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85 6 Sources The learned reader must have observed that in the course of this mighty work, I have often translated passages out of the best ancient authors, without quoting the original, or without taking the least notice of the book from whence they were borrowed. . . . To ¤ll up a work with these scraps may, indeed, be considered as a downright cheat on the learned world, who are by such means imposed upon to buy a second time, in fragments and by retail, what they have already in gross, if not in their memories, upon their shelves; and it is still more cruel upon the illiterate , who are drawn in to pay for what is of no manner of use to them. —Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, 2.100 Wu Zetian is the only woman to have become emperor of China. Most historians depict her ascent to such heights as an anomaly and criticize her personalconduct with particularasperity. Shewasanopportunist.She committed adultery. She committed incest. She cast a spell upon two emperors that no remonstration could break. Then she usurped the title of emperor and persecuted the heirs of the Tang to the brink of extinction. Although most historians place the blame squarely upon Wu Zetian for wielding her preternatural charms with such devastating effect, a disinterested observer of the Tang imperial family might just as well conclude that it was always susceptible to distractions of this sort. The minority view held by Zhu Xi and repeated by Huang Xun in his “Du Ruyijunzhuan”does notabsolve Wu Zetian of herimmoral conduct, butit does transfer much of the blame elsewhere.1 Wu Zetian entered the imperial compound when she was only fourteen. She was educated in the service of Emperor Taizong. He was an excellent teacher and she a most devoted student. That Taizong’s son did not hesitate to commit incest with her suggests that the standard of morality maintained in that household was not exceptional. Of even greater embarrassment to traditional historians were Wu Zetian’s irregular relations with a series of men after she became emperor. These are mentioned in virtually all standard histories. After Gaozong died, Wu Zetian became more promiscuous and sought out ever more ignoble partners. Once 86 Context and Analysis their sordid services were no longer required or their interest in a senescent empress had ¶agged, they were unceremoniously dismissed, ignored, forgotten , framed, or even murdered. After Wu Zetian became emperor, Feng Xiaobao, a mountebank who plied his trade in the capital, was called to her attention .2 She shaved his head, changed his name to Xue Huaiyi, and dressed him as a Buddhist priest to facilitate his access to her private chambers. Sunk in voluptuousness and indolence, it did not take long for his special relationship with the empress to go to his head—when Wu Zetian had an affair with an imperial physician named Shen Nanqiu, Xue Huaiyi became a petulant arsonist and she had him murdered.3 Later in life Wu Zetian bestowed her favor on a pair of brothers named Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. Though beautiful and attentive, they amounted to little more than dissolute vulgarians. Historians are particularly embarrassed by the public display to which Wu Zetian subjected her infatuation . Once she adorned Zhang Changzong with bird feathers because she was of the opinion that, so attired, he resembled a famous immortal. To the exasperation of her advisers, she then paraded him about the city on a pretentiously decorated wooden crane. She also bestowed ever more elevated titles upon the Zhang brothers although their illiteracy and frivolity implied they were incapable of completing (or perhaps even fully comprehending) their of¤cial duties.4 It was a complicated story, as most human relationships are, yet Wu Zetian could scarcely have devised a more exquisite torture for their colleagues than to make them perpetual eyewitnesses to such a display of selfindulgence and poor taste. The Zhang brothers remained the bene¤ciaries of her imperial infatuation until the end of her reign. By this time they had amassed immense fortunes. But when Wu Zetian’s ten thousand years were about to expire, of¤cials burst into their living quarters and beheaded them. Many of their relatives and coadjutors were hunted down and similarly executed .When theirheads were stuck onpoles and putondisplay,the storygoes that neither colleagues nor commoners could disguise the delight they felt upon viewing this horri¤c spectacle. By dawn of the next day the heads of...

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