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Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er (664 – 21 July 710) was a Chinese politician, poet, and imperial consort of the Wu Zhou and Tang dynasties. Described as a "female prime minister," Shangguan rose from modest origins as a palace servant to become secretary and leading advisor to Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou. Under Empress Wu, Shangguan exercised responsibility for drafting imperial edicts and earned approbation for her writing style. She retained her influence as consort to Wu's son and successor, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, holding the imperial consort rank of ''Zhaorong'' (). Shangguan was also highly esteemed for her talent as a poet. In 710, after Emperor Zhongzong's death, Shangguan was killed during a palace coup that ended the regency of Empress Dowager Wei. Childhood Shangguan Wan'er's grandfather Shangguan Yi had become a prominent official early in the reign of Emperor Gaozong and had become chancellor in 662. In 664, Emperor Gaozong was angry at the very above level of controlling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Zhongzong Of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (26 November 656 – 3 July 710), personal name Li Xian, and at other times Li Zhe or Wu Xian, was the fourth and seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710. During the first period, he did not have actual power, which was in the hands of his mother, Empress Wu Zetian and he was overthrown on her orders after opposing his mother. During his second reign, most of the power was in the hands of his consort Empress Wei. Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), and during the reign of his father, Emperor Zhongzong's mother Empress Wu, not Emperor Gaozong, was in actual control of power as empress consort and power behind the emperor. He succeeded his father in 684, But as emperor, he had no true power, and all authority remained in the firm hands of his mother, Empress Dowager Wu. His mother, however, deposed him less than two months later in favo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xu Jingzong
Xu Jingzong (592 – September 20, 672), courtesy name Yanzu, posthumously known as Duke Gong of Gaoyang, was a Chinese cartographer, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor in the Tang dynasty. Allied with Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife, Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), Xu Jingzong was exceedingly powerful and effective throughout most of Gaozong's reign. By order of Empress Wu, he played a major role in the elimination of the chancellors opposed to her, between the years 657 to 659 and 665. Early life Xu Jingzong was born in 592, during the reign of Emperor Wen in the Sui dynasty. His ancestors had served as officials of the Southern dynasties during the Southern and Northern dynasties period for generations and claimed to be originally from Gaoyang Commandery (, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei), before moving south of the Yangtze River in light of the Jin dynasty's loss of the north. Xu Jingzong's father, Xu Shanxin (), was serving as an emissary of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince'' as a descriptive term has been used throughout history for the prince who is first-in-line to a throne and is expected to succeed (i.e. the heir apparent), barring any unforeseen future event preventing this. In certain monarchies, a more specific substantive title may be accorded and become associated with the position of heir apparent (e.g. Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom, Prince of Asturias in the Spain, Kingdom of Spain and formerly the Dauphin of France, Dauphin in Kingdom of France, France). In these monarchies, the term crown prince may be used less often than the substantive title (or never). Until the late twentieth century, no modern monarchy adopted a system whereby females would be guaranteed to succeed to the throne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Li Chongjun
Li Chongjun (李重俊) (died 7 August 707( ��龙元年��，七月，辛丑，....太子以百骑走终南山，至鄠西，能属者才数人，憩于林下，为左右所杀。) ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol.208), formally Crown Prince Jiemin (節愍太子), was a crown prince of the Chinese Tang dynasty, during the second reign of his father Emperor Zhongzong. He was made crown prince because the only son of his father's wife Empress Wei, Li Chongrun, had been killed before his father's return to the throne, but on account of his mother's low birth, he was often humiliated by Empress Wei's daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle and her husband Wu Chongxun (武崇訓). In 707, in anger, he started a coup and killed Wu Chongxun and his father Wu Sansi the Prince of Dejing, but his subsequent attempt to arrest Empress Wei, Li Guo'er, and Consort Shangguan Wan'er was thwarted, and he was killed in flight. Background It is not known when Li Chongjun was born, but it was recorded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Anle
Princess Anle (; 684? – 21 July 710), personal name Li Guo'er (), was a Chinese princess of the Tang dynasty. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Zhongzong and his wife Empress Wei. Popular history holds that she was doted upon heavily by her parents and siblings, which contributed to her later drive for power. After Emperor Zhongzong died in 710 — a death that traditional historians assert was due to poison, and carried out by Empress Wei and Li Guo'er. A coup led by Li Guo'er's cousin Li Longji, the Prince of Linzi, and Princess Taiping, Li Guo'er's paternal aunt, overthrew and killed Empress Wei and Li Guo'er. Background Li Guo'er was the youngest of four children that Emperor Zhongzong (Li Zhe) had with his wife Empress Wei. She is said to have been born at a time when Li Zhe had, after a brief reign in 684, been deposed by his mother Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), reduced to the title of Prince of Lulin, and exiled to Fang Prefecture (房� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou, and was again a powerful chancellor during the second reign of Empress Wu's son, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. He was aided in navigating the fraught period that followed Emperor Zhongzong's restoration by successive affairs with the influential consort Shangguan Wan'er and the powerful Empress Wei. Although he amassed significant authority and enjoyed the trust of Emperor Zhongzong, he was killed during an unsuccessful rebellion by the crown prince Li Chongjun in 707. Background It is not known when Wu Sansi was born. His father Wu Yuanqing (武元慶) was a half-brother of Wu Zetian—both had, as father, the early Tang dynasty general Wu Shihuo (武士彠), but Wu Yuanqing and his brother Wu Yuanshuang (武元爽) we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. During the early stages of European colonialism, administrators often encouraged European men to practice concubinage to discourage them from paying prostitutes for sex (which could spread venereal disease) and from homosexuality. Colonial administrators also believed that having an intimate relationship with a native woman would enhance white men's understanding of native culture and would provide them with essential domestic labor. The latter was critical, as it meant white men did not require wives from the metropole, hence did not require a family wage. Colonial administrators eventually discouraged the practice when these liaisons resulted in offspring who threatened colonial rule by producing a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuan Shuji
Yuan Shuji (; died 706), posthumous name Prince Zhenlie of Nanyang (南陽貞烈王), was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou, Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup () that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705 but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and killed in exile in a cruel manner. Background It is not known when Yuan Shuji was born. His family was from Cang Prefecture (滄州, roughly modern Cangzhou, Hebei) and traced its ancestry to the late Han dynasty warlord Yuan Shao. Both Yuan Shuji's grandfather Yuan Lingxi (袁令喜) and father Yuan Yihong (袁異弘) served as prefectural officials. During Wu Zetian's reign Sometime during Wu Zetian's ''Chang'an'' era (701-704), Yuan Shuji served as assistant chief judge of the supreme court (司刑少卿, ''Sixing S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huan Yanfan
Huan Yanfan (桓彥範) (653–706), courtesy name Shize (士則), formally Prince Zhonglie of Fuyang (扶陽忠烈王), briefly known during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang as Wei Yanfan (韋彥範), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup () that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705, but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and killed in exile in a cruel manner. Background Huan Yanfan was born in 653. His family was from Run Prefecture (潤州, roughly modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and traced its ancestry to the Jin dynasty (266–420) general Huan Chong. His grandfather Huan Fasi (桓法嗣) and father Huan Simin (桓思敏) both served as officials during Tang dynasty, and on account of this heritage, Huan Yanfan was made an officer of the imperial guards when he was young. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jing Hui
Jing Hui (敬暉) (died 706), courtesy name Zhongye (仲瞱), formally Prince Sumin of Pingyang (平陽肅愍王), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705, but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and killed in exile in a cruel manner. Background It is not known when Jing Hui was born, but it is known that his family was from Jiang Prefecture (絳州, part of modern Yuncheng, Shanxi). He had several ancestors who served as officials for Tang dynasty and its predecessor Sui dynasty as well as the earlier dynasty Northern Qi, and it is known that his father Jing Shansong (敬山松) served as a county magistrate during Tang.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 75, part 1. All that is known about the early part of Jing Hui's career is that he passed the imperi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cui Xuanwei
Cui Xuanwei (; 638–706), né Cui Ye (崔曄), posthumous name Prince Wenxian of Boling (博陵文獻王), was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup () that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705. He was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and died in exile. Background Cui Chu was born late in the reign of Emperor Taizong. He was from "the elder house of Boling" of the prominent Cui clan of Boling. His father Cui Xingjin (崔行謹) served as the magistrate of Husu County (胡蘇, in modern Dezhou, Shandong), and his uncle Cui Xinggong (崔行功) was the head of the Palace Library. During the ''Longshuo'' era of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong, he passed the imperial examinations and became a low-level official at the ministry of treasury (庫部, ''Kubu''). His mother La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Jianzhi
Zhang Jianzhi (張柬之) (625Zhang's birth year of 625 is based on his biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'', both of which indicated that he was 81 at the time of his death in 706. However, the ''New Book of Tang'' also indicated that he was in his 70s when he was summoned to the capital in 689 which, if true, would make him born in the 610s. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vol.91 and ''New Book of Tang'', vol.120 – 706), courtesy name Mengjiang (孟將), formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang (漢陽文貞王), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup () that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705 but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi and died in exile. Background Zhang Jianzhi was born in 625, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
