The Bloody History Behind China's Only Empress | Wu Zetian | Chronicle

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Since her death 1300 years ago, Wu Zetian has been remembered as a callous tyrant, who brought calamity to China. But now, extraordinary new discoveries are revealing a very different picture of her reign.
As archaeologists investigate hidden tombs, spectacular pagodas, gigantic palaces, and priceless treasures from her time, they are uncovering a very different story of China’s female Emperor, her skills, and her empire. Wu Zetian’s China was a military, economic and cultural superpower, whose influence stretched from the edge of the Mediterranean to Japan and India. Recent discoveries reveal the wealth and stability of her reign and point to her skills as a politician and a leader. But they also provide tantalizing new evidence of the cruelty and violence at the heart of her regime.
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Опубликовано:

3 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 59

@michelleg7 2 года назад

Dang this is just like what happened to Hatshepsut because the women who cling to power and rule and dispose of those who were threatening their rule were always vilified. It was so upsetting to men for women to have the audacity to rule and rule better then many rulers previous to them. To have their people be fed and cared for. To enrich their kingdoms with wealth, it was utterly inconceivable that a woman was capable of that.

@lilacgirl9332 2 года назад

Agree!!

@troydodson9641 Месяц назад

I think it is a mixture of her taking the title Emperor and previous sexist belief. If something were to go wrong, it's because she is a woman, instead of that administrator or that ritual mistake. Hatshepsut seems to have had an alright reign, just to have much of her iconography destroyed. Women through history have pretty blatantly held power as queen, regent, personal influence, etc. But, as with Hatshepsut, there is a religious taboo of a woman holding the title a man traditionally does. I'm sure if for some reason, a man, even a royal, took title queen or 1st wife, it would raise ire from nobility, clergy and common people alike. Irene can not be Roman emperor because she is a woman makes legitimate sense to them. Emperor is son of heaven. For a woman to claim to be son of Taizon, which is needed for the mandate of heaven, surely calamity will follow. On the other hand, popping up with a new title like 'daughter of heavan' in a man's world might not sail too well. Taking the man's role works really well for their lifetime, but it can lead to them being panned later. By not criticizing reign, ridding of iconography, or full changing of tradition, divine destruction is a very real possibility. Explanation, not an excuse. Plenty I'm sure just hated being under a woman

@pawshands9706 2 года назад

Thank you for such captivating historical riches. Keep it up please.

@cdfdesantis699 2 года назад

She was brutal, but she was a product of her time & circumstance. There's a saying in the western world, "A woman has to work twice as hard to be considered half as good as a man.". In Emperor Wu's era, that was even more true than it is today. She was obviously a skilled politician, with a real desire to make life better for her ordinary citizens. She knew females were valuable members of society, giving them rights not normally found anywhere at that time, & elevating them to positions of responsibility. And in the end, she showed she regretted having to be so harsh. It's a shame that the males who followed her, some every bit as brutal, would treat her legacy so harshly, as well.

@keiththorpe9571 2 года назад

I have a question: Why would this video description refer to China of the late 7th Century "Dark Age China"? It wasn't "The Dark Ages" in China. The late 7th Century may have been "The Dark Ages" in Europe, but not in China. China enjoyed, at the time, a very advanced society and sophisticated culture.

@themyceliumnetwork 2 года назад

the european dark ages weren't dark, its just named that

@TheLazyGeneTV 2 года назад

They are called the "dark ages" because we know so little about them

@eleanorcooney1966 2 года назад

I think it's just a reference point so people can quickly place her in historical time.

@ChristianAuditore14 2 года назад

@@eleanorcooney1966 it's a lie, take it out.

@SecretSquirrelFun 2 года назад

@@eleanorcooney1966 yes, I absolutely agree. It references a point in time, and only that. It’s not a reflection on any country or culture.

@user-jwill 2 года назад

It’s really a shame they rewrote her true history but she’s not the only one. That was the style of ruling in those days. Brutal. That was soooo interesting 🙌

@buddhidev7877 2 года назад

I personally don't believe that she was absolutely evil as the myth said. Yes, as an absolute ruler sometimes you must be decisive and brutal, but the same things she did would also do by other male rulers. Actually by the circumstances, the nation at that time was glorious and the gender equality happened which might disturb some old school Confucius scholars and nobles and might lead to misinterprete her as an evil.

@lilacgirl9332 2 года назад

I just was going to write exactly that. Once I heard the status of women was elevated during her reign I am wondering was she painted as a horror in retaliation for being a strong woman who allowed other women to be free.

@musicful7036 2 года назад

She murdered her own sons, is that not enough to be EVIL according to your definition of EVIL ?

@buddhidev7877 2 года назад

@@musicful7036 was she?

@ata-ayitehunlede5632 2 года назад

First today Nice episode For grass to grace, pinnacle of power

@jeanettewaverly2590 2 года назад

Incredible.

@amara8698 2 года назад

Wu Xetian was a bloodthirsty empress, no doubt. But she was a very progressive ruler towards her subjects. She ruled by just methods. But when it came to power her methods were no doubt dangerous.

@sheldonwheaton881 2 года назад

Her treatment reminds me of Akhenaten in Ancient Egypt.

@kimberlyperrotis8962 2 года назад

What a magnificent culture Imperial China had! This Empress only did what male rulers always had to do, but he’s right, the Patriarchal Society couldn’t give the credit for the greatness she achieved to a woman, so they vilified her. Her greatness was in making her people safe, prosperous and happy, and in making her Empire the richest, most cultivated and greatest on earth. Only the best of rulers can do this. Isn’t the recent Chinese series about her (Netflix?), I saw part if it.

@RabbidM0nkey123 2 года назад

Greatness?😂 talk about pathetic

@kafon6368 2 года назад

overrated.

@yulee3266 Год назад

@@kafon6368 how so?

@freycomm35 Год назад

Not "empress", her title is Emperor, as in the male title. She is the only female EMPEROR in Chinese history. She specifically usurped and used the male title to show that she is below no male rulers and as a sign of her legitimacy and power.

@spadebraithwaite1762 2 года назад

You could hade this worse, but I can't think how.

@AdastraRecordings 2 года назад

Fascinating and no real surprise a bunch of dudes denigrated her image after she died.

@LucklessGun 2 года назад

ah yes, the nefarious empress WU 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

@christadauria4362 6 месяцев назад

In the history of Ancient China, Empress Wu Zetina was only one woman Ancient Chinese ruler in 7 the -8 th Century BCE. The worldwide women’s history in the civilizations are the part of Women’s History. International Women’s Day is: March 8. In our America, March is the Women’s History Month in our US History.

@melaniehickey236 2 года назад

She sounds a lot like Hatsheput.

@voraciousreader3341 2 года назад

As a woman who loves history, I’ve always had my own way of looking at the past: the more negatively powerful women were portrayed by male chroniclers (bc they’re the only people who got to write history), the more truly positive their influence must have been. They all seem to say, “If we portray this powerful woman as she really was, more women will want to demand power. _”We WILL NOT SHARE POWER WITH WOMEN!”_ That, unfortunately, is the way men wanted it then, and now, and the reason why we are on the verge of losing our planet is bc of the insensate greed of men, their lust for blood costing billions of innocent soldiers and other victims over time, their hatred for other races and ethnicities, and their selfishness which keeps several million people around the world in abject poverty. Think what the world could have been like now if women had been able to rule back then!

@artandculture5262 2 года назад

Many women in power are awful.

@metoo7557 2 года назад

At what time in all of human history have women not demanded power?

@TaigiTWeseFormosanDiplomat 2 года назад

I know human can be brutal, so lets be careful.

@arielestevan5336 2 года назад

What about ,clinton ,bush ,Obama, Biden, Trump, ,comic macron , Merkle , Blair, condoleza, all bright, powel rumsfelt .??? Can you all add these group to the list of bloodthirsty?

@andrewhaydo7977 Год назад

She was hardly bloodthirsty....

@Witheringdawn2 2 года назад

I mean it's not surprising that people made her out to be evil. She was a woman with power in a sexist society, threatening the social norm. Of course men didn't like that