Wu Zetian was the second daughter of the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, the warrior Xun. Her mother was Yang (born in the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, and her father was Yang Da, the brother of Yang Xiong, the king of Guande in the Sui Dynasty, and the Duke of Suining). Her ancestral home was Wenshui County, Bingzhou. Wu Zetian was born in Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan) in the seventh year of Wude, or in Chang'an (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). He has half-brothers Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, and two half-sisters, one of whom is a Korean lady named Wu Soon.
In the first year of Tianshou (690), Wu Zetian proclaimed herself emperor, changed the name of the country to Zhou, made Luoyang the capital, called the "Shen Capital", and established Wu Zhou. Before and after Wu Zetian came to power, she massacred the Tang Dynasty clan members and gave rise to the "cruel politics". But she is "clearly aware and good at making judgments", has many powers and strategies, and can use people. He also rewarded farmers and mulberry trees, reformed the administration of officials, and attached great importance to the selection of talents, so that talented people emerged in large numbers. In his later years, he gradually became extravagant and arbitrary, and developed bad governance.
Extended information:
Wu Zetian experienced two generations of emperors and entered the palace twice. When Wu Zetian first entered the palace, she was selected as the talent of the then emperor Li Shimin. Although Wu Zetian, a talented person at that time, had certain beauty and intelligence, Wu Zetian was not loved by the then emperor Li Shimin. Wu Zetian became Li Shimin's talented person for twelve years.
But in these twelve years, Wu Zetian was not favored by the emperor at that time. However, when Li Shimin was seriously ill and about to die, Wu Zetian, as a talented person, came into contact with the then prince Li Zhi and developed a relationship with Li Zhi.
So when the new emperor ascended the throne, the concubines of the previous emperor should have cut off all contact with the world. However, because Wu Zetian had a close relationship with the new emperor Li Zhi at the time, so after Li Zhi ascended the throne Soon, Wu Zetian was taken out of the nunnery and brought into his harem. Because of this, Wu Zetian began her glory.
Wu Zetian is a resourceful person who will seize opportunities when given opportunities. When she was favored by the emperor in the harem and gave birth to a daughter, in order to frame the queen, she strangled her daughter who had just given birth to death, thereby eradicating the queen. As Wu Zetian continued to gain Li Zhi's favor, Li Zhi began to involve Wu Zetian in politics.
When Li Zhi fell ill, Wu Zetian handled the political affairs at the time with the sensitivity gained from Li Zhi's constant contact with politics. Although the then emperor Li Zhi felt threatened by Wu Zetian many times, he failed many times when he wanted to depose Wu Zetian. As Li Zhi's illness continued to worsen, he died unfortunately.
Although he finally established heirs to the throne, many of these heirs were deposed by Wu Zetian. In the process, Wu Zetian dealt with many people who blocked her steps, including her son.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wu Zetian