History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Wu Zhao: China’s Only Woman Emperor Author: N. Harry Rothschild Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Pearson Release Date: 2007 Pages: 256 Source: My Personal Collection Synopsis: This new entry in the Longman Library of World Biography series offers the compelling story of Wu Zhao - one woman’s unlikely and remarkable ascent to the apex of political power in the patriarchal society of traditional China.       Wu Zhao, Woman Emperor of China is the account of the first and only female emperor in China’s history. Set in vibrant, multi-ethnic Tang China, this biography chronicles Wu Zhao’s humble beginnings as the daughter of a provincial official, following her path to the inner palace, where she improbably rose from a fifth-ranked concubine to becoming Empress. Using clever Buddhist rhetoric, grandiose architecture, elegant court rituals, and an insidious network of “cruel officials” to cow her many opponents in court, Wu Zhao inaugurated a new dyn...

Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers Author: N. Harry Rothschild Genre: History, Nonfiction, Religion Publisher: Columbia University Press Release Date: June 2015 Pages: 384 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Wu Zhao (624--705), better known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, is the only woman to have ruled China over the course of its 5,000-year history. How did she rise to power, and why was she never overthrown? Exploring a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries, this multifaceted history suggests that Wu Zhao drew on China's rich pantheon of female divinities and eminent women to aid in her reign.      Wu Zhao could not obtain political authority through conventional channels, but she could afford to ignore norms and tradition. Deploying language, symbol, and ideology, she harnessed the cultural resonance, maternal force, divine energy, and historical weight of Buddhist devis, Co...