There were many queens in ancient Europe. Why is there no queen after Empress Wu Zetian in China?

Empress Wu Zetian's succession ended the queen's dream of later generations ―― the queen's complete submission under the powerful patriarchal culture (congratulations on Women's Day on March 8th. As we all know, Wu Zetian has been hesitant about establishing the reserve team, hovering between the surname of "Wu" and "Li". On the one hand, Wu and Wu Sansi actively lobbied on the grounds that the emperor's succession can only be passed on to the same surname; On the other hand, an old minister in Tang Dynasty, represented by Di and Ji Chuanti, suggested that she consider which relationship between mother and son is closer, and the relationship between mother and son is better than that between aunt and nephew. However, no one suggested whether to take the mother and daughter (such as Princess Taiping) or one of the other relatives of Yang Can, the mother of Wu Zetian, as a candidate. Why? Let's start with Princess Taiping. It is said that she was called "like herself" by Wu Zetian, which may be similar to Wu Zetian in appearance or in personality and interest. Like her mother, Princess Taiping likes to take part in politics. In the court of Wu Zetian, she personally introduced Zhang Changzong as her mother Toy Boy, thus consolidating her political status. During the restoration of Zhongzong, Princess Taiping and her eldest son Xue Chongjian cooperated with Li Longji, the third son of Prime Minister Li Dan, to launch a coup, which wiped out Queen Wei and Princess Anle in one fell swoop and completely shattered Princess Anle's dream of being an imperial concubine. There is a detail in history that can explain the resolute and decisive character of Princess Taiping. After the rebellion between Wei Ruyun and Princess Anle was put down, everyone wanted to ask King Li Dan (Li Xian's younger brother) to replace puppet master Li Zhongmao, but how to get him to step down was also a problem. That day in the Taiji Hall, the young master was sitting in the west, and the prime minister Li Dan was standing beside Tang Zhongzong's coffin. Princess Taiping pretended to ask Prime Minister Liu Youqiu, "The emperor wants to give up the throne to his uncle, can he?" Qi Youqiu immediately replied: "In the troubled autumn of this country, the emperor was kind and filial, and it was really out of selfless heart to follow the tradition of Yao, Shun and Zen." Wang Xiang shouldered the heavy responsibility of governing the world instead of the emperor, which was a token of my uncle to my nephew. "But the young master is not sensible and continues to sit on the throne. Princess Taiping immediately stepped forward and said, "The hearts of all the subjects in the world have been attached to the king, and this throne no longer belongs to you! ""Then he pulled him off the throne. This successfully completed the succession of Tang Ruizong Li Dan. It can be seen that Princess Taiping also has the aggressive temperament of Wu Zetian. When he came to power in Tang Ruizong, he was a typical shopkeeper who was hesitant about everything. Princess Taiping is even more powerful because of her outstanding achievements. Tang Ruizong often discussed with her the major policies of the imperial court. Every time she visits North Korea, she will sit and talk with Zong Rui for a while. Sometimes when she doesn't go to court, Zong Rui will send a premier to her home to ask her advice on how to deal with some problems. Whenever the prime ministers talk about something, Zong Rui will ask, "Have you discussed this with Princess Taiping?" Next, I want to ask: "Have you discussed it with Saburo (Li Longji)?" Zong Rui will agree with the Prime Ministers only after they give a positive reply. Even to the point where power overtakes the emperor, many people can directly achieve the purpose of promotion through her. Princess Taiping's desire for power and personal ability have a great legacy of her mother. Then, why didn't Wu Zetian consider her in establishing the reserve team? Because history is ambiguous about women's names and birthdays, it can only be inferred that Princess Taiping was born in 663. From the first year of Wu Zetian's natural gift (690) to the first year of Zhongzong Shenlong (705), Princess Taiping was about 27 to 42 years old when she abdicated and fell ill. Wu Zetian gained actual power at the age of 50, that is, in the first year of Shangyuan (674) (Emperor Gaozong entered the number of "emperors" and added the number of "queens", and everyone in the world listed them as "two saints". In fact, it was Wu Zetian who replaced Gao Zong to exercise the authority of the emperor. ), in comparison, Princess Taiping at that time was still a little immature. Princess Taiping not only had no age advantage in the whole Wu Zetian period, but also had no strength to win a big position in politics, and there was no strong family support behind her. Neither the supporters of the Wu family nor the Li family included the young princess in the sealed list of candidates. At least in the Li family, there are many other princes and grandchildren to consider, and it is not yet the turn of a daughter who has married the Xue family or remarried to the Wu family (around 690 AD). In 698, at the height of the competition for storage, the daughter of the Li family and the daughter-in-law of the Wu family, Princess Taiping, were even less likely to be accepted by both families. Because Jae Moo Oh belongs to Wu, Wu Sansi and other people's peers, if Princess Taiping comes out to fight for the position of the Crown Prince, it will immediately form the effect of crowding out Wu and Wu Sansi, and naturally it will not be supported by Wu. Similarly, Li Xian, the younger brother of Princess Taiping, is only one year older than her, but he is also the own flesh and blood of Wu Zetian, and he was born in the Li family, so he naturally became the best candidate recommended by Li Jiabang. The result of sticking on both sides may be that both ends cannot be solved. So unless Princess Taiping asks Wu Zetian on her own initiative, it is impossible to get any outside support. Princess Taiping certainly knows Wu Zetian better than others. For Wu Zetian who deposed her eldest son Li Hong (poisoned), her second son Li Xian, her third son Li Xian and her fourth son Li Dan, she knew that although she was deeply loved by her mother, once she was suspected by her mother, the consequences would be very serious. Therefore, Princess Taiping herself did not dare to fight for the position of Crown Prince. Therefore, according to historical records, at the end of the Wu Zetian Dynasty, because Taiping was afraid of the majesty of Wuhou, Taiping had been very restrained and refused to take the initiative to take credit. Princess Taiping is more sensitive and has more power than others, but Wu Hou thinks she is like herself, so she loves her luck alone among all the people and wants to plan ahead, but she is still afraid that Wu Hou will be strict and dare not recruit power. ) It was not until the coup that Zhang Yizhi and others began to directly intervene in politics. Therefore, under such a strong mother as Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping still dared not make a move. Wu Zetian didn't take her into account at all. Let's talk about Wu Zetian's mother branch-Yang. According to historical records, Wu Zetian's biological mother was Wu Shihuo's second wife, the daughter of Longyou scholar-bureaucrat, prime minister of Sui Dynasty and Suining Yang Da. Because she came from a wing, and Wu Zetian's mother gave birth to three daughters, she has always been looked down upon in the Wu family. Especially after death, Wu, Wu and his brother's son, Wu Huaiyun were all very unkind to Yang, and Yang held a grudge against them. After Wu Zetian became queen, she immediately retaliated against her half-brothers at the instigation of her mother Yang. (At the request of Wu Zetian, Emperor Gaozong was demoted to the secretariat of the first state of the school, to the secretariat of Longzhou, and to the secretariat of Haozhou. After Wu arrived in Longzhou, he died of illness. Wu died in exile because of his conviction. Later, he poisoned his sister and her daughter with tricks, and framed Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun, thus killing all the enemies who despised her in those years. However, in history, except for Wu Zetian's mother Yang, Wu Zetian did not benefit from his good luck from any other relatives of Yang. The reasons are as follows: firstly, Wu Shihuo was the founding hero who fought against the Sui Dynasty, while the Yang Da family was actually the remnant of the old royal family in the Sui Dynasty, which was likely to be destroyed in the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Second, after Yang married the Wu family, he was no longer a member of the Yang family. His father, Suining, died as early as the eighth year of Daye (6 12). In the generation of Wu Zetian, it is even more impossible to have anything to do with the Yang family. The reason why Wu Zetian's mother's surname Yang is mentioned is actually to illustrate a deeper paradox: Wu Zetian's surname itself is the product of the male clan, that is, it comes from the father's surname rather than the mother's surname. If Wu Zetian wants to continue the rule of the "Wu" family and replace "Li" with "Wu", it is just that one paternal family replaces another paternal family to master the imperial power; It also immediately offset the special significance of Wu Zetian as a hostess and proclaimed herself emperor. Of course, judging from Wu Zetian's consideration at that time, she didn't particularly want to take the "female emperor" as a priority for considering the Crown Prince; Even she didn't put forward any suitable female heirs as the object of consideration at all. Although Wu Zetian has the right to create a symbol representing the equality between men and women, she can't change her established background of kinship, the symbols that both "Wu" and "Li" are branded with kinship, and the master-slave relationship between these male family symbols and her. As a matter of fact, when Wu Zetian consulted Di Renjie about the establishment of the national treasury, Di Renjie once said: "Emperor Gaozong entrusted his two sons to your majesty, but now your majesty wants to give the country to a foreign surname. Isn't this against the will of God? Besides, who is closer to the mother and son? Your majesty made his son a prince, and he will live a long life, and he will sacrifice to the ancestral temple, which will be passed down from generation to generation and will never end; If my nephew is made a prince, I have never heard that my nephew has become a son of heaven and sacrificed his aunt to the ancestral temple. " In this regard, Wu Zetian had to seriously consider, because she could rule the world before her death, and it is difficult to guarantee whether she can have a place in the ancestral temple after her death. Because this whole sacrificial system is also implemented in line with the patriarchal clan system, it is almost impossible to change in Wu Zetian's generation. Even if she insists on letting the Wu family be the Crown Prince, it is difficult to guarantee that the Wu family can continue to maintain her position after her death. Therefore, she finally decided to set up her son Li Xian as a savings office. After being forced to give way to Prince Li Xian, Wu Zetian became seriously ill and died at the end of the same year. The suicide note voluntarily removed the title of the emperor, and later called the Great Sage Queen, and pardoned the Wang and Xiao families persecuted by the emperor, as well as the relatives of Chu Suiliang, Han Xuan and Liu. It is also a state of etiquette before returning to Wu Zetian as emperor. However, the appearance of Wu Zetian inspired other female members of the royal family who were vaguely planning to attack the patriarchal status at that time. When Zhongzong ascended the throne, Wechsler, who shared his joys and sorrows, was made queen, and he also planned to follow the example of Wu Zetian to interfere in politics. When Zhongzong came to Korea, Queen Wei also sat behind the scenes and participated in handling military affairs. In the generation of Princess Anle, that is, the daughter of Zhongzong and Wei Hou, Princess Anle, with the support of Wei Hou, actually asked Zhongzong to let her be the "wife of the emperor". This unique title, in today's view, is even more significant than Wu Zetian's claim to the throne. Because, in history, not only Wu Zetian is qualified to ascend to the throne, but actually there are many powerful women who can directly ascend to the throne to replace the weak monarch. However, Wu Zetian's historical lessons were taken as a warning, and most of them later chose the form of listening to politics to indirectly control power. Without the cooperation of the follow-up system, even if they temporarily won the title of emperor, they would eventually have to hand over the throne to other royal descendants because of inheritance problems; You can't get more value except for a moment's glory. Finally, there seems to be no extra benefit except leaving a stone tablet without words like Wu Zetian. However, if Princess Anle's plan is realized, it will fundamentally subvert the traditional patriarchal inheritance system, and there may not be only one female emperor in history. Because, once the male and female descendants of the royal family have equal inheritance rights, it is normal for the female emperor to pass it on to her daughter. It is necessary for the new female emperor to keep all the titles of the former queen, instead of giving up the titles of the emperor herself, as Wu Zetian did in her later years. In this way, the female emperor system can be fundamentally consolidated. This may be a possibility that Wu Zetian did not consider at that time, but it may also be an institutional obstacle that she could not decide to change categorically at that time, and it was the biggest weakness that she finally had to yield to traditional forces. However, as Princess Taiping staged a coup with Prime Ministers Li Dan and Li Longji, Wei Ruyun and Princess Anle were killed in one fell swoop, and the only recorded attempt to set up a so-called "imperial wife" in China history was completely extinct. Throughout history, until the Tang Dynasty, there were always some women dressed very intelligently on the political stage with men as the leading role, and the Tang Dynasty really reached a peak, with a large number of politically ambitious and active women such as Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping, Princess Anle and Shangguan Waner. Coupled with the existing female official system in the Tang Dynasty, it also created the greatest possibility for women to win political power. However, even in this era, after the emergence of Wu Zetian and the peak of women's participation in politics, the political culture of male chauvinism has gradually begun to mean a threat to women, constantly strengthening the oppression of women from the system and culture, and being more alert to any clues of women's participation in politics. As early as the reign of Wechsler, Minister Huan quoted the Book of Changes and Shangshu to persuade Zhongzong to stop Wechsler's regime. (Huan Yue: As the saying goes,' There is nothing wrong with a woman. It is good to stay at home and do housework.' Shangshu said,' If hens crow in the morning, this family will be destroyed'. I found that every time your majesty came to North Korea, the queen always sat behind the scenes and took part in handling military affairs. I have observed emperors of all ages, and no one ruled with women without causing the country to perish. Besides, yin is above yang, which is against the laws of nature; It is against human nature for a woman to bully her husband. I hope that your majesty will observe the experience and lessons of the ups and downs of rebellion in ancient and modern times, always think of the country and the people, and urge the queen to strictly observe her duties, devote herself wholeheartedly to women's education and not interfere in foreign state affairs. ") This shows from another side that the literati class of that era began to be wary of the lessons of Wu Zetian and actively avoided them in theory and practice. After the Tang Dynasty, although smart women occasionally came to the DPRK as queens or powerful queens, it was only a flash in the pan, and most of them finally chose a prince and grandson to inherit the throne. Because of the double constraints of culture and politics, the modern woman politician is gone forever in the traditional political history. Conclusion: Interested readers can compare the Queen of Europe with the Queen of China. Why can female royal family members be allowed to inherit the throne in the history of European dynasties? The author analyzes that there are at least two reasons. First, there is no absolute prohibition on women's right to inherit family property in western history, so there is no absolute exclusion of female heirs in the royal inheritance law. For example, in Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries, women not only have the tradition of inheriting the throne, but also have many outstanding lady sovereign in history. Second, we have to find reasons from marriage and blood relationship. Although there is no prohibition, traditionally, it is generally stipulated that female heirs can only be considered if there is no suitable male heir. And this kind of situation, in the ancient history of China, basically the probability of occurrence is extremely low, unless the emperor has no fertility at all, such as Emperor Zhao Handi. As for the European royal family, because they practice a limited marriage system after all, in principle, under monogamy, the children of the royal family are naturally far less rich than the so-called "three palaces, six prostitutes and seventy-two concubines" of the China emperor. And because the European royal family is very concerned about the purity of blood, it constantly encourages intermarriage between royal families. Results Due to inbreeding, the genetic quality has been declining, and even many royal hereditary diseases have appeared. The fertility quality and fertility of this combination are naturally greatly reduced. What's more, once there are no suitable male descendants in the royal family, the royal families of other countries will have the opportunity to propose their in-laws to inherit the throne, and foreign interference will follow. In order to avoid this situation, many European royal families have to take female heirs as natural selection. These problems do not exist for the royal family in China. A normal emperor always has many sons, at least he also has many uncles and brothers. Therefore, women will never be eligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the fact that Wu Zetian seized power alone cannot change the fundamental system that female parliamentarians have no right to inherit the throne. "Damn" teachers continue to show their true selves-Why is China inferior to Japanese in 140? -Writing a speech on the occasion of the two sessions of the Law on Punishing Traitors-guessing or flattering Empress Dowager Cixi: Power corrupts motherhood?