The incident of Shangguan Wan'er being tattooed is recorded in the "New Book of Tang". The original words are: "If you disobey the decree, you should be punished. Later, you should cherish his talent and stop the tattoo without killing him." Yea." In other words, this matter did happen in history, but how did it "disobey the decree"? What did you do to offend Wu Zetian? The "New Book of Tang" does not mention it, and it is precisely for this reason that it has left a mystery to future generations.
(Still photo of Shangguan Wan'er) Shangguan Wan'er can be called the most inspirational and outstanding woman in the Tang Dynasty. She was originally an official, but because her grandfather Shangguan Yi drafted the edict to abolish the queen (Wu Zetian) for Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, she and her father Shangguan Tingzhi were killed by Wu Zetian. The infant Shangguan Wan'er and her mother Zheng were taken into Yeting as slaves. Under Zheng's unremitting teaching, Shangguan Wan'er was good at poetry and calligraphy. She was also knowledgeable about official matters, and her calligraphy was even more outstanding. In addition, she is charming and smart, so she has a good reputation in Yeting. After Wu Zetian heard about it, he checked her talents and learning. Looking at her stubbornness not to succumb to fate, she looked a bit like herself back then, so she liked her very much. He removed her status as a slave, took her as a personal secretary, and put her in charge of the palace's edicts.
(Wu Zetian stills) There are many versions of the reason why Shangguan Wan'er was tattooed in history. The most detailed record is in "Bei Hu Lu" written by Duan Gongjiu, a scholar from the Tang Dynasty. It is said that every time Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong met with court officials, they would make Shangguan Wan'er lie down under the skirt of the table and record the conversation. As a result, the prime minister who came to perform the event that day was Li Jiongxiu, who was both talented and beautiful. Shangguan Wan'er has always admired him, so while taking notes, she would peek at him from under the table skirt from time to time. Unexpectedly, Li Zhi discovered it. After Li Jiongxiu left, he told Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian was so angry that he stabbed her forehead with a knife and refused to allow her to take it off. Shangguan Wan'er reluctantly composed a poem begging to draw the sword. After Wu Zetian looked at it, he calmed down and pulled it out. Just like that, there were red knife marks on Shangguan Wan'er's forehead. There is also a theory that Shangguan Wan'er and Zhang Changzong were living side by side, which made Wu Zetian very angry and stabbed her. However, this latter view does not seem to stand up to scrutiny. Judging from Wu Zetian's ruthless style, if Shangguan Wan'er had really done something treacherous, it would have been impossible for her to survive.
(Zhang Changzong) In short, the mistakes Shangguan Wan'er made should not be big. Therefore, Wu Zetian would "cherish his talent and stop tattooing without killing". Moreover, this tattoo only used cinnabar to tattoo plum blossoms on the forehead, and did not use ink and charcoal to tattoo characters. It did not make Shangguan Wan'er look ugly. It can be seen that Wu Zetian not only cherished her talent, but also cherished her appearance. Although there are various versions circulating in the market about the reason why Shangguan Wan'er was tattooed, because it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false, no one can tell the story of the ugly Yin Mao. However, after being tattooed, Shangguan Wan'er seemed not only not to resent Wu Zetian, but also very grateful to Wu Zetian for not killing her. From then on, she became more loyal to Wu Zetian and helped Wu Zetian solve political problems. She won Wu Zetian's favor and was regarded as a confidant by Wu Zetian. (Reference historical materials: "New Book of Tang" and "Bei Hu Lu")