List of Chancellors of Wu Zetian

Wu Zetian was a Chinese sovereign, who ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou Dynasty", from 690 to 705; however, she had previous imperial positions under both Emperor Taizong of Tang and his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang, of the Tang Dynasty of China. Wu was a concubine of Emperor Taizong; after his death she married his successor and 9th son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's furen, in 655, although previously having considerable political power prior to this. Gaozong had a debilitating stroke in 660, after which Wu Zetian ruled as effective sovereign until 705.[1] Typical of historical Chinese imperial governments, the nation was mainly ruled by a formal bureaucratic government, under the (at least nominal) control of a sole sovereign, or huangdi. In this system, the office of "chancellor" was a relatively powerful position. Wu Zetian's "Zhou Dynasty" had various Chancellors during her reign, these being shown by name and term of office in the following list:

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Paludan, 96
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The table of chancellors in the New Book of Tang had several entries with regard to chancellor movements during Wu Zetian's reign that were considered errant entries (as they were immediately duplicated within other subsequent entries) by both its commentators and Sima Guang, the lead editor of the Zizhi Tongjian, and accordingly, those entries are not considered here. Further, it gave no date for the end of Lu Yuanfang's second stint as chancellor, but the Zizhi Tongjian did. See New Book of Tang, vol. 61.

Sources