Wu Zetian

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…