# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/wu-zetian
# Generated: 2026-09-02T00:27:18.145Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/wu-zetian"
name: "Wu Zetian"
slug: "wu-zetian"
description: "She started as a concubine, married her dead husband's son, then took the throne for herself — the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor in her own right, not through a man."
tagline: "Founding empress of Zhou dynasty (r. 690–705); de facto ruler of Tang dynasty from 665 to 690"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%E5%94%90%E5%90%8E%E8%A1%8C%E5%BE%9E%E5%9C%96_(%E5%B1%80%E9%83%A8)_-_%E6%AD%A6%E5%89%87%E5%A4%A9.png"
gender: "female"
country:
  name: "China"
  isoCode: "CN"
category:
  name: "Writers"
  slug: "writers"
profileType:
  name: "Writer / Author"
  slug: "writer"
birthDate: "0624-02-17"
deathDate: "0705-12-16"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           62.37
  momentum:             0
  historical:           29.2155
  currentAttention:     8.722222222222223
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  110
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Poetry"
    slug: "poetry"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/ch0136863/"
    handle:    "ch0136863"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9738"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Wu%20Zetian"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://as.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%89_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8"
    title: "উ জেতিয়ান"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DB%8C%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C_%D8%B2%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "ایکینجی زتیان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Tsetyan"
    title: "U Tsetyan"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3_%D0%A6%D0%B7%D1%8D%D1%86%D1%8F%D0%BD%D1%8C"
    title: "У Цзэцянь"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%BD%9D%E0%BD%B4%E0%BD%A0%E0%BD%B4%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%99%E0%BD%BA%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%90%E0%BD%BA%E0%BD%93%E0%BC%8D"
    title: "ཝུའུ་ཙེ་ཐེན།"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%AA_C%C3%A1ik-ti%C4%95ng"
    title: "Ū Cáik-tiĕng"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%88_%D8%B2%DB%8E%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "وو زێتیان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Ce-tchien"
    title: "Wu Ce-tchien"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%93%CE%BF%CF%85_%CE%96%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%AC%CE%BD"
    title: "Γου Ζετιάν"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%88_%D8%B2%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "وو زتیان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gan.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E5%89%87%E5%A4%A9"
    title: "武則天"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wu Zetian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hak.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%BA_Chet-thi%C3%AAn"
    title: "Vú Chet-thiên"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%95_%D7%93%D7%96%D7%94_%D7%98%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F"
    title: "וו דזה טיין"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://id.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://zh.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E5%88%99%E5%A4%A9"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%88_%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86"
    title: "وو شتيان"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Wu Zhao entered the Tang court as a concubine to Emperor Taizong. After his death, she married his successor, Emperor Gaozong, and became empress in 655. She already wielded influence, but when Gaozong suffered a stroke in 660, she took over the empire's administration outright. After his death in 683, she blocked her sons from real power, and in 690 proclaimed herself emperor of a new Zhou dynasty — the first and only time a woman claimed that title without pretense. For 45 years she ran China: purged the old guard, rebuilt the civil service on merit, backed Buddhism and the arts, fought off Turkic and Tibetan forces. Her later years turned autocratic and lavish. In 705, a palace coup removed her, restored the Tang, and she died months later.