food inside. The emperor remembered the two old friends inside and couldn’t help but feel an impulse in his heart. He shouted to the door, “Empress and Consort Shu, are you all okay
At this moment, a woman’s crying voice came from inside, and she replied, “I am just a sinner, no longer the queen, and cannot bear the title of Your Majesty
This emperor was the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi, and the woman who answered him with the surname Wang was the third empress of the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wang. There is also a woman who was imprisoned with Queen Wang, and she is Xiao Shufei. The Zizhi Tongjian records:
Later, Wang Shi and Empress Dowager Xiao Shi were imprisoned in another courtyard, where they tasted and recited the food. When they traveled to their place, they saw that their room was tightly sealed, except for the walls of their orifices, which were covered with food utensils, causing them to be injured.
In the sixth year of the Yonghui reign of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Tang caused a wave of “deposing the king and establishing military power”. At this time, for the first time since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the empress was deposed. For a moment, Empress Wu Zetian defeated Queen Wang and Consort Xiao Shufei, becoming the ultimate winner of the harem. Upon careful calculation, Wu Zetian was admitted to the imperial harem by Emperor Gaozong of Tang for only 5 years.
Although she had only been with Emperor Gaozong of Tang for 5 years, Wu Zetian was indeed the oldest consort in the imperial harem. In the eleventh year of the Zhenguan reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, came to Luoyang and heard that Lady Wu had an unparalleled appearance. He accepted her into the palace and gave her the name “Wumei Niang”, which later became known as Wu Meiniang. At that time, Wu Zetian was only 14 years old. Six years later (the eleventh year of the Zhenguan reign), Empress Wang married Crown Prince Li Zhi, and in the same year, Consort Xiao Shufei entered the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince’s consort.
Wu Zetian served Li Shimin for 22 years without any offspring. In the 23rd year of the Zhenguan reign, Li Shimin passed away, and Empress Wu Zetian and other childless concubines were sent to Ganye Temple as nuns. After a year, on the anniversary of Li Shimin’s death, Emperor Gaozong of Tang personally went to Ganye Temple to offer incense and met Wu Zetian here. Originally, as early as when Li Shimin was seriously ill, Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian secretly developed feelings for him while taking care of him. They reunited a year later, which made Tang Gaozong restless. For this reason, Emperor Gaozong of Tang repeatedly used excuses to have private meetings with Empress Wu Zetian at Gan Ye Temple.
In the harem, Xiao Shufei, due to her beautiful appearance, always oppressed Empress Wang. Empress Wang was secretly delighted to learn that Li Zhi had secretly met with Wu Zetian, so she sent someone to bring Wu Zetian into the harem to attack Xiao Shufei. All of this is in line with the intentions of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.
After Wu Zetian entered the palace, she first bowed down to Empress Wang and helped her deal with Xiao Shufei. Xiao Shufei came from the royal family of Southern Qi and was of the same clan as Xiao Yu, a famous minister in the early Tang Dynasty. She not only had a beautiful appearance but also came from a noble background. For a long time, Wu Zetian regarded Xiao Shufei as her biggest rival in love.
Later, Empress Wu Zetian gave birth to her eldest son Li Hong, who played with three women. In Li Zhi’s harem, there was a situation where Wang, Xiao, and Wu were evenly matched, with the three slandering each other and constantly fighting. Wu Zetian took advantage of Tang Gaozong’s favor towards her and first designed to overthrow Empress Xiao Shufei. In the fifth year of Yonghui, Wu Zetian gave birth to her eldest daughter, Princess Andingsi. Empress Wang came to visit her, but after Empress Wang left, Wu Zetian strangled her own daughter to death (Zhao Yi secretly killed Er Qianxia) and blamed her, causing Empress Wang to lose favor from then on. In addition, Empress Wang did not have a son, so Li Zhi abolished her on the grounds of “no son” and intended to appoint Empress Wu Zetian as the new empress. This is the ‘Abolishing Wang and Establishing Wu’ incident.
The “Abolishing the King and Establishing Military Power” was not smooth at first, and important officials of the court such as Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, and Yu Zhining all held an opposing attitude. Emperor Gaozong of Tang was constantly restrained by his courtiers and filled with anger. Finally, under the hype of Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, and others, especially after Xu Jingzong’s statement “The maidens in the fields harvest ten more bushels of wheat, and still desire to change their wives,” Tang Gaozong finally made up his mind to depose Queen Wang. Wu Zetian thus became the biggest winner.
In October of 655 AD (the sixth year of Yonghui), Emperor Gaozong of Tang personally issued an edict:
Empress Wang and Consort Xiao conspired to poison and poison, and were deposed as commoners, including their mother and brothers. They were also expelled and exiled to Lingnan.
Empress Wang and Consort Xiao Shufei were deposed as commoners, and their families were stripped of their rewards and exiled to Lingnan. Wang and Xiao were imprisoned in another courtyard. Empress Wang and Empress Xiao Shufei, two old rivals, were ultimately caught by Empress Wu Zetian and locked up in the same courtyard. It’s really fate playing tricks on people.
It is precisely because of this that the scene at the beginning of this article was created. Although Emperor Gaozong of Tang appointed Wu Zetian as his empress, he often missed Wang and Xiao in his heart. One day, he couldn’t help but walk into another courtyard and have a conversation with Empress Wang. When Queen Wang saw Li Zhi come to visit her, she was filled with joy and thought her opportunity had come. At first, she was filled with self deprecation, and then she cried and said to Emperor Gaozong of Tang:
I earnestly request Your Majesty to name this courtyard ‘Hui Xin Yuan’. If Your Majesty still remembers our old feelings, I hope we can see the light of day again
Returning to the Heart Hospital means changing one’s mind. Empress Wang hoped that Emperor Gaozong of Tang would change his mind, but Wu Zetian did not think so. After hearing this news, Wu Zetian was very nervous, afraid that Tang Gaozong would soften his heart and release Wang and Xiao. So immediately, someone was sent to beat Queen Wang and Consort Xiao with one hundred sticks each. The two women were not tortured until they were bleeding profusely. Wu Zetian was still unsatisfied and ordered someone to cut off their hands and feet to drink wine, which was called “Bone Drunken”. Wang and Xiao couldn’t withstand the torture and both passed away.
The deaths of Wang and Xiao, two rival lovers, brought a sigh of relief to Wu Zetian. However, the poisoned oath made by Xiao Shufei before her death made Wu Zetian shudder. Xiao Shufei said:
Awu is cunning and even so! May he give birth to me as a cat, Awu as a mouse, and choke me by the throat. “-” Zizhi Tongjian ”
It means it’s all because of Wu Zetian’s seduction and cunning that I ended up like this. If there is an afterlife, let me become a cat and Wu Zetian become a mouse, I will hold her throat every day.
Xiao Shufei was indeed an old rival of Wu Zetian, and she hated her to the bone even before her death. His poisonous oath left a deep shadow on Wu Zetian. So much so that Wu Zetian’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the cat. Later on, Wu Zetian simply ordered: no cats are allowed in the palace! The Zizhi Tongjian records:
So there are no cats kept in the palace
I believe that in feudal society, palace struggles were not uncommon, but Wu Zetian had her ruthless side. Wu Zetian entered the palace at the age of 14, went through many hardships, and later regained the throne as empress, even becoming an extraordinary woman who was recorded in history after her death. However, looking at the fate of Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, especially Empress Wu Zetian who punished them with sticks, even cutting off their hands and feet to make them “bone drunk”, her methods were ruthless and terrifying.
For a woman, Wu Zetian may be in a state of revenge and self-protection, but she still has a fear of Xiao Shufei’s poisonous oath, indicating that there is still a guilty side in Wu Zetian’s heart. Empress Wu Zetian, in her future life, will experience more thrilling things
