Wu Zetian
By: Shiyin Ge
The woman I am choosing to invite to The Dinner Party is Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian is the only female emperor in history to rule over China. She was a woman in a time where men were only accepted as leaders. This led to conflicting opinions about her but no one can deny her achievements. She was a fierce and intelligent leader and would forever change the Zhou Dynasty under her control.
Background:
Wu Zhou, better known as Wu Zetian was born on February 17, 624 to a wealthy family in the Sichuan Province of the Tang Dynasty. Her mother was Yang Shi and her father was Wu Shiyue. From a young age she was taught to read and write, a privilege not many girls were given. In addition, she traveled with her father, as she watched him govern different areas, it broaden her perspective and she became interested in politics. At age 14, she was already the concubine of Emperor Taizong and went on to become the concubine of his son, Li Zhi. They had four sons and two daughters. Under her husband's influence, Wu Zetian started rising to power and appeared as an equal with her husband. Ultimately, she found herself as the emperor of the new Zhou Dynasty in 690.
Achievements:
As an emperor, she reformed the government by selecting people not based on their class but rather their education. She also gained popularity when she decreased the taxes on the peasants and distributed the land fairly. Her other achievements include being able to strengthen her defense and foreign relations with other countries. By 697 AD, she resolved all the military threats coming from the northwest, and she expanded her territory into Central Asia. Aside from politics, she also evaluated women's rights by promoting scholars to write biographies on influential women. After 15 years of ruling, Wu Zetian died in the Qianling Tomb in the Shaanxi province. She left her country in a prosperous and socially stable place. Even though no other woman has succeeded in becoming the emperor after her, she set an example for other women to follow. The way she held herself and commanded respect from her people is something we can all learn. Time is the only thing that separates us from the next woman leader in China.
Wu Zetian's Place Setting and Runner
For Wu Zetian's place setting, I wanted to include elements of her history as a leader and the controversy she had to endure. The plate is surrounded by flowers because as an emperor and royalty, she always had extravagant headpieces in her hair. I choose to make the plate three dimensional by using a dome shaped styrofoam ball to represent her palace. Red is an important color in China because it is considered a lucky color and it represents happiness. This is the reason why I painted her palace red. As a female emperor, she also faced a lot of backlash. This is represented by the black paint strokes on her palace.
For her runner, I wanted to show a representation of who she was and the legacy she wanted to leave by including a quote she said. I used construction paper, markers, and flowers to accomplish this goal. I decided to keep it in chinese because I felt like her words were more power than I could ever translate it into something else. In her quote she says, a virtuous person may die but their legacy will never be erased. This means, no one can escape death but you can leave a legacy that no one will forget. To this day, Wu Zetian is still recognized by millions of people around the world, and has found a place for herself in history through the legacy she created.
