Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers by N. Harry Rothschild (review)

N. Harry Rothschild’s new book on Wu Zhao 武曌 (624–705; r. 690–705) breaks new ground on an old topic. It makes a vigorous case in demonstrating that Wu Zhao mobilized various political, religious, and cultural sources from her previous generations of cultural heroines in Chinese history. Rothschild lays out four categories of these heroines, including goddesses of antiquity, dynastic and exemplary mothers, female divinities in Daoism, and Buddhist devis and goddesses. In reading and analyzing a variety of sources, such as Wu and her subjects’ writings, stele inscriptions, and local legends, Rothschild plausibly shows that Wu Zetian 武則天 applied traditional Chinese Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist values, rituals, and discourses for female divinities and goddesses in constructing her political authority and legitimation. Besides introduction, conclusion sections, and a couple of appendixes, this book has four major parts consisting of twelve chapters, which focus on four themes. Each chapter is concisely and clearly written. In the following sections, I will highlight some important points in this book.

In particular, part 1 consists of three chapters, and each chapter deals with one goddess. Chapter 1 illustrates how early Tang writers Cui Rong 崔融 (653–706), Li Qiao 李嶠 (645–714), and Chen Zi’ang’s 陳子昂 (661–702) essays could be understood as political propaganda for Wu Zetian, portraying her as the political heir and avatar of Nüwa 女媧, one of the creators of Chinese civilization in antiquity. Interestingly, Rothschild indicates that Cai Junsheng¹ and Schafer² understate the enduring cultural resonance of Nüwa (p. 28). This point can be supplemented by many writings from the Tang dynasty. When I read Wei Gao’s 韋皋 essay, titled Record of the Stupa for a Parrot’s Relics in the Xichuan Region, honoring the relics of a parrot in the ninth century, Nüwa again appears as the cultural hero who was said to be equal to the Buddha. Chapter 2 traces the ideological links between Wu’s elevation of Luoyang 洛陽 as the Divine Capital 神都 and her sanctification of the Luo River Goddess 洛神. This goddess was associated with some male political ancestors including Fuxi 伏羲, the Yellow Emperor, and King Wu of Zhou. In this chapter, Rothschild analyzes the sacrificial rites dedicated to this goddess, which helped create Wu’s political authority and pave the way toward her throne. Chapter 3 analyzes Wu Zetian’s promotion of Leizu 縲祖, the goddess of traditional Chinese sericulture, in order to portray her as the ideal Confucian wife and first lady of the empire in the established Confucian value system.

Part 2 has four chapters dealing with how exemplary mothers served in Wu Zetian’s political, ideological construct. Chapter 4 discussed Wu Zetian’s elevation of the cult of the mother of Qi 啟, the founder of the legendary ancient Chinese Xia dynasty 夏朝. By a detailed analysis of the preface of “Biographies of Exemplary Women” in the History of the Jin Dynasty (Jinshu 晉書), compiled in the early Tang era, and some other sources, Rothschild reveals that Wu Zetian adopted the lineage of Confucian exemplary women to serve the making of her image as an exemplary mother. Chapter 5 deals with how Wu Zetian divinized Jiang Yuan 姜嫄, who was the mother of the ancestor of the ancient Zhou Dynasty 周代 (which was the political source for Wu Zetian to name her new regime to replace the Tang dynasty), another member of the Confucian lineage of exemplary women as listed in the preface of “Biographies of Exemplary Women.” Chapter 6 discusses Mother Wen 文王之母 (she was also called Taisi 太姒), another revered woman from the Zhou Dynasty, the spouse of King Wen 周文王 and the mother of King Wu 周武王. Rothschild suggests that Mother Wen served as Wu Zetian’s blood ancestor, along with King Wen as the founders of the original Zhou, providing legitimation for the founding of Wu Zetian’s new Zhou Dynasty. Chapter 7 analyzes how Wu Zetian...