In ancient China, Wu Zetian, as a generation of empresses in history, although she had great talent, she also had many shocking "fierce hearts", so later generations also had mixed evaluations of her. So why did she have such a character, it starts from her origin, history records that his father was named Samurai Ya, was a businessman, and later entered politics, it can be said that her living conditions are very good. So who was her mother?
In fact, Wu Zetian was the daughter of his father's second marriage. In his early years, Samurai Married a woman with the surname Xiangli, and after marrying Xiangli, the two of them had two sons, and later, this Xiangli clan died of illness. Obviously, the woman mentioned above is not Wu Zetian's mother. After the death of this lady, the official position of Wu Shiyan at that time was also constantly transferred, because he had supported Li Yuan's rebellion and became acquainted with Li Yuan, and later, with Li Yuan as a matchmaker, he introduced him to a "big girl", that is, Wu Zetian's mother, that is, Lady Yang. This Lady Yang bore three daughters to Wu Shiyan, the second of whom was Wu Zetian. Ancient women generally married early and were already married in their teens, but this Lady Yang was already 44 years old when she married The Samurai, why?
According to historical records, Wu Zetian believed that the reason for her mother's late marriage was that her mother believed in Buddhism all her life and did not want to step into the red dust, until she met her father, she "believed in love". Another theory, there are also experts speculating that this Mrs. Yang is married twice, that is to say, she has been married once before. So which statement is true? There is no way to verify it so far. However, as the mother of Wu Zetian, this Lady Yang's influence on Wu Zetian is immeasurable, so what kind of person is Lady Yang?
As mentioned earlier, Lady Yang was a "lady of everyone" because she was from a prominent background, her father and uncle were both prime ministers in the Sui Dynasty, and they were still a family with the Sui Emperor. When Wu Zetian was 12 years old, her father, Wu Shiyan, died, and until she entered the palace at the age of 14, she was accompanied by her mother. Her mother Lady Yang did not love female red (needlework) since she was a child, preferred to read history books, and the family background was also very strong, because the family was a royal prince of the clan, so she knew that court life, especially the women who stepped into the harem, their lives were very difficult, so when the Holy Will summoned her daughter Wu Zetian into the palace, Lady Yang wept bitterly, and she did not want her daughter to take this risk. Lady Yang's talents and family lineage also influenced Wu Zetian to a certain extent, helping her to achieve a hegemonic career later.
Under the influence of his mother, Wu Zetian also loved to read history books. Later, after the death of their father, their lives were not as good as before, and her two half-brothers began to confront their mother and daughter. Under the circumstances at that time, Wu Zetian wanted to get ahead of the way was to enter the palace, it just so happened that her beauty passed into Tang Taizong's ears, Taizong decided to take her to the palace, her mother Lady Yang felt that this was not a good thing, it was a very risky thing for her daughter, Wu Zetian did not think so, with her personality still wanted to challenge the new things. In fact, it is precisely this kind of courage to take risks and not accept defeat, which is also one of the core factors for her to become a generation of empresses in the future, which is the so-called occupation of the time and place.
(All pictures are from the Internet)